| Petite rivière à l'Ours | |
| Subdivision Type1: | Country |
| Subdivision Name1: | Canada |
| Subdivision Type2: | Province |
| Subdivision Name2: | Quebec |
| Subdivision Type3: | Region |
| Subdivision Name3: | Saguenay-Lac-Saint-Jean |
| Subdivision Type4: | MRC |
| Subdivision Name4: | Le Domaine-du-Roy Regional County Municipality |
| Subdivision Type5: | Municipality |
| Subdivision Name5: | Saint-Félicien |
| Length: | 13.1km (08.1miles) |
| Source1: | Small unidentified lake |
| Source1 Location: | Saint-Félicien |
| Source1 Coordinates: | 48.6406°N -72.5872°W |
| Source1 Elevation: | 239m (784feet) |
| Mouth: | Ashuapmushuan River |
| Mouth Location: | Saint-Félicien |
| Mouth Coordinates: | 48.6231°N -72.4572°W |
| Mouth Elevation: | 108m (354feet) |
| Progression: | Rivière à l'Ours, Ashuapmushuan River, Lac Saint-Jean, Saguenay River |
| Tributaries Left: | (upstream) Four stream discharges. |
| Tributaries Right: | (upstream) Discharge from three streams, discharge from a stream draining several small lakes. |
The Petite rivière à l'Ours - West (English: "Little Bear River" - West) is a tributary of rivière à l'Ours, flowing in the municipality of Saint-Félicien, in the Le Domaine-du-Roy Regional County Municipality, in the administrative region of Saguenay–Lac-Saint-Jean, in the province of Quebec, in Canada.
The upper part of the Petite Rivière à l'Ours valley is served by forest roads. The lower part is served by chemin du rang Simple, chemin du rang Double and rue Notre-Dame.[1]
Forestry is the main economic activity in the upper part of this valley; agriculture, for the lower part.
The surface of the Little Bear River is usually frozen from the beginning of December to the end of March, except the rapids areas; however, safe traffic on the ice is generally from mid-December to mid-March.
The Little Bear River takes its source from an unidentified small lake (length: ; altitude:), in the western part of the municipality from Saint-Félicien. This lake is fed by an area of marsh that surrounds it. The mouth of this small lake is located at:
From the mouth of the head lake, the Little Bear River flows over with a drop of especially in forest areas, depending on the segments following:
The Little Bear River flows into a bend on the west bank of the rivière à l'Ours. This confluence is located at:
From the mouth of the Little Bear River, the current successively descends the course of the rivière à l'Ours] over east, then northeast; the Ashuapmushuan River towards the south-east on ; then crosses lake Saint-Jean east on (ie its full length), follows the course of the Saguenay River via the Petite Décharge on east to Tadoussac where it merges with the Saint Lawrence Estuary.[2]
The rivière à l'Ours has two tributaries with the same toponymic designation: Little Bear River. The watercourse covered by this article constitutes the western branch.
The toponym "Little Bear River" was formalized on December 5, 1968, at the Place Names Bank of the Commission de toponymie du Québec.[3]