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Stream

Dudh Koshi

138 km from source to mouth · Nepal.

NepalNepalFlows into Sun Kosi3rd longest in Nepal

Follow the riverMonth by month

SourceMouth
The river and every tributary in its basin, drawn from RiverATLAS (CC BY 4.0).

In numbers

Length

138km

Average flow

180m³/s

Basin

2,875km²

Drop

4,326m

from 4,670 m to 344 m

Country

1

The journey

From source to mouth

138 km of river and 3 stops on the way: 1 towns and cities on its banks, dams, bridges and the tributaries that feed it.

4,670 m344 m
Ngozumpa Glacierat 4,670 m0 km
Imja Kholatributary18 km
Sun Kosiat 344 m138 km
050100138 km
  1. 0 kmNgozumpa Glacierat 4,670 m
  2. 18 kmImja Kholatributary
  3. 18 kmBridge at Phunki Thanga
  4. 23 kmNamche Bazaar2,324 people
  5. 138 kmSun Kosiat 344 m

Water level along the river (RiverATLAS; the height is exaggerated). Towns: GeoNames and Wikidata; bridges, dams and tributaries: Wikidata.

Left tributary of Sunkoshi in Nepal

At the mouth it carries 175 m³/s on average: an Olympic pool every 14 seconds. It drops from 4,670 m to 344 m, 31 m per kilometre on average. Its basin covers 2,875 km², about the size of LU. 242,000 people live in it. Highest water: from July to August; lowest: from December to March. No large dam holds it back: it is one of the world's free-flowing rivers.

Read more on Wikipedia

Where to start

Dudh Koshi, month by month

Highest water: from July to August

Lowest water: from December to March. Best months to visit: from March to April and from October to November.

14
10°17 mmJan
15
12°17 mmFeb
25
16°37 mmMar
47
19°65 mmApr
120
21°141 mmMay
290
22°283 mmJun
520
22°436 mmJul
570
22°374 mmAug
450
21°256 mmSep
210
19°78 mmOct
67
15°12 mmNov
17
11°10 mmDec
Water (estimated flow)Air (average) Rain (mm)Best months

From about 14 m³/s in the lowest month to 570 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

Car hire in KathmanduDiscover CarsSee 

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The basin

Dudh Koshi: the basin in numbers

4,082 km² of land send their water to this river. This is what lives on it.

Free-flowingDams upstream can hold only 0.0% of a year's flow: the river still keeps its natural rhythm.
  • 242,000people live in the basin
  • 60/km²people per km²
  • 3,535maverage altitude of the basin
  • 1,174mmof rain a year (basin average)
  • 6.1°Caverage air temperature
  • 50%protected areas
  • 0.1%covered by lakes
  • 14%glaciers
  • 24%permafrost

What covers the basin

  • 36% Forest
  • 7% Cropland
  • 16% Pasture
  • 14% 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

Dudh Koshi: what you find on the way

  • 22Waterfalls

From OpenStreetMap, within 1.6 km of the river. Not mapped is not the same as not there.

Cross-checked with our atlases

Dudh Koshi 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.

  • 21mountains at the sourcePeakyas

Mountains at the source (21)

Within 15 km of the source, by Peakyas

  1. Pumori15 km away · prominence 1,278 m7,161m
  2. Taboche8.0 km away · prominence 1,121 m6,501m
  3. Cholatse5.7 km away · prominence 750 m6,440m
  4. Kala Patthar14 km away5,645m
  5. Lobuche8.5 km away · prominence 275 m6,145m
  6. Hungchi12 km away · prominence 876 m7,029m
  7. Chumbu12 km away · prominence 503 m6,853m
  8. Khangri Shar14 km away · prominence 328 m6,792m

13 more on PeakyasOpen Peakyas ↗

From space

The source and the mouth, seen from orbit

Dudh Koshi: satellite view of the source
The source14 km across
Dudh Koshi: satellite view of the mouth
The mouth10 km across

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

Dudh Koshi in pictures

Dudh Koshi River, Nepal
Vyacheslav Argenberg · CC BY 4.0
Dudh Koshi Valley, Dudh Koshi River 3, Nepal
Vyacheslav Argenberg · CC BY 4.0
Himalayan Giants & Dudh Koshi Valley
Rohit Sharma · CC BY-SA 4.0
Bridge on Dudh Kosi Near Dingboche
Goutam1962 · CC BY-SA 4.0

Tributaries

Where it flows, and what flows into it

Tributaries (1)

Also: Imja Khola

In the same basin

GangesIndiaIndia2,525 km12,000 m³/sBrahmaputra RiverIndiaIndia2,900 km19,500 m³/sYamunaIndiaIndia1,376 km3,500 m³/sPadma RiverBangladeshBangladesh120 km32,000 m³/sGandaki RiverIndiaIndia630 km1,800 m³/sChambal RiverIndiaIndia960 km600 m³/sJamuna RiverBangladeshBangladesh245 km20,100 m³/sGhaghara RiverIndiaIndia1,080 km3,300 m³/sTeesta RiverBangladeshBangladesh470 km1,300 m³/sGomti RiverIndiaIndia900 km230 m³/s

Nearby

Rivers nearby

Arun RiverChinaChina530 km1,300 m³/s76 km awayGandaki RiverIndiaIndia630 km1,800 m³/s209 km awayKosi RiverIndiaIndia729 km2,300 m³/s210 km awayGhaghara RiverIndiaIndia1,080 km3,300 m³/s235 km awaySon RiverIndiaIndia780 km1,200 m³/s221 km awayTrishuli RiverNepalNepal163 km1,000 m³/s209 km awayMarshyangdiNepalNepal150 km220 m³/s201 km awayWest Rapti RiverIndiaIndia600 km580 m³/s290 km away

Where these numbers come from

Name, length, placesWikidata (Q1197810) · CC0
Course, profile, basinRiverATLAS v1.0 (HydroATLAS, Linke et al. 2019) · CC BY 4.0 — followed from the source to the mouth given by Wikidata
FlowWaterGAP (RiverATLAS), 1971–2000 · CC BY 4.0
Climate along the riverWorldClim (RiverATLAS), 1970–2000 · CC BY 4.0
Towns, bridges, damsWikidata · CC0; GeoNames · CC BY 4.0
Along the river© OpenStreetMap contributors · ODbL
ImagesEOX Sentinel-2 cloudless 2016 · CC BY 4.0; Wikimedia Commons
Our other atlasesPeakyas — 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.

beachesCoastyaFind your beach: sea temperature, sun and swimming month by month.Visit
lakesLakeyasEvery lake on Earth: water temperature, ice, depth and the shore.Coming soonVisit
mountainsPeakyasEvery summit in 3D: summit weather, the 0 °C line, huts and trails.Visit
waterfallsCascadyasEvery waterfall: height, flow month by month and when it roars.Coming soonVisit
islandsIslandyasEvery island from the sea up: size, sea temperature, ferries and 3D.Coming soonVisit
riversRiveryasEvery river from source to sea: the journey, the flow and the basin in numbers.You are here
canyonsCanyonyasEvery canyon cut to scale: depth to the floor, rim and floor temperatures, trails and viewpoints.Coming soonVisit