The Northwest River in Newfoundland and Labrador is a whitewater run located approximately two hours from the provincial capital of St. John's. It flows more or less parallel to, and south of, the Terra Nova River, ultimately emptying into Bonavista Bay north of Port Blandford. Northwest Pond sits roughly 7 kilometres upstream from the river's mouth and serves as a reference point along the route, with various starting points available upstream of it.

The river is characterized as a classic eastern-style bedrock run with pool-drop rapids. The majority of the run grades at class III-IV, though sections of class V difficulty are present throughout, making it suitable both as a training ground for paddlers developing harder whitewater skills and as a legitimate challenge for experienced class V boaters. It is considered one of the established benchmark runs in Newfoundland's paddling community and is frequently cited alongside other notable routes in the province.

The river has drawn attention from paddlers well beyond the local community. American kayakers visited in the 1990s as part of what they described as a "Fantasy Island" expedition, and subsequent visits by film crews and kayak manufacturer teams in the 2000s helped raise the profile of Newfoundland paddling more broadly. Despite this outside interest, the local paddling community has done the most systematic work in assessing and documenting the river and others in the region.

The run is documented in the guidebook "Canyons, Coves and Coastal Waters: Choice Canoe and Kayak Routes of Newfoundland and Labrador" by Murphy, Price, and Redmond (Breakwater, St. John's, 1996), which remains a key reference for paddlers planning trips in the province.