This watercourse crosses the Laurentides Wildlife Reserve and Grands-Jardins National Park.

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

The "rivière de l'Enfer" rises from Grand lac des Enfers (length: 2.6 kilometres (1.6 mi) in the shape of a misshapen banana with four large peninsulas; altitude: 950 metres (3,120 ft)), located in a forest area in Lac-Pikauba.

The mouth of this small lake is located to the southwest, at: From the mouth of Grand lac des Enfers, the course of the Hell river descends on 16.2 kilometres (10.1 mi), with a drop of 230 metres (750 ft), depending on the segments following: The Hell River flows into a bend on the west bank of the Malbaie River, in the unorganized territory of Lac-Pikauba, in Grands-Jardins National Park.

[1] In French Canadian toponymy, already in the 19th century, the term Hell was used to designate these entities as well as a mountain pierced by a deep crevasse, located southeast of Grand lac des Enfers.