The Rouge River (, , ) is a

river A river is a natural stream of fresh water that flows on land or inside Subterranean river, caves towards another body of water at a lower elevation, such as an ocean, lake, or another river. A river may run dry before reaching the end of ...

flowing in the

Laurentides The Laurentides (, ) is a region of Quebec. While it is often called the Laurentians in English, the region includes only part of the Laurentian Mountains. It has a total land area of and its population was 589,400 inhabitants as of the 2016 C ...

, in the municipality of

Grenville-sur-la-Rouge Grenville-sur-la-Rouge () is a municipality in the Argenteuil Regional County Municipality in the Laurentides region of Quebec, Canada. It is a predominantly Francophone community situated along the southern border of Quebec between Montreal and ...

, in the

Argenteuil Regional County Municipality Argenteuil () is a regional county municipality located in the Laurentides region of Quebec, Canada. Its seat is Lachute. History In 1682, Charles-Joseph d'Ailleboust was granted by Louis de Buade de Frontenac, Governor General of New France, a ...

, in the administrative region of

, in the west of

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, ...

, in western

, Canada. This river takes its source at Lac de la Fougère and flows south to empty into the

Ottawa River The Ottawa River (, ) is a river in the Canadian provinces of Ontario and Quebec. It is named after the Algonquin word "to trade", as it was the major trade route of Eastern Canada at the time. For most of its length, it defines the border betw ...

near

Pointe-au-Chêne Grenville-sur-la-Rouge () is a municipality in the Argenteuil Regional County Municipality in the Laurentides region of Quebec, Canada. It is a predominantly Francophone community situated along the southern border of Quebec between Montreal an ...

and flows north of Mont Tremblant, of which it is a tributary of the left bank. It is in the

, about halfway between

Ottawa Ottawa is the capital city of Canada. It is located in the southern Ontario, southern portion of the province of Ontario, at the confluence of the Ottawa River and the Rideau River. Ottawa borders Gatineau, Gatineau, Quebec, and forms the cor ...

and

Montreal Montreal is the List of towns in Quebec, largest city in the Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Quebec, the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, second-largest in Canada, and the List of North American cit ...

. Its name is derived from the reddish tint of its sandbanks. The river is a popular destination for

whitewater Whitewater forms in the context of rapids, in particular, when a river's Stream gradient, gradient changes enough to generate so much turbulence that air is trapped within the water. This forms an unstable current that foam, froths, making t ...

rafting Rafting and whitewater rafting are recreational outdoor activities which use an inflatable raft to navigate a river or other body of water. This is often done on whitewater or different degrees of rough water. Dealing with risk is often a ...

. Its last 10 kilometres are renowned for

. It is the main body of water in an area comprising hills, valleys, lakes, and waterfalls.

Communities

* Bell Falls *

Rivington Rivington is a village and Civil parishes in England, civil parish of the Borough of Chorley, Lancashire, England, occupying . It is about southeast of Chorley and about northwest of Bolton. Rivington is a rural area consisting primarily of ...

* Harrington *

Arundel Arundel ( ) is a market town and civil parish in the Arun District of the South Downs, West Sussex, England. The much-conserved town has a medieval castle and Roman Catholic cathedral. Arundel has a museum and comes second behind much la ...

* Huberdeau * Brébeuf * Lac-Duhamel * Lac Lamoureux * La Conception-Station * Daoust * Marchand * L'Annonciation * Rivière-Rouge * Petit-Lac-Lanthier * Lac-Lanthier-Ouest * L'Ascension *

Sienna Sienna () is an earth pigment containing iron oxide and manganese oxide. In its natural state, it is yellowish brown, and it is called raw sienna. When heated, it becomes a reddish brown, and it is called burnt sienna.''Shorter Oxford English ...

Features

* Mouth of rivière-rouge: * Rapides Maskinongé: * The Canyons * The Turbo * Surprise * Devil's Door

Hydrography

The main neighboring watersheds of the Rouge River are: * north side: Maskinongé River; * west side: Petite rivière Saumon, Petite-Nation River, Maskinongé River, Nominingue River; * east side: Kingham River,

Calumet River The Calumet River is a system of industrialized rivers and canals in the region between the south side of Chicago, Illinois, and the city of Gary, Indiana. Historically, the Little Calumet River and the Grand Calumet River were one, the former ...

