Rapides du Cheval Blanc
| Rapides du Cheval Blanc | |
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Rapides du Cheval Blanc Park
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 Location of Rapides du Cheval Blanc Park on the island of Montreal
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| Location | Pierrefonds-Roxboro, Montreal, Quebec, Canada |
| Coordinates | 45°30′50″N 73°50′17″W / 45.5139°N 73.8381°WCoordinates: 45°30′50″N 73°50′17″W / 45.5139°N 73.8381°W |
| Operated by | City of Montreal |
There are three locations in Quebec, Canada with the name "Rapides du Cheval Blanc". This article is on the rapids between the north side of the Island of Montreal, and the south side of Sainte-Dorothée, Laval.
The Rapides du Cheval Blanc, or White Horse Rapids, flow between the Island of Montreal, Pierrefonds-Roxboro and Sainte-Dorothée, Laval on the Rivière des Prairies in Quebec. The name also refers to a protected woods, a public city park adjacent to the rapids, and to a fault line underneath the area. The rapids are visible at the public park. The name "Rapides du Cheval Blanc" is applied to a large area.
The name Whitehorse or Cheval Blanc comes from several legends, one of which is 18th-century legend of a white horse that would emerge from the Rivière des Prairies, and terrorize villagers and ravage crops. Another legend says a horse was pulling a cart on a ferry across the river to Île Bizard when the cable connecting the ferry to the shore broke and it drifted downstream. At the height of the rapids, the horse escaped. Another legend is that of a white horse that carried the materials for the construction of the Church of Sault-au-Récollet jumped aboard a boat in the middle of the rapids.
The land being next to the Rivière des Prairies is subject to spring flooding and has flooded many times in the past.
The river is owned by both the Federal and Provincial governments. The Federal government, Fisheries and Oceans Canada polices the water, the Provincial polices the earth, the bottom of the river and the north and south shorelines. Floating buoys are placed in the river during the summer to aid boat navigation. The river cleanliness is usually good according to the RSMA (Réseau de suivi du milieu aquatique) water testing that is done weekly during warm weather. Rapides du Cheval Blanc is numbered RDP-180. The river temperature can be found on the RSMA (Réseau de suivi du milieu aquatique) water quality report, it peaks at 25 degrees Celsius in the months of July and August.
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