River
Athabasca River
1,231 km from source to mouth · Canada.
CanadaFlows into Slave River9th longest in Canada
In numbers
Length
1,231km
Average flow
620m³/s
Basin
95,300km²
Drop
247m
from 453 m to 206 m
Country
1
The journey
From source to mouth
1,231 km of river and 26 stops on the way: 0 towns and cities on its banks, dams, bridges and the tributaries that feed it.
- 0 kmColumbia Icefieldat 453 m
- 1 kmLittle Grollier Lake32 km²
- 5 kmDuplex Lake7.8 km²
- 8 kmKealy Lake0.9 km²
- 12 kmBackus Lake1.2 km²
- 18 kmChambeuil Lake8.2 km²
- 18 kmFather Lake5.2 km²
- 29 kmLittle Faraud Lake4.2 km²
- 46 kmFaraud Lake17 km²
- 63 kmYotin Lake7.5 km²
- 64 kmRobins Lake25 km²
- 81 kmHamden Lake7.1 km²
- 91 kmLittle Rhondda Lake1.3 km²
- 141 kmSelwyn Lake564 km²
- 167 kmRigden Lake3.0 km²
- 168 kmOffset Lake27 km²
- 176 kmHerbert Lake33 km²
- 180 kmDetour Lake0.5 km²
- 194 kmPiotrofsky Lake3.2 km²
- 212 kmGrove Lake15 km²
- 266 kmBurr Falls
- 301 kmBlack Lake444 km²
- 304 kmElizabeth Falls
- 311 kmMiddle Lake7.8 km²
- 313 kmWoodcock Rapids
- 328 kmStony Lake9.2 km²
- 352 kmAchimoo Lake0.8 km²
- 700 kmSlave Riverat 206 m
Water level along the river (RiverATLAS; the height is exaggerated). Towns: GeoNames and Wikidata; bridges, dams and tributaries: Wikidata.
Canadian river in Alberta province
At the mouth it carries 623 m³/s on average: an Olympic pool every 4.0 seconds. It drops from 453 m to 206 m, 0.2 m per kilometre on average. Its basin covers 95,300 km², about the size of HU. 2,360 people live in it. Highest water, with the snowmelt: from June to August; lowest: from January to April. No large dam holds it back: it is one of the world's free-flowing rivers.
Where to start
- Fort Chipewyan Airport (YPY)Nearest airport with scheduled flights, 20 km from the cityCar hire at YMM airport (Fort McMurray)Discover Cars · Affiliate link↗
- Kayak and canoe52 put-ins and rapids mapped (OpenStreetMap)
- From June to AugustThe best months to visit
Athabasca River, month by month
Highest water: from June to August
Lowest water: from January to April. Freezing months (average below −4 °C): from November to March. Melting snow makes up much of its water. Best months to visit: from June to August.
From about 380 m³/s in the lowest month to 510 m³/s in the highest. An estimate: the monthly flow is modelled from the lowest and highest months of WaterGAP (RiverATLAS, 1971–2000) and the rain and snow along the river (WorldClim). Dams change the real rhythm. The chip is the average air temperature; below it, the month's rain.
Plan the trip
Plan the trip: boat trips, a bed by the river, a car
Some links above are affiliate links: if you book through them we may earn a commission, at no extra cost to you. It never changes what the data on this page says.
The basin
Athabasca River: the basin in numbers
106,944 km² of land send their water to this river. This is what lives on it.
- 2,360people live in the basin
- 0/km²people per km²
- 399maverage altitude of the basin
- 411mmof rain a year (basin average)
- -3.9°Caverage air temperature
- 5%protected areas
- 20.0%covered by lakes
- 35%permafrost
What covers the basin
- 23% Forest
RiverATLAS (HydroATLAS v1.0, CC BY 4.0): land cover, people, protected areas, glaciers and dams over the whole basin upstream of the mouth.
Along the river
Athabasca River: what you find on the way
- 52Rapids
From OpenStreetMap, within 2.4 km of the river. Not mapped is not the same as not there.
