| Outardes River | |
| Name Other: | Rivière aux Outardes |
| Map: | Outardes map.png |
| Map Size: | 250px |
| Subdivision Type1: | Country |
| Subdivision Name1: | Canada |
| Subdivision Type2: | Province |
| Subdivision Name2: | Quebec |
| Subdivision Type3: | Region |
| Subdivision Name3: | Saguenay–Lac-Saint-Jean, Côte-Nord |
| Length: | 499km (310miles)[1] |
| Discharge1 Avg: | 400m3/s |
| Source1: | Unnamed wilderness, about 20km (10miles) south of the Otish Mts. |
| Source1 Location: | Mont-Valin |
| Source1 Coordinates: | 52.0728°N -70.5583°W |
| Mouth: | Saint Lawrence River |
| Mouth Location: | Pointe-aux-Outardes |
| Mouth Coordinates: | 49.0619°N -68.4661°W |
| Mouth Elevation: | 0m (00feet) |
| Basin Size: | 19000km2 |
The Rivière aux Outardes or Outardes River is a river in Quebec, Canada. The river originates in the Otish Mountains, and flows in a southerly direction for its entire course. It passes through Lake Plétipi and Burnt Islands Lake (Îles Brûlées), and widens about midway to form the large Outardes 4 Reservoir. It drains into Outardes Bay of the Saint Lawrence River, about 20km (10miles) southwest of Baie-Comeau.
At its mouth, the Outardes River widens and flows over a sandbar, making it extremely shallow. There are several islands in Outardes Bay of which the most notable are White Island (île Blanche), a rock of white granite 23m (75feet) high, and Mine Island (île de la Mine), a bare red rock reaching 15m (49feet) high.[2]
The river was first called Cane or Caen River by Jean Alfonse in 1544. The name riviere aux Outardes came in use following its appearance on maps by Jacques-Nicolas Bellin in 1744 and 1764. English maps from the end of the 18th century and early 19th century would show "Bustard River", as a translation of the archaic French word bistarde or oustarde. Today outardes is the Canadian French word for Canada geese. The indigenous Innu called the river Pirebistibit, Peritibistokou, Pletipishtuk, or Piletipîstuk Shipu which means "partridge river".[2]
Among its significant tributaries are:
The river has been developed for hydro-electric power generation as part of the Manic-Outardes Project in the 1960s and 1970s. There are three power plants: