This river crosses the Laurentides Wildlife Reserve. The Pikauba River Valley is mainly accessible via the route 169 and the route 175. Other secondary forest roads have been developed in the area for forestry and recreational tourism activities.. The Pikauba River and Pikauba Lake have enjoyed a considerable reputation among hunters and fishermen since the end of the 19th century. Throughout the region, trout abounded and caribou hunting was once very popular. The surface of the Pikauba River is usually frozen from late November to early April, however safe circulation on the ice is generally from mid-December to late March.
Geography
The Pikauba River is one of the most important rivers between Quebec and Saguenay. Bordered by steep mountains, its narrow course is dotted with rapids and has several falls; it widens downstream, rich in the waters of its drainage basin which includes the Apica, Écorces, Pika and Petite Pikauba rivers. Increasingly tumultuous, it flows into the western part of Kenogami Lake. The Pikauba River originates at the dike at the southeast mouth of Pikauba Lake which has another outlet, the Cyriac River; this other mouth is located at the bottom of a bay on the north shore. This lake is located in the central part of the Laurentides Wildlife Reserve. This lake has a length of, a maximum width of, an altitude is and an area of. This lake has a narrowing generating a strait of a hundred meters in width demarcating the northern part of the lake. The mouth of the south-east of the lake flowing into the Pikauba river is located at:
north-east of route 175 connecting the towns of Quebec and Saguenay ;
south-east of the junction of roads route 175 and route 169;
south-west of the dam at the mouth of Lake Ha! Ha!;
From the southeast mouth of Pikauba Lake, the Pikauba River flows over, with a drop of, according to the following segments: Upper course of the Pikauba river
south-west to the outlet of lakes Jupiter, Violon and Général Tremblay, corresponding to a bend of the river located near route 175;
towards the south-east along the route 175, up to Philippe stream ;
towards the north by collecting the Dominus stream at the start of the segment, then by collecting the Sauce stream, up to the stream at La Joke whose confluence is located downstream from a bend in the river;
towards the northeast by forming a W at the end of the segment, up to the Gagnon stream ;
towards the northwest, bending towards the northeast by going around a mountain, to its mouth.
The Pikauba River flows into a bay on the south shore of Kenogami Lake, west of Pointe Finnigan which is attached to the south shore of the lake. This confluence of the Pikauba river is located at:
west of the entrance to Épiphane Bay which is on the north shore of the lake;
west of the confluence of the Cyriac River and Kenogami Lake;
west of route 175;
south-west of the Portage-des-Roches dam;
southwest of downtown in the Jonquière sector of the city of Saguenay ;
south-west of the confluence of the rivière aux Sables and Saguenay River;
south-west of the confluence of the Chicoutimi River and the Saguenay River.
From the confluence of the Pikauba river with the Kenogami Lake, the current crosses this lake for towards the northeast until the dam of 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 eastwards to Tadoussac where it merges with the Saint Lawrence estuary.
Toponymy
The specific "Pikauba" designates two rivers and a lake in the "Laurentian wildlife reserve". Father Laure's 1731 map identifies this watercourse "Ouapikoupau river". According to Father Joseph-Étienne Guinard, in the Innu and Cree languages in particular, there is the "pikobaw" form that Father Laure translates from the Innu language as "tightened or masked by rushes". Another source claims rather that "pikobaw" breaks down into "pik", meaning "menu", "kobaw" meaning "scrub" and "wabi" meaning "white"; thus, this translation generates “white brush” or “small brush”. In 1981, the Commission de toponymie du Québec adopted a change in the designation of this watercourse. Maps from 1900 to 1930 refer to the hydronyms "Grande Rivière Pikauba" and Petite Rivière Pikauba. The place names "Chicoutimi" and "Pikauba" officially replaced them in 1940. More recently, usage has confirmed that the part of the river south of Kenogami Lake is called "Pikauba river" and its tributary, that of “Petite rivière Pikauba”. The toponym "Pikauba river" was formalized on January 8, 1981, at the Place Names Bank of the Commission de toponymie du Québec.
