Rivière du Milieu (Launière River)

The Rivière du Milieu is a tributary of the Launière River, flowing in the unorganized territory of Lac-Jacques-Cartier, in the La Côte-de-Beaupré Regional County Municipality, in the administrative region of Capitale-Nationale, in the province of Quebec, at Canada.

This watercourse is located in the center of the Laurentides Wildlife Reserve. This valley is indirectly accessible by the route 175 (route Antonio-Talbot). Secondary forest roads serve the sector for forestry and recreational tourism activities, in particular the forest road R0320 which runs on the north side of lakes Maigre and Valois and crosses the Middle River upstream of Lake Maigre.

Forestry is the main economic activity in the sector; recreational tourism, second.

The surface of the Middle River (except the rapids areas) 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 neighboring the Rivière du Milieu are:
 north side: Launière River, Honorine Lake;
 east side: Jacques-Cartier River, Jacques-Cartier Lake;
 south side: Jacques-Cartier River, Launière River, Rocheuse River;
 west side: Launière River, Champlain lake, Cavée River.

The "rivière du Milieu" has its source at the mouth of Warbonne Lake (length: ; altitude: ). This lake is enclosed between mountains whose summit culminates at  to the west and  to the east. This lake has two outlets:
 South side: after a channel of a hundred meters, the current flows into a small lake (length: ) where a dam has been built at its mouth. After this dam, the current continues on  first towards the south, then branches off towards the west to join the main course of the Rivière du Milieu;
 North side: the current flows on  first towards the north on  by collecting two streams coming from the north-east, up to a dam; then south on  by collecting the outlet (from the north) from the Corridor Lake, until the confluence of the outlet of the first outfall from Warbonne Lake.

From the confluence of the two outlets from the emissaries of Lake Warbonne, the course of the Rivière du Milieu descends on , with a drop of . Its course is described according to the following segments:

  south to the outlet (coming from the west) Lac Kay;
  towards the south-east by collecting the outlet (coming from the southwest) from Cayer lake, up to the outlet (coming from the north) from lakes Beauséjour, Sirois and Petit lac Sirois;
  to the south in a deep valley forming some serpentines, crossing on  the western end of Lac Maigre (length: ; altitude: ) up to the dam built at its mouth;
  to the south by collecting the discharge (coming from the west) from Loyer and Bout lakes, then forming a loop towards the east, up to a bend in the river, corresponding at the outlet of a stream (coming from the south-west);
  south-east, to the outlet (coming from the east) of Lac Roy and Lac Reg;
  to the south-west in a deep valley at the end of the segment, to its mouth..

The current of the Rivière du Milieu flows into a river T on the east bank of the Launière River. From there, the current over  towards the south-east in a deep valley and forming a small curve towards the north-east to go around a mountain, until its mouth. Then the current follows the course of the Jacques-Cartier River on , to the northwest shore of the Saint-Laurent river, at Sainte-Catherine-de-la-Jacques-Cartier.

Toponym 
The toponym "Rivière du Milieu" was formalized on June 6, 1973 at the Place Names Bank of the Commission de toponymie du Québec.

Notes and references

See also 

 La Côte-de-Beaupré Regional County Municipality
 Lac-Jacques-Cartier, a unorganized territory
 Laurentides Wildlife Reserve
 Launière River
 Jacques-Cartier River
 List of rivers of Quebec

External links 
 Official site of the Laurentides Wildlife Reserve

Category:Rivers of Capitale-Nationale
Category:La Côte-de-Beaupré Regional County Municipality