River
Clutha River / Mata-Au
338 km from source to mouth · New Zealand.
New ZealandFlows into Pacific Ocean2nd longest in New Zealand
In numbers
Length
338km
Average flow
600m³/s
Basin
21,960km²
Drop
374m
from 374 m to 0 m
Country
1
The journey
From source to mouth
338 km of river and 21 stops on the way: 3 towns and cities on its banks, dams, bridges and the tributaries that feed it.
- 0 kmSourceat 374 m
- 1 kmStewart Falls90 m
- 76 kmLake Wānaka195 km²
- 80 kmHāwea Rivertributary
- 81 kmCardrona Rivertributary
- 91 kmThe Red Bridge
- 113 kmLindis Rivertributary
- 137 kmCromwell5,160 people
- 138 kmKawarau Rivertributary
- 157 kmLake Dunstan22 km²
- 159 kmEarnscleugh Bridge
- 168 kmAlexandra5,830 people
- 170 kmManuherikia Rivertributary
- 200 kmLake Roxburgh3.4 km²
- 200 kmRoxburgh Dam
- 228 kmMillers Flat Bridge
- 252 kmBeaumont Rivertributary
- 279 kmTuapeka Rivertributary
- 296 kmPomahaka Rivertributary
- 316 kmBalclutha Road Bridge
- 316 kmBalclutha4,441 people
- 334 kmPūerua Rivertributary
- 338 kmPacific Oceanat 0 m
Water level along the river (RiverATLAS; the height is exaggerated). Towns: GeoNames and Wikidata; bridges, dams and tributaries: Wikidata.
River in the South Island of New Zealand
At the mouth it carries 600 m³/s on average: an Olympic pool every 4.2 seconds. It drops from 374 m to 0 m, 1.1 m per kilometre on average. Its basin covers 21,960 km², about the size of SV. 54,000 people live in it. Highest water: from May to August. Dams and reservoirs hold back a large share of its water (17% of a year's flow).
Where to start
- AlexandraLargest city on its banks · 5,830 people
- Queenstown Airport (ZQN)Nearest airport with scheduled flights, 55 km from the cityCar hire at ZQN airport (Queenstown)Discover Cars · Affiliate link↗
- On the water26 ferry piers, marinas, boat rentals and boat ramps along the river (OpenStreetMap)
- From December to MarchThe best months to visit
Clutha River / Mata-Au, month by month
Highest water: from May to August
Best months to visit: from December to March.
From about 450 m³/s in the lowest month to 1,000 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
Clutha River / Mata-Au: the basin in numbers
20,630 km² of land send their water to this river. This is what lives on it.
- 54,000people live in the basin
- 3/km²people per km²
- 792maverage altitude of the basin
- 1,387mmof rain a year (basin average)
- 7.5°Caverage air temperature
- 28%protected areas
- 3.4%covered by lakes
- 1%glaciers
- 3.1km³held in reservoirs
What covers the basin
- 8% Forest
- 1% Cropland
- 68% Pasture
- 1% Ice
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
Clutha River / Mata-Au: what you find on the way
- 5WaterfallsStewart Falls and 4 more
- 22Boat rampsWharf Creek Boat Ramp, Dinorling St Boat Ramp and 20 more
- 4Ferry piersMou Waha, Outlet Camp and 2 more
- 3River beachesShellbacks Beach, Pinders Pond
From OpenStreetMap, within 2.0 km of the river. Not mapped is not the same as not there.
Cross-checked with our atlases
Clutha River / Mata-Au 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.
1waterfall on the riverCascadyas
3lakes on its wayLakeyas
3beaches at the mouth and on the banksCoastya
14mountains at the sourcePeakyas
Waterfalls (1)
On the river, by Cascadyas
- Stewart Fallskm 190m
Cascadyas is coming soonOpen Cascadyas ↗
Lakes and reservoirs (3)
Lakes it flows through, by Lakeyas
- Lake Wānakakm 73 · 300 m deep195km²
- Lake Dunstankm 15122km²
- Lake Roxburghkm 1923.4km²
Lakeyas is coming soonOpen Lakeyas ↗
Beaches (3)
At the mouth (25 km) and on the banks, by Coastya
- Smiths Beach10 km away14.0°C
- Measly Beach19 km away13.8°C
- Hinahina Cove24 km away · cove13.6°C
Mountains at the source (14)
Within 15 km of the source, by Peakyas
- Roys Peak9.2 km away1,578m
- Mount Maude8.5 km away1,315m
- Criffel Peak11 km away1,237m
- Tyrwhitt Peak14 km away473m
- Mount Burke13 km away
- Little Criffel14 km away
- Mount Barker7.5 km away
- Mount Iron3.9 km away
6 more on PeakyasOpen Peakyas ↗
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
Clutha River / Mata-Au in pictures
Tributaries
Where it flows, and what flows into it
Tributaries (12)
Also: Kawarau River, Cardrona River, Pomahaka River, Manuherikia River, Lindis River, Tuapeka River, Hāwea River, Beaumont River, Pūerua River, Earnscleugh or Fraser River, Teviot River, Waitepeka River
Where these numbers come from
| Name, length, places | Wikidata (Q613522) · 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 | Cascadyas, 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?
Same idea, other landscapes: field atlases built on open data, month by month, in seven languages.
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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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Every canyon cut to scale: depth to the floor, rim and floor temperatures, trails and viewpoints.Coming soonVisit