Tortue River
The Tortue River (; ) is a river in the Côte-Nord administrative region, in the province of Quebec, Canada. The course of this river successively crosses the RCM of: It flows into the Gulf of Saint Lawrence. The southern part of the Tortue River watershed is served by the route 138 which runs along the north shore of the estuary of Saint Lawrence. Location. The river originates from Turtle Lake (length: octopus-shaped; altitude: ). This lake has an island in its center-north. It is fed mainly by: (clockwise) the discharge of a small lake, the discharge (coming from  the west) of a group of lakes, the discharge (coming from the north) of a lake, a stream (coming from the north), the discharge (coming from the northeast) of a set of lakes, the discharge (coming from the east) of some lakes. The mouth of Tortue Lake is located west of a bay in lake Manitou, east of lake Nipisso and northwest of the north shore of the Gulf of St. Lawrence. The river flows more or less in parallel to the west of the Manitou River and to the east of the Bouleau River. The Tortue River flows on  towards the south, with a drop of , according to the following segments: Upper course of the Turtle River (segment of ) Lower course of the Turtle River (segment of ) Lower course of the Turtle River (segment of ) The mouth of the Tortue River is in the municipality of Rivière-au-Tonnerre in the Minganie Regional County Municipality. A painted metal bridge carries Quebec Route 138 over the river nears its mouth. Toponymy. The origin of the name is unknown. It was made official on 5 December 1968. The names of local European settlers are reflected in Moïse Maher Lake, located between  the Manitou River and the Tortue River, and in the Ruisseau Philippe Henley, a tributary of the Tortue river. Basin. Part of the river basin is in the unorganized territories of Rivière-Nipissis and Lac-Jérôme and part in the municipality of Rivière-au-Tonnerre. The river basin covers . It lies between the basins of the Sault Plat River to the west and the Manitou River to the east. A map of the ecological regions of Quebec shows the river basin in sub-regions 6j-T and 6m-T of the east spruce/moss subdomain.