River
Brazos River
1,352 km from source to mouth · United States.
United StatesFlows into Gulf of Mexico
In numbers
Length
1,352km
Average flow
240m³/s
Basin
116,000km²
Drop
450m
from 450 m to 0 m
Country
1
The journey
From source to mouth
1,352 km of river and 30 stops on the way: 15 towns and cities on its banks, dams, bridges and the tributaries that feed it.
- 0 kmDouble Mountain Fork Brazos Riverat 450 m
- 12 kmDouble Mountain Fork Brazos Rivertributary
- 12 kmSalt Fork Brazos Rivertributary
- 113 kmSeymour2,575 people
- 199 kmState Highway 120 Bridge at the Brazos River
- 311 kmPossum Kingdom Lake51 km²
- 313 kmPossum Kingdom Bridge
- 420 kmUS 281 Bridge at the Brazos River
- 493 kmGranbury10,958 people
- 512 kmLake Granbury24 km²
- 572 kmPaluxy Rivertributary
- 651 kmLake Whitney71 km²
- 705 kmBellmead10,164 people
- 712 kmWaco138,486 people
- 712 kmWaco Suspension Bridge
- 737 kmLake Creek Lake2.0 km²
- 848 kmLittle Rivertributary
- 959 kmNavasota Rivertributary
- 1,063 kmSan Felipe691 people
- 1,128 kmRosenberg35,510 people
- 1,138 kmPecan Grove15,963 people
- 1,141 kmRichmond12,138 people
- 1,151 kmNew Territory15,186 people
- 1,154 kmGreatwood11,538 people
- 1,172 kmSienna Plantation13,721 people
- 1,206 kmHarris Reservoir5.3 km²
- 1,219 kmTenneco Lake Number 20.5 km²
- 1,222 kmEast Columbia128 people
- 1,235 kmBrazoria2,866 people
- 1,247 kmLake Jackson28,177 people
- 1,260 kmFreeport10,696 people
- 1,352 kmGulf of Mexicoat 0 m
Water level along the river (RiverATLAS; the height is exaggerated). Towns: GeoNames and Wikidata; bridges, dams and tributaries: Wikidata.
River in Texas, United States
At the mouth it carries 238 m³/s on average: an Olympic pool every 11 seconds. It drops from 450 m to 0 m, 0.3 m per kilometre on average. Its basin covers 116,000 km², about the size of MW. 2.8 million people live in it. Highest water: from May to June and from November to December. It is heavily dammed: reservoirs can hold 204% of a year's flow.
Where to start
- WacoLargest city on its banks · 138,486 people
- Waco Regional Airport (ACT)Nearest airport with scheduled flights, 10 km from the cityCar hire at GRK airport (Fort Cavazos)Discover Cars · Affiliate link↗
- On the water40 ferry piers, marinas, boat rentals and boat ramps along the river (OpenStreetMap)
- From March to April and from October to NovemberThe best months to visit
Brazos River, month by month
Highest water: from May to June and from November to December
Best months to visit: from March to April and from October to November.
From about 90 m³/s in the lowest month to 370 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
Brazos River: the basin in numbers
109,492 km² of land send their water to this river. This is what lives on it.
- 2.8millionpeople live in the basin
- 26/km²people per km²
- 462maverage altitude of the basin
- 734mmof rain a year (basin average)
- 17.7°Caverage air temperature
- 0.5%covered by lakes
- 15km³held in reservoirs
What covers the basin
- 10% Forest
- 38% Cropland
- 48% Pasture
- 2% Towns and cities
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
Brazos River: what you find on the way
- 3WeirsLake Brazos Dam
- 2LocksBrazos River East Floodgate, Brazos River West Floodgate
- 30Boat rampsHamm Creek Park Boat Ramps and 29 more
- 7MarinasThe Dock, Indian Harbor Marina /Stiletto’s Lakeside Kitchen, Juniper Cove Marina and 4 more
- 4River beachesSandy Beach, Canoe Docks, Mcc beach and 1 more
From OpenStreetMap, within 2.4 km of the river. Not mapped is not the same as not there.
Cross-checked with our atlases
Brazos 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.
6lakes on its wayLakeyas
1beach at the mouth or on the banksCoastya
2mountains at the sourcePeakyas
Lakes and reservoirs (6)
Lakes it flows through, by Lakeyas
- Possum Kingdom Lakekm 30851km²
- Lake Granburykm 50624km²
- Lake Whitneykm 64471km²
- Lake Creek Lakekm 7282.0km²
- Harris Reservoirkm 1,1925.3km²
- Tenneco Lake Number 2km 1,2060.5km²
Lakeyas is coming soonOpen Lakeyas ↗
Beaches (1)
At the mouth (25 km) and on the banks, by Coastya
- Bryan Beach3.5 km away29.8°C
Mountains at the source (2)
Within 15 km of the source, by Peakyas
- Kiowa Peak10 km away
- Davidson Peak6.0 km away
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
Brazos River in pictures
Tributaries
Where it flows, and what flows into it
Tributaries (13)
Also: Paluxy River, Navasota River, Little River, Bosque River, Double Mountain Fork Brazos River, Clear Fork Brazos River, Salt Fork Brazos River, Aquilla Creek, Elm Creek, Keechi Creek, Mill Creek, Yegua Creek, Nolan River
Nearby
Rivers nearby
United States1,387 km21,700 m³/s66 km awayTrinity RiverUnited States1,140 km210 m³/s117 km awaySabine RiverUnited States820 km270 m³/s197 km awayNueces RiverUnited States507 km30 m³/s238 km awayRio GrandeUnited States3,051 km85 m³/s369 km awayRed RiverUnited States2,189 km1,900 m³/s427 km awayAtchafalaya RiverUnited States270 km240 m³/s411 km awayWhere these numbers come from
| Name, length, places | Wikidata (Q903306) · CC0 |
|---|---|
| Course, profile, basin | RiverATLAS v1.0 (HydroATLAS, Linke et al. 2019) · CC BY 4.0 — followed from the source to the mouth 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 | Lakeyas, Coastya, Peakyas — 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?
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beaches
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Every waterfall: height, flow month by month and when it roars.Coming soonVisit 
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Every island from the sea up: size, sea temperature, ferries and 3D.Coming soonVisit 
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Every river from source to sea: the journey, the flow and the basin in numbers.You are here
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