Cross-checked with our atlases
Athabasca River in our other atlases
What our sister atlases know about the waterfalls on this river, the lakes it flows through, the beaches at its mouth, the mountains where it rises and the islands off its mouth.
3waterfalls on the riverCascadyas
23lakes on its wayLakeyas
Waterfalls (3)
On the river, by Cascadyas
- Burr Fallskm 266
- Elizabeth Fallskm 304
- Woodcock Rapidskm 313
Cascadyas is coming soonOpen Cascadyas ↗
Lakes and reservoirs (23)
Lakes it flows through, by Lakeyas
- Little Grollier Lakekm 132km²
- Faraud Lakekm 4617km²
- Robins Lakekm 6425km²
- Selwyn Lakekm 141564km²
- Offset Lakekm 16827km²
- Herbert Lakekm 17633km²
- Grove Lakekm 21215km²
- Black Lakekm 301444km²
15 more on LakeyasLakeyas is coming soonOpen Lakeyas ↗
From space
The source and the mouth, seen from orbit
Sentinel-2 cloudless 2016 by EOX IT Services GmbH (contains modified Copernicus Sentinel data 2016), CC BY 4.0. The glowing line is the river as drawn by RiverATLAS.
Photos
Athabasca River in pictures
Tributaries
Where it flows, and what flows into it
It flows into
Slave RiverCanada434 km3,500 m³/sTributaries (17)
Also: Pembina River, Sunwapta River, Lesser Slave River, Astoria River, Firebag River, Maligne River, McLeod River, Miette River, Whirlpool River, Snake Indian River, Snaring River, Fiddle River, Freeman River, Berland River, Ells River, La Biche River, Richardson River
In the same basin
Canada1,738 km10,700 m³/sPeace RiverCanada1,923 km2,100 m³/sLiard RiverCanada1,115 km2,400 m³/sFinlay RiverCanada420 km600 m³/sSouth Nahanni RiverCanada540 km400 m³/sPeel RiverCanada684 km700 m³/sHay RiverCanada702 km130 m³/sSmoky RiverCanada492 km340 m³/sGreat Bear RiverCanada113 km530 m³/sWhere these numbers come from
| Name, length, places | Wikidata (Q2216) · CC0 |
|---|---|
| Course, profile, basin | RiverATLAS v1.0 (HydroATLAS, Linke et al. 2019) · CC BY 4.0 — followed along the river network from the point given by Wikidata |
| Flow | WaterGAP (RiverATLAS), 1971–2000 · CC BY 4.0 |
| Climate along the river | WorldClim (RiverATLAS), 1970–2000 · CC BY 4.0 |
| Towns, bridges, dams | Wikidata · CC0; GeoNames · CC BY 4.0 |
| Along the river | © OpenStreetMap contributors · ODbL |
| Images | EOX Sentinel-2 cloudless 2016 · CC BY 4.0; Wikimedia Commons |
| Our other atlases | Cascadyas, Lakeyas — Wikidata · CC0; © OpenStreetMap contributors · ODbL; GeoNames · CC BY 4.0; HydroLAKES · CC BY 4.0; NOAA OISST |
Every source and licence is on the data sources page.
The family
Do you prefer beaches, lakes, mountains, waterfalls, islands, rivers or canyons?
Same idea, other landscapes: field atlases built on open data, month by month, in seven languages.
beaches
Find your beach: sea temperature, sun and swimming month by month.Visit lakes
Every lake on Earth: water temperature, ice, depth and the shore.Coming soonVisit 
mountains
Every summit in 3D: summit weather, the 0 °C line, huts and trails.Visit waterfalls
Every waterfall: height, flow month by month and when it roars.Coming soonVisit 
islands
Every island from the sea up: size, sea temperature, ferries and 3D.Coming soonVisit 
rivers
Every river from source to sea: the journey, the flow and the basin in numbers.You are here
canyons
Every canyon cut to scale: depth to the floor, rim and floor temperatures, trails and viewpoints.Coming soonVisit