Gatineau River

The Gatineau River is a river in western Quebec, Canada, which rises in lakes north of the Baskatong Reservoir and flows south to join the Ottawa River at the city of Gatineau, Quebec. The river is 386 km (239.8 mi) long and drains an area of 23,700 km².

While it has been said that the river's name comes from Nicolas Gatineau, a fur trader who is said to have drowned in the river in 1683, the local Indian tribe, the Algonquin Anicinabek, assert that the name comes from their language. The name they give the river is "Te-nagàdino-zìbi", which means "The River that Stops ".

The geography of the area was altered with the construction of the Baskatong Reservoir, and it is still possible to travel upstream on the Gatineau and reach a point where a small portage will bring you to the headwaters of the Ottawa River. The Ottawa River then flows northwest and turns south where it eventually flows more easterly and connects with the Gatineau.

The river flows through the communities of:

• Maniwaki
• Low
• Wakefield
• Chelsea
• Gatineau

A covered wooden bridge over the river at Wakefield, built in 1915, was destroyed by arson in 1984, but has been rebuilt.

The Hull-Chelsea-Wakefield Railway, a tourist steam train follows the old train route up the Gatineau valley to Wakefield.