| Cachée River | |
| Pushpin Map: | Quebec |
| Subdivision Type1: | Country |
| Subdivision Name1: | Canada |
| Subdivision Type2: | Province |
| Subdivision Name2: | Quebec |
| Subdivision Type3: | Region |
| Subdivision Name3: | Capitale-Nationale |
| Subdivision Type4: | Regional County Municipality |
| Subdivision Name4: | La Jacques-Cartier and La Côte-de-Beaupré |
| Subdivision Type5: | Unorganized territory and a municipality |
| Subdivision Name5: | Lac-Jacques-Cartier and Stoneham-et-Tewkesbury |
| Length: | 26.9km (16.7miles)[1] |
| Source1: | Cachée Lake |
| Source1 Location: | Lac-Jacques-Cartier |
| Source1 Coordinates: | 47.2433°N -71.165°W |
| Source1 Elevation: | 768 |
| Mouth: | Jacques-Cartier River |
| Mouth Location: | Stoneham-et-Tewkesbury |
| Mouth Coordinates: | 47.1119°N -71.3656°W |
| Mouth Elevation: | 250 m |
| Tributaries Left: | (Upward from the mouth) Décharge des lacs Côté et Taché, décharge du lac Garneau, ruisseau Bureau (décharge du lac Bureau). |
| Tributaries Right: | (Upward from the mouth) Ruisseau non identifié, décharge du Lac de l'Entrée, décharge du lac Joncas. |
The Rivière Cachée is a tributary of the Jacques-Cartier River, flowing in the administrative region of Capitale-Nationale, in Quebec, Canada. The course of the river crosses the unorganized territory of Lac-Jacques-Cartier in the La Côte-de-Beaupré Regional County Municipality, as well as the township municipality unis de Stoneham-et-Tewkesbury, located in the MRC La Jacques-Cartier Regional County Municipality.
The course of the river flows entirely in a forest zone in the Jacques-Cartier National Park which is affiliated with the Société des établissements de plein air du Québec (Sépaq).
The Cachée river valley is mainly served by the route 175 which links the towns of Quebec and Saguenay. A few secondary roads serve this area for forestry and recreational tourism activities.[2]
Forestry is the main economic activity in the sector; recreational tourism, second.
The surface of the Cachée River (except the rapids areas) 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.
The Cachée river draws its source from Lac Caché (length: ; altitude:), located in the unorganized territory of Lac-Jacques-Cartier, in the Laurentides Wildlife Reserve (at the eastern limit of Jacques-Cartier National Park), in the MRC of La Côte-de-Beaupré Regional County Municipality. This head lake is located between two mountains, on the southern slope of the watershed with the hydrographic slope of the Montmorency River.
The Cachée River drains a catchment area of .[1]
From the mouth of the Cachée, the course of the Cachée river descends on [1] towards the southwest generally up to the Jacques-Cartier River with a drop of according to the following segments:
The Cachée river flows on the east bank of the Jacques-Cartier River, south of the Montagne de l'Épaule and opposite the Montagne de la Cachée. Facing this confluence, the hamlet Rivière-Cachée is located on the south bank of the Cachée river and on the east side of the Jacques-Cartier river. From this confluence, the current descends the Jacques-Cartier River for generally south to the northeast bank of the St. Lawrence River.
The 1852 map of provincial surveyor Frederic William Blaiklock mentions "River Caché". The traditional indigenous variant of the toponym is Taontaraseti, the name the Wendats use to speak of the Hidden River.
The toponym "Rivière Cachée" was formalized on December 5, 1968 at the Place Names Bank of the Commission de toponymie du Québec.[4]