Primarily known today for its white water canoeing and fishing, the river has a rich history from the native Indian era to exploration, fur trading, and logging.

For almost its entire length, the Dumoine River forms the boundary between the Pontiac and Témiscamingue regional county municipalities.

[3] The indigenous people, coming from the Great Lakes via the French and Mattawa Rivers, used the Dumoine as an alternate northern route to reach trading partners in the Mauricie, Quebec City and Atlantic regions.

[3] On May 14, 2008, the Quebec Minister of Sustainable Development, Environment and Parks announced interim protection for 1,445 square kilometres (558 sq mi) of the Dumoine River watershed.

Paddling down the Dumoine is considered exciting and rewarding by canoeists because of the large number of runnable rapids and its fast, reliable current.

This dangerous chute once had 35 pairs of hobnail boots nailed to surrounding trees as memorials to the loggers who had drowned there.

For take-out, it requires either crossing the Ottawa River (2.5 km wide at this point) to Ontario's Driftwood Provincial Park, or paddling 12 kilometres (7 mi) downstream to Rapides-des-Joachims, Quebec.