The Moncouche River (French: rivière Moncouche) is a tributary of the east bank of the Métabetchouane River, crossing the

Laurentides Wildlife Reserve Réserve faunique des Laurentides (), also known by its former name of parc des Laurentides, is a wildlife reserve in Quebec, Canada, located between Quebec City and the Saguenay–Lac-Saint-Jean region. This reserve is part of the network of ...

, flowing in the

province A province is almost always an administrative division within a country or sovereign state, state. The term derives from the ancient Roman ''Roman province, provincia'', which was the major territorial and administrative unit of the Roman Empire ...

from

Quebec Quebec ( ; )According to the Canadian government, ''Québec'' (with the acute accent) is the official name in Canadian French and ''Quebec'' (without the accent) is the province's official name in Canadian English is one of the thirtee ...

, to

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by tot ...

. The course of this river crosses the: *unorganized territory of Belle-Rivière, in the Lac-Saint-Jean-Est Regional County Municipality, in the administrative region of

Saguenay–Lac-Saint-Jean Saguenay–Lac-Saint-Jean (, ) is a region in Quebec, Canada. It contains the Saguenay Fjord, the estuary of the Saguenay River, stretching through much of the region. It is also known as Sagamie in French, from the first part of "Saguenay" and th ...

; *unorganized territory of Lac-Jacques-Cartier, in the MRC of

La Côte-de-Beaupré Regional County Municipality La Côte-de-Beaupré is a regional county municipality in the Capitale-Nationale region of Quebec, Canada. The seat is Château-Richer. Its most populous community is the municipality of Boischatel. Subdivisions There are 11 subdivisions within ...

, in the administrative region of Capitale-Nationale. Forestry is the main economic activity in this valley; recreational tourism, second. The surface of the Moncouche River (except the rapids zones) is usually frozen from the end of November to the beginning of April, however the safe circulation on the ice is generally done from mid-December to the end of March.

Geography

The main watersheds near the Moncouche river are: *north side: Métabetchouane River,

Huard lake The lac Huard is a body of water crossed by the Huard River, in the catchment area of the Ha! Ha! River and Saguenay River. This body of water is located in the municipality of Ferland-et-Boilleau, in the Le Fjord-du-Saguenay Regional County Mun ...

and rivière à la Carpe; *east side: rivière aux Écorces, rivière aux Montagnais, ruisseau Contourné; *south side: Métabetchouane River; *west side: Métabetchouane River,

Métabetchouane Lake The lac Métabetchouane is a fresh body of water crossed by the Métabetchouane River, in the unorganized territory of Lac-Moncouche, in the Lac-Saint-Jean-Est Regional County Municipality, in the administrative region of Saguenay–Lac-Saint ...

. The Moncouche River rises at the mouth of Starr Lake (length: ; altitude: ). This misshapen lake looks like a big X or a star; it has two large bays to the north, two in the center and two to the south. From its source (mouth of Lake Starr), the course of the Moncouche River descends on with a drop of , according these segments: * southward, to the northeast shore of Saint-Véran Lake; * to the southwest crossing

Saint-Véran Saint-Véran (; oc, Sent Veran �sã vˈʀã is a commune in the Hautes-Alpes department in southeastern France in the Queyras Regional Natural Park. Geography Saint-Véran, located in the French Alps, is the most elevated commune in France and ...

(altitude: ) over its full length; * to the southwest crossing Moncouche Lake (altitude: ) over its full length. Note: Saint-Véran Lake and Moncouche Lake are interconnected, thus providing for pleasure boating. * to the south, until the confluence of the rivière aux Montagnais (coming from the east); * to the southwest, in particular by bypassing an island and crossing Lake Méandre, until it meets the Métabetchouane River.Atlas of Canada from the Department of Natural Resources Canada - Characteristics extracted from the geographic map, the database and the site instrumentation - consulted on January 2, 2020.
/ref> From the confluence of the Moncouche river, the current descends the Métabetchouane River northward on to the south shore of lac Saint-Jean; thence, the current crosses the latter on towards the northeast, then follows the course of the Saguenay River via

La Petite Décharge La Petite Décharge is the name of one of the two emissaries of lac Saint-Jean, the other being the La Grande Décharge. This river flows south of Alma Island, on the northwest shore of St. Lawrence River, in the town of Alma, in the Lac-Saint ...

on to Tadoussac where it merges with the Saint Lawrence estuary.

Toponymy

The toponym "rivière Moncouche" was formalized on December 5, 1968, at the Place Names Bank of the

Commission de toponymie du Québec The Commission de toponymie du Québec (English: ''Toponymy Commission of Québec'') is the Government of Québec's public body responsible for cataloging, preserving, making official and publicize Québec's place names and their origins according ...

.Commission de toponymie du Québec - Rivière Moncouche
/ref>

Geography

Toponymy

Notes and references

See also