The Grande Rivière flows successively in the regional county municipalities (MRC) of: The Grande Rivière has its source at Fournier Lake (length: 0.5 kilometres (0.31 mi); altitude: 345 metres (1,132 ft)) which is located in the municipality of Sainte-Perpétue in the heart of the Notre Dame Mountains.

[1] From its source, the Grande Rivière flows over 32.5 kilometres (20.2 mi) in forest areas, divided into the following segments: Upper part of the Grande Rivière (segment of 18.5 kilometres (11.5 mi)) Lower part of the Grande Rivière (segment of 14.0 kilometres (8.7 mi)) The confluence of the river is located in the municipality of Saint-Gabriel-Lalemant, very close to the limit of Saint-Onésime-d'Ixworth.

This confluence is 3.5 kilometres (2.2 mi) south of the center of the village of Saint-Gabriel-de-Kamouraska, 8.6 kilometres (5.3 mi) east of the center of the village of La Pocatière, at 6.5 kilometres (4.0 mi) south of the center of the village of Saint-Pacôme.

This confluence is located 2.2 kilometres (1.4 mi) upstream of the Chemin du Village bridge, in the hamlet of Canton-des-Roches.

The toponym La Grande Rivière was made official on December 5, 1968, by the Commission de toponymie du Québec.