Rivière à Mars


The Rivière à Mars is a tributary of the Baie des Ha! Ha! Crossing the borough La Baie, in Saguenay, in the administrative region of Saguenay–Lac-Saint-Jean, in Quebec, in Canada. The "rivière à Mars" is a tributary of the Saguenay River and has its source in the Laurentides Wildlife Reserve. This river to salmons was badly affected by the Saguenay Flood which occurred from July 19 to 21, 1996.
From the mouth of the river, the "rivière à Mars" valley is served by the route 381 which cuts the river at La Baie, "chemin des Chutes" and "Chemin Saint-Louis", as well as by rail. Upstream, this valley is served by the Consol Paper road and a few other secondary forest roads for forestry and recreational tourism activities.
Forestry is the main economic activity in this valley; industrial and port activities, second; recreational tourism activities, third.
The surface of the Mars river is usually frozen from the beginning of December to the end of March, however the safe circulation on the ice is generally done from mid-December to mid-March.

Geography

Taking its source at the mouth of a small lake at above sea level in the Laurentides Wildlife Reserve, the "rivière à Mars" flows from south to northeast in a descent comprising several tumultuous and rugged segments. The "rivière à Mars" flows over with a drop of especially in the forest zone except the last segment of in industrial zone and urban at the end of the course, according to the following segments:
Upper course of the rivière à Mars
Intermediate course of the rivière à Mars
Lower course of the rivière à Mars
The Mars River flows into the Baie des Ha! Ha! from the Saguenay fjord after crossing the borough of La Baie, in Saguenay. From there, the current crosses the Baie des Ha! Ha! Northeast on, then follow the course of the Saguenay River east on until Tadoussac where it merges with the Saint Lawrence estuary.

Aquatic fauna

The river offers fishing for Atlantic salmon and sea trout. Salmon fishing is wading and fly fishing only on the most easily accessible of river.
From 1894 to 1935, the Price Brothers company operated a private fishing club on the river in Mars. In 1930, the construction of a dam limited access to salmon and allowed timber to float until 1952. Following major seeding and development work, including the creation of a fishway for salmon, the Association of sport fishermen of the Mars river was formed in 1983, and fishing reopened in 1992.
Nowadays, is a non-profit organization which manages fishing on the À Mars river and exploits the of Atlantic salmon and sea trout. You can enjoy a salmon and sea trout interpretation trail, as well as a window for underwater observation of the salmon thanks to its migratory pass.

History

During colonization, around the 1870s, the first colonist to settle on the banks of the river was named Mars Simard, hence the origin of the name of the "Mars river".
The toponym "Rivière à Mars" was formalized on December 5, 1968, at the Place Names Bank of the Commission de toponymie du Québec.

Appendices

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