, Beaven River, Diable River, Macaza River, Lenoir River; * south side:

. The Rouge river has its source at Lac de la Fougère, located at the northern end of the township of Dupont, in the unorganized territory of Lac-Matawin at about of altitude. From Fougère Lake, the Rouge River flows south, crossing Red Lake formed by the widening of the river. The river winds along the entire length of the western limit of the Rouge-Matawin Wildlife Reserve that it separates from the Zec de la Maison-de-Pierre. When leaving the wildlife reserve, it has already lost more than in altitude. The landscape also changes from a rocky plateau to a sandy plain and crosses its first village, L'Ascension, then

Labelle Labelle was an American funk rock band that originated out of the Blue Belles, a girl group who were a popular vocal group of the 1960s and 1970s. The original group was formed after the disbanding of two rival girl groups in the area around ...

and La Conception. About twenty kilometers downstream, it meets the Nominingue River and then changes its course in a south-southeast direction. At the end of a route, the Red River flows on the north shore of the

between the village of Calumet and the municipality of

, in the territory of the

. In the last long segment, the river has several falls and rapids, including the First, Second and Third Nigger-Eddy Rapids. Among its main tributaries, the Rouge River receives water from: * east side: the Lenoir River, Macaza River and the rivière du Diable rivers, passing to Saint-Jovite; * west side: the Maskinongé River and the Nominingue River. The Red River watershed covers . The course of the river is generally peaceful (except the last segment of ) with many U and S meanders.

2019 floods

In late April 2019, water flows reached 10 times the normal flow due to heavy flooding in the area. Fearing dam failure, authorities evacuated citizens down the stream of the Bells Fall dam.

History

The region was inhabited by the

Iroquois The Iroquois ( ), also known as the Five Nations, and later as the Six Nations from 1722 onwards; alternatively referred to by the Endonym and exonym, endonym Haudenosaunee ( ; ) are an Iroquoian languages, Iroquoian-speaking Confederation#Ind ...

until the end of the 19th century. Under the leadership of the priest François-Xavier-Antoine Labelle, the river served as a path of colonization which saw the birth of most of the communities along its course and its tributaries. The Chute Bell Powerhouse was installed from its mouth in

1915 Events Below, the events of World War I have the "WWI" prefix. January *January – British physicist Sir Joseph Larmor publishes his observations on "The Influence of Local Atmospheric Cooling on Astronomical Refraction". *January 1 * ...

Toponymy

The Rouge River valley served as a penetration route for the pioneers responding to calls for colonization in the north of Montreal made by the priest Antoine Labelle. In French Canada, the Catholic dioceses exercised the role of planning for the establishment of parishes and of organizing parishes in the territories of colonization. A map by Franquelin, dated 1699, indicated the "Red River" as an extension of the "North River". Hypotheses have been made by historians as to the origin of this hydronym. The most likely hypothesis makes the link with the slightly reddish hue of the waters of the river, due to the oxidation of certain types of rocks of the

Canadian Shield The Canadian Shield ( ), also called the Laurentian Shield or the Laurentian Plateau, is a geologic shield, a large area of exposed Precambrian igneous and high-grade metamorphic rocks. It forms the North American Craton (or Laurentia), th ...

that cross the river. However, its water is said to be clearer than that of neighboring rivers. Another explanation would come from a red chalk deposit located at Grand lac Nominingue that the

Algonquins The Algonquin people are an Indigenous people who now live in Eastern Canada and parts of the United States. They speak the Algonquin language, which is part of the Algonquian language family. Culturally and linguistically, they are closely ...

and

used to paint themselves. Flowing at the western edge of the Rouge-Matawin Wildlife Reserve, the term "red" of this river has been transposed to the latter. The toponym Rivière Rouge was formalized on December 5, 1968, by the

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

.Commission de toponymie du Québec - Rivière Rouge
/ref> Among other things, the river gave its name to the Rivière-Rouge Ecological Reserve, the Rouge-Matawin wildlife reserve and the communities of Rivière-Rouge and

References

{{reflist
The Atlas of Canada
map showin
of rouge river and last few sets of rapids
* Fowke, Ethan. ''Canadian Folklore. '' New York: Oxford University Press, 1988.