The Belle Rivière is a tributary of

Lac Saint-Jean Lac Saint-Jean (, ) is a large, relatively shallow lake in south-central Quebec, Canada, in the Laurentian Highlands. It is situated north of the Saint Lawrence River, into which it drains via the Saguenay River. It covers an area of , and is ...

, flowing the unorganized territory of Belle-Rivière and in the

municipalities A municipality is usually a single administrative division having municipal corporation, corporate status and powers of self-government or jurisdiction as granted by national and regional laws to which it is subordinate. The term ''municipality' ...

of Hébertville and Saint-Gédéon, in the

Lac-Saint-Jean-Est Regional County Municipality Lac-Saint-Jean-Est () is a regional county municipality in the Saguenay–Lac-Saint-Jean region of Quebec, Canada. The seat is Alma. In 2016, 99.3% reported that they spoke French most often at home, according to the census. Subdivisions There ...

, in the administrative region of

Saguenay–Lac-Saint-Jean Saguenay–Lac-Saint-Jean (, ) is a region in Quebec, Canada on the Labrador Peninsula. 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 fi ...

, in

Quebec Quebec is Canada's List of Canadian provinces and territories by area, largest province by area. Located in Central Canada, the province shares borders with the provinces of Ontario to the west, Newfoundland and Labrador to the northeast, ...

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its Provinces and territories of Canada, ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, making it the world's List of coun ...

. The Belle Rivière valley is served by route 169, chemin du 3e rang, chemin du 2e rang, chemin du rang Caron, route des Savard, chemin du rang de la Belle-Rivière (north side of the river) and chemin du rang Sainte-Anne (south side). This valley is also served by some secondary forest roads, especially for forestry and recreational tourism activities. Forestry and agriculture are the main economic activities in this valley; followed by recreational tourism, as a second economic activity. The surface of the Belle Rivière is usually frozen from the beginning of December to the end of March, however the safe circulation on the ice is generally made from mid-December to mid-March.

Geography

Taking its source from Lac de la Belle Rivière (), this river is long. This river empties into

at Saint-Gédéon. The main watersheds neighboring the Belle Rivière are: * north side: Bédard River, Petite rivière Bédard, Rouge stream, La Petite Décharge,

Saguenay River __NOTOC__ The Saguenay River (, ) is a major river of Quebec, Canada. It drains Lac Saint-Jean in the Laurentian Highlands, leaving at Alma and running east; the city of Saguenay is located on the river. It drains into the Saint Lawrence River. ...

; * east side: Vert Lake,

Kenogami Lake Kenogami lake is a long lake in the Saguenay–Lac-Saint-Jean region of south-central Quebec, Canada. Situated at an altitude of , the lake is long and deep. "Kénogami" means "long lake" in the Montagnais dialect and was originally used to ref ...

, Cascouia River,

Pikauba River The Pikauba River is a tributary of Kenogami Lake, flowing in the province of Quebec in Canada, in the administrative regions of: * Capitale-Nationale: in the unorganized territory of Lac-Pikauba, in the Charlevoix Regional County Municipality; * ...

; * south side:

Métabetchouane River The Metabetchouan River (French: ''Métabetchouane'') is a tributary of Lac Saint-Jean in the centre of the province of Quebec, Canada. The course of this river successively crosses the regional county municipalities (MRC) of: * La Jacques-Cartie ...

, rivière du Milieu, Grand lac des Cèdres outlet, rivière aux Canots, Chaine River; * west side:

Couchepaganiche East River The Couchepaganiche East River is a tributary of the Couchepaganiche River, flowing in the municipality of Métabetchouan–Lac-à-la-Croix, in the Lac-Saint-Jean-Est Regional County Municipality, in the administrative region of Saguenay–Lac-Sa ...

, Puant stream, Dumais stream,

. The La Belle Rivière rises at Lac de la Belle Rivière (length: ; altitude: ) in the forest area. This source is located at: * south-east of route 169; * east of the village center of Saint-André-du-Lac-Saint-Jean; * south-east of

lac Saint-Jean Lac Saint-Jean (, ) is a large, relatively shallow lake in south-central Quebec, Canada, in the Laurentian Highlands. It is situated north of the Saint Lawrence River, into which it drains via the Saguenay River. It covers an area of , and is ...

; * south-east of the confluence of the La Belle Rivière and a bay on the east shore of

; * south of downtown

Alma Alma or ALMA may refer to: Arts and entertainment * ''Alma'' (film), a 2009 Spanish short animated film * ''Alma'', an upcoming film by Sally Potter * ''Alma'' (Oswald de Andrade novel), 1922 * ''Alma'' (Le Clézio novel), 2017 * ''Alma'' ( ...

; * south-east of the entrance to the La Petite Décharge. From its source ( lac de la Belle Rivière), the Belle Rivière flows over with a drop of entirely in the forest and agricultural zone, according to the following segments: * north-east, up to a stream (coming from the south); * northerly, curving northwest, to La Belle Rivière (coming from the southwest); * towards the north by entering agricultural land and zigzagging at the end of the segment, until the confluence of the rivière des Aulnaies (coming from the south-east); * north-west, up to a stream (coming from the east) which the area around the village Hébertville-Station; * west to its mouth. La Belle Rivière pours into the bottom of a bay on the eastern shore of

. This confluence is located at: * south of the entrance to the bay; * south of the mouth of

(via La Petite Décharge); * south-west of downtown

; * south-west of downtown

Chicoutimi Chicoutimi ( , ) is the most populous borough (arrondissement) of the city of Saguenay in Quebec, Canada. It is situated at the confluence of the Saguenay and Chicoutimi rivers. During the 20th century, it became the main administrative and ...

(sector of Saguenay (city)); * west of the village center of

Hébertville Hébertville () is a municipality (Quebec), municipality in Quebec, Canada. History Hébertville was founded in 1849 and is named for the priest Nicolas-Tolentin Hébert (1810-1888), the son of Jean-Baptiste Hébert, a Patriot representative ...

. From the mouth of La Belle Rivière on the east shore of

, the current goes north on crossing this last lake, follows the course of the

via La Petite Décharge on until

Tadoussac Tadoussac () is a village municipality in La Haute-Côte-Nord RCM (Regional County Municipality), on the north shore of the maritime section of the estuary of St. Lawrence river, in Côte-Nord region, Quebec, Canada. Geography Tadoussac is ...

where it merges with the Saint Lawrence estuary.

Toponymy

Its name comes from the montagnais "Mirochip8" which means "beautiful river". It has also previously been known as the Couchepagane River Kushpahigan or . The toponym "La Belle Rivière" was formalized on December 5, 1968, at the Place Names Bank of the Commission de toponymie du Québec.Commission de toponymie du Québec - Bank of Place Names - Toponym: "La Belle Rivière"
/ref>

Geography

Toponymy

Notes and references

See also