Rivière aux Écorces (Pikauba River tributary)
The Rivière aux Écorces is a tributary of the Pikauba River, in the province of Quebec, in Canada. Its course successively crosses the regional county municipalities (MRC) of: The Rivière aux Écorces valley is mainly accessible by the route 169 (route d'Iberville); other secondary forest roads have been developed in the sector for forestry and recreational tourism activities. Forestry is the primary economic activity in the sector; recreational tourism, second. The surface of the Rivière aux Écorces 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. Taking its source at some altitude, in the "lac de la Hauteur des Terre", the Rivière aux Écorces crosses the lake of the same name. Its course over is generally oriented towards the north, almost entirely included in the Laurentides Wildlife Reserve. The main watersheds neighboring the Morin River are: The Rivière aux Écorces rises at the mouth of the "Lac de la Hauteur des Terres" (length: ; altitude:) in the forest zone in the Laurentides Wildlife Reserve. This source is located at: From its source , the Rivière aux Écorces flows over with a drop of entirely in the forest zone, according to the following segments: Upper course of the Rivière aux Écorces (segment of ) Intermediate course of the Rivière aux Écorces, in front of the Rivière aux Écorces North-East (segment of ) Intermediate course of the Rivière aux Écorces, downstream from the Rivière aux Canots (segment of ) Lower course of the Rivière aux Écorces (segment of ) The Rivière aux Écorces flows on the west bank of the Pikauba River. This confluence is located at: From the confluence of the Rivière aux Écorces with the Pikauba  River, the current successively descends the Pikauba River on toward north-east, then the current crosses the Kenogami Lake on toward north-east up to the Barrage de Portage-des-Roches, then follows the course of the Chicoutimi River on to the east, then the northeast, and the course of the Saguenay River on east to Tadoussac where it merges with the Saint Lawrence estuary. Toponymy. On the map of Eugène Taché (1880), the Rivière aux Écorces was only a segment of about in length, south of Kenogami Lake, then merging with the Chicoutimi River; the rest of the river  to the south, being designated "R. Upicauba". However, in 1886, the surveyor J. Maltais clarified and attributed to the watercourse a length of . In the 1950s, the toponym "Rivière aux Écorces" was finally used alone to designate this river, whereas at the beginning of the century, and even until 1942, the identification, still ambiguous, was Rivière aux Écorces or Upikaubau. The toponym "Rivière aux Écorces" was formalized on December 5, 1968, at the Place Names Bank of the Commission de toponymie du Québec.