The lower part of the Écartée river valley is mainly served by the rang Saguenay road which first goes north and branches west to serve the north shore of the Bras du Nord including the hamlet Pine Lake.

The water level of the river varies with the seasons and the precipitation; the spring flood occurs in March or April.

The Écartée river flows for 3.2 kilometres (2.0 mi) to the southwest by rolling down a mountainside in the municipality of Saint-Raymond, with a drop in level of 206 metres (676 ft).

This watercourse descends entirely in a small valley in a forest environment according to the following segments: It flows upstream from a bend in the Bras du Nord, ie 3.3 kilometres (2.1 mi) west of the Verte River and 6.5 kilometres (4.0 mi) west of the Sainte-Anne River.

[1] The toponym "Rivière Écartée" was registered on December 5, 1968 at the Place Names Bank of the Commission de toponymie du Québec.