Forillon National Park is at the eastern tip of the Gaspe Peninsula at the end of a long chain of worn flat-topped mountains, the Appalachians, which emerged over 375 million years ago and now incline gently to the sea on the southern side. Created in 1970, the park covers 244 square kilometres of majestic landscapes carved out of sea, cliffs, and mountains. Rivers flow steeply as rapids and waterfalls to mix with the salt water in Gaspe Bay producing a brackish environment for a variety of creatures. Forillon, Quebec's first national park protects delicate plantlife, colonies of sea birds and marine animals. The wild beauty of its countryside where ‘man, the land and the sea’ live together in harmony also has a rich human history dating back as much as 4000 years. Apart from its almost vertical cliffs looking north and east, the peninsula's most prominent feature is the lighthouse at Pointe-au-Pere National Historic Site, which rises 30 metres above the St. Lawrence, guiding navigators past the formidable headland.