The Noire River (also known as the Black River or ''Rivière Noire'' in French) is a river in western

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 ...

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 ...

. It runs in a south-eastern direction into the Ottawa River at

Waltham, Quebec Waltham, also known as Waltham Station is a village and municipality in the Outaouais region, Quebec, Canada, part of the Pontiac Regional County Municipality. It is located at the mouth of the Noire River, along the north shore of the Ottawa Ri ...

. It is named after the dark colour of its water (''noire'' is French for "Black"). This river is often grouped together with the Dumoine and

Coulonge River The Coulonge River (; ) is a predominantly wilderness river in western Quebec, Canada. One of a dozen or so significant tributaries of the Ottawa River, it has a length of and a drainage area of , and runs in a general south-eastern direction fro ...

s as three of a kind. All three are in the same area, have similar characteristics, and are popular with

whitewater Whitewater forms in a rapid context, in particular, when a river's gradient changes enough to generate so much turbulence that air is trapped within the water. This forms an unstable current that froths, making the water appear opaque and ...

canoers. A landmark on the lower Noire River was the Black River Inn. Built during the boom of the

log driving Log driving is a means of moving logs (sawn tree trunks) from a forest to sawmills and pulp mills downstream using the current of a river. It was the main transportation method of the early logging industry in Europe and North America. Histor ...

era in the early 20th century, the inn was a bustling depot for lumberjacks at that time. Afterwards, it catered to outdoor tourism as an outfitter for hunting, fishing, and canoeing along the Noire River. The Black River Inn burnt down on March 6, 2021.

Geography

The Noire River springs from an unnamed location in wilderness just south of

La Vérendrye Wildlife Reserve La Vérendrye wildlife reserve is one of the largest reserves in the province of Quebec, Canada, covering of contiguous land and lake area (Assinica wildlife reserve is the largest in the province, but its territory is broken up in four non-cont ...

. It flows through Quebec's portion of the Canadian Shield and is marked by sections of rocky whitewater alternated by

meander A meander is one of a series of regular sinuous curves in the channel of a river or other watercourse. It is produced as a watercourse erodes the sediments of an outer, concave bank ( cut bank) and deposits sediments on an inner, convex ba ...

ing sections through sand valleys. Typical trees in this area are Black Spruce,

Jack Pine Jack pine (''Pinus banksiana'') is an eastern North American pine. Its native range in Canada is east of the Rocky Mountains from the Mackenzie River in the Northwest Territories to Cape Breton Island in Nova Scotia, and the north-central and ...

, Eastern White Pine,

Red Pine ''Pinus resinosa'', known as red pine (also Norway pine in Minnesota), is a pine native to North America. Description Red pine is a coniferous evergreen tree characterized by tall, straight growth. It usually ranges from in height and in trun ...

, juniper,

alder Alders are trees comprising the genus ''Alnus'' in the birch family Betulaceae. The genus comprises about 35 species of monoecious trees and shrubs, a few reaching a large size, distributed throughout the north temperate zone with a few sp ...

, and

birch A birch is a thin-leaved deciduous hardwood tree of the genus ''Betula'' (), in the family Betulaceae, which also includes alders, hazels, and hornbeams. It is closely related to the beech- oak family Fagaceae. The genus ''Betula'' contains ...

. The river is undeveloped except the last , where cottages and even an inn line the river. Just before it flows into the Ottawa River, there is dam with a power generating station on the Noire River.

Paddling the Noire River

The Noire River is not navigable until the confluence with Coughlin Creek, about from its end. From here, the rapids that can be run are mostly Class 1 or 2 (based on medium water levels). A total of are runnable whitewater. Notable rapids on the Noire are: *km 114, "The Wall" - technical Class 2. *km 100, "Targie" - Class 3 to 2. *km 51, "50-50" - Class 3. *km 40 to 30 - continuous Class 1 and swifts (except in low water) One portage of note is the one around Mountain Chute. One has to take either a long route through arduous terrain or a shorter one that begins at the top of the falls and ends in a steep near-vertical descent requiring ropes.

Hydroelectric station and dam

The river has been used for hydroelectric power generation since the beginning of the 20th century and is reputedly the first commercial station in Canada. A high capacity gravity concrete dam was built in 1937 and modified in 1994. The dam is high, long, and has a capacity of 13,800 m³ (18,050 yd³). The dam and W.R. Beatty Generating Station are near the mouth of the river at the outlet of Robinson Lake and generate 10.6 MW. Originally owned by the Pembroke Electric Light Company and then the Pontiac Hydro Commission, it was acquired in 1996 by Brookfield Power.

References

External links

{{Commons category-inline Rivers of Outaouais Tributaries of the Ottawa River