This river has two main sources in the Laurentian Mountains, at Grandes-Piles: Upper course From Lac à la Truite, the waters descend for a kilometre to empty into Lac Tavibois (length: 400 metres (1,300 ft); altitude: 205 metres (673 ft)) at Grandes-Piles, located in the Tavibois area.

From the dam at the mouth of Lake Tessier, the current heads northeast over 0.5 kilometres (0.31 mi), towards Le Chaudron mountain, before turning southeast to descend on 0.4 kilometres (0.25 mi) crossing Chemin des Petites-Forges, up to a stream (coming from the northeast).

From there, the course of the river heads south on 1.6 kilometres (0.99 mi) first by forming serpentines, then crossing the Petit lac du Castor (length: 0.6 kilometres (0.37 mi); altitude: 174 metres (571 ft)) and very narrow), to the dam located at its mouth, south of the lake.

Lower course From there, the river heads northeast on 650 metres (2,130 ft) where it crosses the Saint-Tite boundary.

On most of its route, approximately 13.2 kilometres (8.2 mi) (measured by water) from the mouth of lac à la Truite (or 17.9 kilometres (11.1 mi) from lac Jean-Baptiste), the river flows mainly in a forest environment.