Outardes River, river in Côte-Nord (“North Shore”) region, east-central Quebec province, Canada, rising in the Otish Mountains and flowing southward for 480 km (300 miles) through Lake Plétipi to the St. Lawrence River, 29 km (18 miles) southwest of Baie-Comeau. Named after the numerous wild geese for which it is famous, the Outardes River, with its many rapids and falls, attracted hydroelectric development in the 1930s and, in the 1960s, the Manicouagan-Outardes project of Hydro-Québec.