The Manitou River (French: Rivière Manitou) is a river flowing in the unorganized territory of Lac-Jérôme and in the municipality of Rivière-au-Tonnerre, in the Minganie Regional County Municipality, in the Côte-Nord region in the province of Quebec, Canada.

[2][a] It reaches the Saint Lawrence in the Canton de Coopman, near the community of Manitou halfway between Sept-Îles and Havre-Saint-Pierre.

[5] There was a proposal in May 2001 to build 36 small (less than 50 MW) hydroelectric power stations on rivers throughout Quebec, including the Manitou.

The name is common throughout Quebec except in the region south of the Saint Lawrence, and is even found in Inuit territories in the hybrid form Manitounuk.

[2] The toponym "Manitou River" was formalized on December 5, 1968 at the Commission de toponymie du Québec.

[11] The bedrock on the plateau and piedmont is covered only by a thin and discontinuous layer of undifferentiated deposits that rarely is more than 1 metre (3 ft 3 in) thick.

[10] The streams and rivers in the north follow angular courses dictated by fractures in the hard bedrock, with straight line segments meeting at right angles.

The river runs for 150 kilometres (93 mi) from north to south, with a vertical fall of 640 metres (2,100 ft).

Aigle Lake in the north covers 23.6 square kilometres (9.1 sq mi), with an irregular shape.

[10] The coastal plain extends up to 6 kilometres (3.7 mi) from the river mouth and contains a large number of peat bogs, although only three are more than 500 hectares (1,200 acres).

There was a large fire to the east of Lake Aigle, date unknown, that burned more than 9,000 hectares (22,000 acres).

It is estimated that up to 139 species of birds may nest in the watershed, taking advantage of the vast peat bogs of the coastal plain and the stretches of still water.

Cliffs near the Eudistes, Canot and Manitou lakes also provide potential habitat for birds of prey.