Rivière à l'Ours Ouest
The Rivière à l'Ours Ouest ("English: West Bear River") is a tributary of the rivière à l'Ours, flowing in the municipality of Havre-Saint-Pierre, in the Minganie Regional County Municipality, in the administrative region of Côte-Nord, in the province of Quebec, in Canada. Except for the route 138 serving the lower part of the Bear River, this valley is served by winter snowmobile routes. The surface of the West Bear River is usually frozen from the beginning of November to the end of April, except the rapids areas; however, traffic on the ice is  generally safe from late November to early April. Geography. The West Bear River takes its source from an unidentified lake (length: ; altitude: ) located in Havre-Saint-Pierre. This head lake surrounded by a set of small lakes. The mouth of this head lake is located on the northeast shore. This mouth is located at: From the mouth of the head lake, the West Bear River flows over with a drop of , especially in forest areas, according to following segments: The West Bear River flows onto the southwest bank of the Rivière à l'Ours, in an area where there are several  marsh areas. This confluence is located at: From the mouth of the West Bear River, the current follows the course of the Bear River on towards the south-east, then crosses on east of Victor Bay until bypassing Victor Island, which is part of the north shore of the Estuary of Saint Lawrence. Toponymy. The toponym "Rivière à l'Ours Ouest" was formalized on December 5, 1968, at the Place Names Bank of the Commission de toponymie du Québec.