Cloutier River
# Cloutier River

The Cloutier river (in French: rivière Cloutier) flows in the municipalities of Sainte-Apolline-de-Patton, Notre-Dame-du-Rosaire, Cap-Saint-Ignace, in the Montmagny Regional County Municipality, in the administrative region of Chaudière-Appalaches, in Quebec, in Canada.

The Cloutier river is a tributary of the southwest shore of the Bras Saint-Nicolas, which flows on the southeast shore of the rivière du Sud (Montmagny); the latter flows north-east to the south shore of the St. Lawrence River.

## Geography

The main neighboring watersheds of the Cloutier river are:

* north side: St. Lawrence River, Bras Saint-Nicolas, Inconnue River;
* east side: Bras Saint-Nicolas, Méchant Pouce River;
* south side: rivière du Sud (Montmagny), Fraser River, Alick River;
* west side: rivière des Perdrix, rivière du Sud (Montmagny).

The Cloutier river "has its source on the northern slope of the Notre Dame Mountains, in the municipality of Sainte-Apolline-de-Patton. Several branches of mountain and forest streams feed the head of the Cloutier river.

From its source, the Cloutier river flows over 16.9 kilometres (10.5 mi), with a drop of 95 metres (312 ft), divided into the following segments:

* 4.8 kilometres (3.0 mi) towards the north by pronouncing a curve towards the west, in Sainte-Apolline-de-Patton, to the limit of Notre-Dame-du-Rosaire;
* 1.1 kilometres (0.68 mi) northward, up to the limit of the townships of Ashburton (Notre-Dame-du-Rosaire) and Bourdages (Sainte-Apolline-de-Patton);
* 7.3 kilometres (4.5 mi) northeasterly, up to the limit between Sainte-Apolline-de-Patton and Cap-Saint-Ignace;
* 0.6 kilometres (0.37 mi) by forming a loop towards the north in Cap-Saint-Ignace, up to the limit of Sainte-Apolline-de-Patton;
* 3.1 kilometres (1.9 mi) northeasterly, up to its confluence.

The Cloutier river flows on the southwest bank of the Bras Saint-Nicolas. This confluence is located upstream of the "Great lock" and downstream of the mouth of the Méchant Pouce River.

## Toponymy

The toponym Rivière Cloutier was formalized on December 5, 1968, at the Commission de toponymie du Québec.

