The James Bay Road — officially the Billy-Diamond Highway — is one of the northernmost public roads in the vast province of Québec. It’s less a scenic route than a test of preparation and self-reliance: from a city like New York, the start of the road alone is some 800 miles away.
From there it runs deep into the Canadian Shield — raw boreal forest and a landscape that just keeps opening up. It’s remote, but not unsupported: well-spaced campsites let you set up under the vast northern sky and actually live in the country for a few days at a time.
The region is laced with pristine rivers and clear lakes, and it’s a genuine paradise for fishing — from chasing a prize catch to the quiet that comes with casting a line into untouched water. We stopped at the Rupert River falls, fished the road north, and camped along the way.
Going solo out here was the whole point. It’s as close as we can get, close to home, to the isolation we’ll meet in Patagonia and on the Bolivian altiplano — and a real confidence test for the van, and for going it alone.
At a glance
- Route
- Billy-Diamond Hwy (Route de la Baie-James)
- Length
- ~620 km (Matagami → Radisson)
- Fuel
- One stop, around km 381
- From NYC
- ~800 mi just to the start
- Terrain
- Canadian Shield boreal
Watch
The road into the far north of Québec
You register at the km 6 checkpoint and then commit — because after that there’s essentially one fuel stop in the next ~380 km, and not much else but spruce, rock, and big rivers. The road was built for the James Bay hydro projects and named for Cree Grand Chief Billy Diamond.
What you get in return is the Canadian Shield at full scale: endless boreal forest, glacier-scoured granite, and a sky that doesn’t quit. Well-spaced campsites let you actually stop and live in it for a few days instead of just driving through.
Rupert River falls, and the fishing
The country up here is laced with pristine rivers and clear lakes, and it’s a genuine paradise for anglers — whether you’re chasing a prize catch or just want the quiet of casting into water nobody else is on. The Rupert River falls were a highlight worth the detour.
And it was solo. That was the point: no second driver, no backup, just the van and the country. It’s the closest thing we have, close to home, to the self-reliance the altiplano and Patagonia will demand — and a real confidence test for both of us.
Highlights
- One fuel stop in ~380 km
- The Rupert River falls
- Fishing untouched rivers and lakes
- Deep, genuinely solo remoteness