| Rivière aux Pins | |
| 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 Regional County Municipality |
| Length: | 14.14km (08.79miles) |
| Source1: | Forested creek |
| Source1 Location: | Stoneham-et-Tewkesbury |
| Source1 Coordinates: | 47.0435°N -71.2545°W |
| Source1 Elevation: | 438 m |
| Mouth: | Montmorency River |
| Mouth Location: | Sainte-Brigitte-de-Laval |
| Mouth Coordinates: | 46.9853°N -71.1972°W |
| Mouth Elevation: | 159 m |
| Tributaries Left: | (Upward from the mouth) |
| Tributaries Right: | (Upward from the mouth) Lac du Capitaine, Lac des Coudres |
The Rivière aux Pins (English: Pine River) is a tributary of the Montmorency River, which is a tributary of the north shore of the St. Lawrence River, flowing in Sainte-Brigitte-de-Laval, in the La Jacques-Cartier Regional County Municipality, in the administrative region of Capitale-Nationale, in the province of Quebec, in Canada.
The lower part of this valley is served by avenue Sainte-Brigitte, by rue des Monardes and by rue du Ruisseau. The upper part is served by a secondary forest road. Forestry is the main economic activity in this valley; second, recreational tourism.
Because of its altitude, the surface of the Richelieu River is generally frozen from the beginning of December until the end of March; however, safe traffic on the ice is generally from mid-December to mid-March. The water level of the river varies with the seasons and the precipitation; the spring flood occurs in March or April.
The Rivière aux Pins rises from a small lake located 638 m above sea level in the mountains, 1.2 km south of Lac Turgeon which drains west into the Turgeon River.
Course of the river
From this head lake, the "rivière aux Pins" descends from the mountains in forest territory, over 12.9 km, with a drop of 238 m, according to the following segments:
Main hydrographic slopes
The main hydrographic slopes neighboring this river are:
From the confluence of the "rivière aux Pins", the current flows over generally southward along the Montmorency river, to the northwest shore of the St. Lawrence river.[1]
The designation "Rivière aux Pins" evokes the fact that in XIXth pines were present on the territory around this river; this species was rather rare elsewhere in the area belonging to Séminaire de Québec.
Five species of such conifers, among 28 species, grow in Quebec. As part of the genus Pinus and of the family Pinaceae, the pines consist of the following main species: Scots pine, hard pine (Pinus rigida), jack pine (Pinus banksiana or divaricata), red pine (Pinus resinosa) and white pine (Pinus strobus).
Depending on the species, pine is used in particular for the construction of buildings, rail tracks, poles, stilts, exterior and interior woodwork, the manufacture of pulp, the manufacture of musical instruments. Pine is also used as firewood. Under the French Regime, pine wood was used for the construction of Royal Navy vessels, notably the masts. In the mid-XIXth and XXth, an army of loggers took care of the felling of the pines, and the transport of wood on forest roads and the transport by floating to sawmills or to paper mills. The exploitation of pine contributed to the colonization of Mauricie, the Gatineau Valley, Lac-Saint-Jean and Abitibi-Témiscamingue, in particular.
The toponym "Rivière des Pins" was formalized on February 4, 1982, at the Place Names Bank of the Commission de toponymie du Québec.[2]