Harricana River

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

The Harricana River and its mouth at Hannah Bay is visible on the left.

The Harricana River is a river in western Quebec and northeastern Ontario, Canada. It is 533 km (331 mile) long, has a drainage area of 29,300 km² (11,310 mile²), and has a mean discharge of 570 m³/s (745 yd³/s) ^[1]. While most of its drainage area is in Quebec, the river flows for a short distance through Ontario before it ends in Hannah Bay off James Bay.

The Harricana originates at Lac Blouin just north of Val-d'Or. From here it flows through Malartic and La Motte Lakes, and through the town of Amos. North of Amos extensive logging takes place along the river's shores. The northern portion flows through undeveloped wilderness. Because of this and the easy access upstream, the Harricana River is popular for canoeing trips to James Bay.

The river's name, alternatively known as the Harricanaw River, originates from the Algonquin word Nanikana meaning "the main way".^{[citation needed]}