The rivière à Ange (English: Angel River) is a tributary of the West shore of the ruisseau du Pied du Mont (English: stream of the Mount Foot), flowing entirely in the town of Baie-Saint-Paul, in the Charlevoix Regional County Municipality, in the administrative region of Capitale-Nationale, in the province of Quebec, in Canada.

This valley is mainly served by a secondary forest road which connects to the Seminary road which cuts the intermediate part of the Pied du Mont stream. Forestry is the main economic activity in this valley; recreational tourism, second.

The surface of the Ange river is generally frozen from the beginning of December until the beginning of April; however, safe circulation on the ice is generally done from mid-December to the end of March. The water level of the river varies with the seasons and the precipitation; the spring flood generally occurs in April.

Geography

The river at Ange takes its source at the mouth of Grand lac à Ange (length: 1.2 kilometres (0.75 mi); altitude: 771 metres (2,530 ft)). This lake is enclosed between the mountains, a summit of which reaches 887 metres (2,910 ft) at 1.6 kilometres (0.99 mi) to the northeast; a summit reached 977 metres (3,205 ft) at 2.1 kilometres (1.3 mi) to the west; the summit of Montagne du Lac à Ange reaching 1,089 metres (3,573 ft) to 1.3 kilometres (0.81 mi) to the south. The mouth of this lake is located at:

• 6.5 kilometres (4.0 mi) north-east of the course of the Sainte-Anne River;
• 4.93 kilometres (3.06 mi) south-west of the confluence of the river at Ange and the ruisseau du Pied du Mont;
• 14.6 kilometres (9.1 mi) south-west of the mouth of the rivière des Mares (confluence with the Rivière du Gouffre);
• 15.5 kilometres (9.6 mi) south-west of Baie-Saint-Paul town center.^[1]

From its source, the course of the river at Ange descends on 5.0 kilometres (3.1 mi) with a drop of 291 metres (955 ft), according to the following segments:

• 3.0 metres (9.8 ft)), collecting the outlet (coming from the northwest) from Lac Paradis, to the North Arm of the Rivière à Ange (constituting the outlet of Petit lac à Ange);
• 2.0 kilometres (1.2 mi) towards the east in a deep valley by forming a curve towards the north to go around a mountain, until its mouth.^[1]

The river at Ange flows in a bend on the west bank of the ruisseau du Pied du Mont in Baie-Saint-Paul. This mouth is located at:

• 0.6 kilometres (0.37 mi) south of the seminar road;
• 4.1 kilometres (2.5 mi) south-west of the village center of Saint-Placide-Nord
• 10.8 kilometres (6.7 mi) west of downtown Baie-Saint-Paul;
• 12.3 kilometres (7.6 mi) west of the confluence of the Gouffre river and the St. Lawrence River.^[1]

From the mouth of the river at Ange, the current descends on 4.1 kilometres (2.5 mi) the course of the ruisseau du Pied du Mont; on 11.0 kilometres (6.8 mi) the course of the Mares river; then on 7.8 kilometres (4.8 mi) with a drop of 15 metres (49 ft) following the course of the Rivière du Gouffre which flows into Baie-Saint-Paul in the Saint-Laurent river.^[1]

Toponymy

This toponym appears on a 1955 map. According to oral testimony collected in 1970, this toponym refers to the first name of the guardian of the Lac Équerre facilities.^[2]

The toponym “Rivière à Ange” was formalized on March 25, 1997, at the Place Names Bank of the Commission de toponymie du Québec.^[2]

Notes and references

Appendices