The town is located on the eastern shores of the Du Lièvre River, 47 kilometers (29 mi) north of Buckingham.

In 1883, the parish of Notre-Dame-de-la-Garde was formed, and two years later, the United Township Municipality of Bowman-et-Villeneuve was established.

[4] In 1929, James Maclaren began construction on a dam at the High Falls of the Lièvre River, displacing 156 families because of the rising waters.

The majority of them where German settlers, the average amount the families received from the MacLaren Co. were, depending on the acreage, between $1000 and $2000 each.

[6] In 1958, Villeneuve was renamed to Val-des-Bois (French for "Valley of the Woods"), in reference to the beautiful forest which decorated the banks of the Lièvre River.