The northeastern boundary of this forested area of of the ZEC starts at about twenty kilometers southwest of Lac Saint-Jean or near the village of Sainte-Hedwidge. ZEC has nearly 400 lakes. On the east side, the ZEC is bounded by two major rivers, the rivers Ouiatchouaniche and Croche. The largest lakes in area are Panache Lake, "des Casques", "aux Eaux-Mortes" and "De la Baie". The latest delimitation of the ZEC was defined in October 1991. Rivers Segments of some streams and rivers crossing the west of the ZEC belong to the upper watershed system of Saint-Maurice River, such as rivers Raimbault, "à la Corne" and Croche. Having a length of about 60 km, the La Lièvre River rises in lake Giroux, formerly referred to as "Lac de la Lièvre". Flowing south, the La Lièvre River constitutes the western boundary of the ZEC over 40 km. Then the river flows into the Trenche river, a major tributary of the Saint-Maurice River where the waters flow to Trois-Rivières. Camping and services ZEC offers hundreds of campsites, of which three campgrounds around the lake Brosseau and one at lake Labonté. The main ZEC reception station is located near Saint-Hedwidge. The second entrance station is located south of the ZEC, near "Lac aux Goélands". The snowmobile trail and mountain bike cross from east to west the territory of the ZEC.
Logging operations on "La Lièvre"
In the past, logging were the predominant economic activity in the territory of the ZEC, including the former logging camp "Dépôt-de-la-Lièvre" has been in operation for over 70 years. At the height of operations in the sector of rivière La Lièvre, "Veillet et Frères Limitée" contracted between 3000 and 3500 workers assigned to the timber. The work of cutting wood was distributed among 45 to 50 forest contractors. Following the death of Jeffrey Veillet, which occurred in 1946, Consolidated Paper has taken over directly woodcutting. The company "Veillet & Frères Limitée" was dissolved in 1947.
The name of the ZEC has its origins in the former name of the main headwater lake, the Giroux Lake which flows into the La Lièvre River running through the ZEC. Despite a temporary designation Raimbault River in 1917, the popular name for the river contained several variants: Little Hare River, River Little Hare, The Hare and The Hare Grosse. Although the French word "lièvre" is masculine, feminine remains by removing the term "river", to denote the "rivière La Lièvre". The name "Zec de la Lièvre" was formalized on December 18, 1986 at the Bank of place names in the Commission de toponymie du Québec.
