Rivière du Cap Rouge


The Cap-Rouge river is a river flowing on the north shore of the Saint-Laurent river at the height of the Sainte-Foy–Sillery–Cap-Rouge borough of Quebec City and in the city of Saint-Augustin-de-Desmaures, both cities in the administrative region of Capitale-Nationale, in the province of Quebec, Canada.
The catchment area of the Cap Rouge river extends into:
The Cap Rouge river valley is mainly served by the route 367 which is perpendicular to the Saint-Laurent river, the "chemin du rang des Mines", route 138, boulevard Auclair, avenue Le Gendre, boulevard de la Chaudière, rue Provencher and rue Saint-Félix..
The surface of the Cap Rouge river is generally frozen from the beginning of December to the end of March; safe circulation on the ice is generally done from the end of December to the beginning of March. The water level of the river varies with the seasons and the precipitation; the spring flood occurs in March or April.

Geography

The river begins on the slopes of Mount Bélair and the Butte du Petit-Capsa, at the foothills of the Laurentian Mountains, and flows before ending in the Quebec City neighbourhood of Cap-Rouge as a left tributary of the Saint Lawrence River. It is also at the junction of those rivers that is located the archeological site of Charlesbourg-Royal, the earliest known French settlement in North America.
Its watershed also encompasses parts of La Jacques-Cartier Regional County Municipality, L'Ancienne-Lorette, La Haute-Saint-Charles and Saint-Augustin-de-Desmaures., where agricultural activities are found and which puts the river at risk of agricultural pollution. Measurements of ammoniacal nitrogen, nitrate and phosphorus were however all classified as "good" in 2016.
The main neighboring hydrographic slopes are:
On its course, the river crosses the districts: "Le Grand Village", "Quartier Laurentien", Jouvence and Cap-Rouge. At the end of the route, the river passes under the Tracel de Cap-Rouge, a raised railway bridge operated by the Canadian National. The river flows into the cove of Cap Rouge in the St. Lawrence River. In Quebec City, the municipal parks of Champigny, Écores and Lorraine are also located on the banks of the river, in addition to several kilometers of trails.
From its source, the Cap Rouge river flows over, with a drop of, according to the following segments:
The toponym "Cap Rouge river" originates from Cape Rouge. The Cap Rouge river is sometimes called "Rivière du Domaine" because it crosses the former seigneurial domain of Gaudarville. Explorer Jacques Cartier describes it for the first time. At high tide, it is navigable for more than a kilometer; Consequently, in the 19th century, the ferry service was abandoned and replaced by a swing bridge on Chemin du Roy. Thus, the boats and the barges can go up the course of the river to transport the cereals to the mill, the wood and the other goods of the inhabitants and the traders as well as the raw materials, the coal and the finished products of the manufacture of pottery of Cap-Rouge. In addition, its mouth allows the establishment of a small shipyard where at least two ships are built and launched. From the middle of the 18th century, the waters of the river also provided the driving force for operating mills for grinding grain and sawing wood.
The toponym "Cap Rouge River" was formalized on December 5, 1968 at the Commission de toponymie du Québec.