The Rouge River is located in the Laurentides, about halfway between Ottawa and Montréal. The river is a popular destination for whitewater rafting. Whitewater is formed in a rapid, when a river’s gradient drops enough to form a bubbly, or aerated and unstable current; the foam covered water appears white. Rafting is a recreational activity utilizing a raft to navigate a river or other body of water. Usually it is done on whitewater of different degrees of difficulty, in order to thrill and excite the raft passengers. The development of this activity as a leisure sport has become popular since the mid 1980’s. The southern portion of the Rouge River is most commonly used for white water rafting, as the northern section of the river, such as pictured above near the town of Rivière-Rouge, is usually quite calm.