The Petite rivière Malbaie rises from Petit lac Malbaie, located in a forest area in the zec des Martres. This lake is landlocked between the mountains, particularly the cliffs of the eastern shore, in Lac-Pikauba. This lake is mainly fed by the discharge of a set of small lakes and two small streams flowing into the southern part of the lake. The mouth of this small lake is located to the southwest, at:
north-east of the mouth of the Petite Rivière Malbaie.
From the mouth of Petit lac Malbaie, the course of the Petite rivière Malbaie descends on, with a drop of, according to the following segments:
towards the west by collecting the discharge of a small lake, then curving towards the northeast, until the discharge of Lac Rétréci ;
westwards crossing Lac de la Mine, then on an unidentified lake, to the dam at its mouth ;
first towards the southwest curving towards the south by collecting the discharge of Lac Rocheux and the discharge of Lac Amik, as well as by cutting route 381 at the end of the segment, to the outlet of Lac Vernier;
southerly in a straight line along route 381 on the west side and passing on the east side of Mont René-Richard, to the northeast shore of Malbaie Pond;
towards the south-east, crossing the Malbaie Pond over its full length to the dam at its mouth. Note: This pond receives the outlet from Lac de la Galette and from Lac Rameau, as well as the outlet from Lac Rameau;
towards the south-east, crossing three series of rapids in a deep valley and collecting the discharge from Lac Pointu, to a stream ;
north-west, to its mouth.
The Petite rivière Malbaie flows on the east bank of the Malbaie River, in Lac-Pikauba. This mouth is located at:
In his Journal of the year 1731 , Louis Aubert de Lachesnaye describes this watercourse in the form of “Petite riviere de la Malbaye”: “When you are at the Pointe au Pique, you do the south south west half quarter place. When you have passed the anance from the point to the Pique, you usually wet the building. We go south-west and south-west quarter west to the little river of Malbaye which does not carry canoe distance from a place ". This topographic designation appears on the map of the Laurentides Park and on the regional map number 3-East, 1943, section 23 NW. Rivière Petite is a variant of this name. The toponym "Petite rivière Malbaie" was formalized on December 5, 1968 at the Place Names Bank of the Commission de toponymie du Québec.
