River
Dalälven
220 km from source to mouth · Sweden.
SwedenFlows into Gävle Bay
In numbers
Length
220km
Average flow
350m³/s
Basin
29,000km²
Drop
139m
from 143 m to 4 m
Country
1
The journey
From source to mouth
220 km of river and 35 stops on the way: 6 towns and cities on its banks, dams, bridges and the tributaries that feed it.
- 0 kmSourceat 143 m
- 0 kmVästerdal Rivertributary
- 0 kmÖsterdal Rivertributary
- 8 kmDuvnäs77 people
- 21 kmForshuvud bridge
- 21 kmForshuvudbron
- 21 kmBysjön, Borlänge0.8 km²
- 26 kmBorlänge41,955 people
- 34 kmRunn63 km²
- 40 kmNedre Milsbosjön0.3 km²
- 56 kmHyen1.6 km²
- 63 kmAmungen4.9 km²
- 71 kmSvinssjön0.6 km²
- 73 kmFlinesjön3.8 km²
- 73 kmFatburen0.3 km²
- 76 kmLilla Abborrtjärnen0.4 km²
- 79 kmTrollbosjön0.7 km²
- 85 kmBrunna3,861 people
- 86 kmHovran6.8 km²
- 97 kmNävden4.2 km²
- 102 kmAvesta11,949 people
- 106 kmKrylbo4,072 people
- 110 kmOlsviken0.3 km²
- 111 kmKungsgårdssjön, Dalarna0.5 km²
- 121 kmBäsingen13 km²
- 124 kmRudusjön0.8 km²
- 126 kmNässen0.4 km²
- 129 kmStaksbosjön7.3 km²
- 135 kmHovnäsfjärden6.8 km²
- 149 kmFärnebofjärden44 km²
- 170 kmHedesundafjärden31 km²
- 182 kmBramsöfjärden60 km²
- 189 kmUntrafjärden9.1 km²
- 206 kmStorfjärden17 km²
- 210 kmÄlvkarlebyfallen
- 217 kmSkutskär6,279 people
- 220 kmGävle Bayat 4 m
Water level along the river (RiverATLAS; the height is exaggerated). Towns: GeoNames and Wikidata; bridges, dams and tributaries: Wikidata.
River in Sweden
At the mouth it carries 350 m³/s on average: an Olympic pool every 7.1 seconds. It drops from 143 m to 4 m, 0.6 m per kilometre on average. Its basin covers 29,000 km², about the size of AL. 248,000 people live in it. Highest water: from April to May; lowest: from January to March. Its dams hold back little of its water (7.8% of a year's flow).
Where to start
- BorlängeLargest city on its banks · 41,955 people
- Dala Airport (BLE)Nearest airport with scheduled flights, 8 km from the cityCar hire at MXX airport (Mora)Discover Cars · Affiliate link↗
- On the water35 ferry piers, marinas, boat rentals and boat ramps along the river (OpenStreetMap)
- Kayak and canoe11 put-ins and rapids mapped (OpenStreetMap)
- From June to AugustThe best months to visit
Dalälven, month by month
Highest water: from April to May
Lowest water: from January to March. Freezing months (average below −4 °C): from January to February. Best months to visit: from June to August.
From about 270 m³/s in the lowest month to 440 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
Dalälven: the basin in numbers
28,435 km² of land send their water to this river. This is what lives on it.
- 248,000people live in the basin
- 9/km²people per km²
- 392maverage altitude of the basin
- 664mmof rain a year (basin average)
- 2.9°Caverage air temperature
- 11%protected areas
- 6.0%covered by lakes
- 0.9km³held in reservoirs
What covers the basin
- 83% 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
Dalälven: what you find on the way
- 4Weirs
- 11RapidsDjurforsen, Bobergsforsen, Långhagsforsen and 8 more
- 22Boat rampsTylla and 21 more
- 4Ferry piersÅngbåtsbryggan, Ångbåtsbrygga and 2 more
- 9MarinasÅkerängsta brygga, Gärpens båtklubb, Gustafs Marina Båtklubb and 6 more
- 28River beachesNässjön, Präst-Olles, Älvsjön and 25 more
From OpenStreetMap, within 2.1 km of the river. Not mapped is not the same as not there.
Cross-checked with our atlases
Dalälven 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
24lakes on its wayLakeyas
1beach at the mouth or on the banksCoastya
3mountains at the sourcePeakyas
1island off the mouthIslandyas
Waterfalls (1)
On the river, by Cascadyas
- Älvkarlebyfallenkm 219
Cascadyas is coming soonOpen Cascadyas ↗
Lakes and reservoirs (24)
Lakes it flows through, by Lakeyas
- Runnkm 35 · 27 m deep63km²
- Amungenkm 664.9km²
- Hovrankm 90 · 15 m deep6.8km²
- Bäsingenkm 126 · 30 m deep13km²
- Färnebofjärdenkm 155 · 22 m deep44km²
- Hedesundafjärdenkm 17731km²
- Bramsöfjärdenkm 19060km²
- Storfjärdenkm 21517km²
16 more on LakeyasLakeyas is coming soonOpen Lakeyas ↗
Beaches (1)
At the mouth (25 km) and on the banks, by Coastya
- Bönaviken13 km away · cove16.5°C
Mountains at the source (3)
Within 15 km of the source, by Peakyas
- Djurmoklack3.5 km away
- Muskboberget11 km away
- Boberget14 km away
Islands off the mouth (1)
Within 30 km of the mouth, by Islandyas
- Limön10 km away
Islandyas is coming soonOpen Islandyas ↗
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
Dalälven in pictures
Tributaries
Where it flows, and what flows into it
Nearby
Rivers nearby
Sweden300 km150 m³/s127 km awayLjusnanSweden440 km230 m³/s181 km awayLjunganSweden350 km140 m³/s188 km awayIndalsälvenSweden420 km460 m³/s211 km awayMotala strömSweden100 km100 m³/s234 km awayKlarälvenSweden460 km160 m³/s258 km awayKokemäenjoki
Finland121 km230 m³/s251 km awayAura RiverFinland70 km17 m³/s264 km awayWhere these numbers come from
| Name, length, places | Wikidata (Q216627) · 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, Islandyas — 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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