Val-d'Or is a gold town on the Canadian Shield, far enough northwest in Quebec that the forest feels close even on the edge of town. Its name means "valley of gold", and the point of visiting is not subtle: the city grew from the 1920s gold rush and still explains itself through mines, workers' houses, and hard northern distances.
The reason to stop is La Cité de l'Or, where you can go underground into the former Lamaque Mine and walk the adjacent Bourlamaque Mining Village. Those two anchors give Val-d'Or a stronger identity than most service towns on long northern roads. Les Jardins à Fleur de Peau adds a softer, stranger stop on the shore of Lake Blouin.
This is not a city to cross Quebec for on its own. But if you are already in Abitibi-Témiscamingue, Val-d'Or is worth a day because its best sights belong to the place rather than to a generic road stop.