The course of river in Quebec (upper segment) has its beginnings the Matapédia Valley in the regional county municipality of La Mitis of the Gaspé Peninsula, in the administrative region of Gaspésie-Îles-de-la-Madeleine, while its end forms the natural provincial border between Quebec and New Brunswick before flowing into the Restigouche River at the "Million Dollar Pool".

Also known as the Patapédia Pool, the deep, cold reservoir gets its name from the abundance of salmon that gather there every season.

The mouth of the lake is located at: The Patapédia river flows on 91.2 kilometres (56.7 mi) generally toward the Southeast, entirely in forest land.

[4] The CGRMP (Corporation de Gestion des Rivières Matapédia et Patapédia - Management Corporation of Rivers Matapedia and Patapédia) administers sport fishing area of the river; it is a non-profit organization constituted as of March 5, 1991 under the 3rd part of "Loi des compagnies du Québec".

The upstream migration of salmon in the Patapédia River is usually done in early June, while between 600 and 1,000 specimens date back its course.