River
Futaleufú River
246 km from source to mouth · Chile and Argentina.
Chile and ArgentinaFlows into Yelcho Lake5th longest in Chile
In numbers
Length
246km
Average flow
370m³/s
Basin
10,979km²
Drop
527m
from 569 m to 42 m
Countries
2
The journey
From source to mouth
246 km of river and 8 stops on the way: 0 towns and cities on its banks, dams, bridges and the tributaries that feed it.
- 0 kmAmutui Quimey Reservoirat 569 m
- 27 kmLago Cholila16 km²
- 65 kmLago Rivadavia22 km²
- 74 kmLago Verde1.4 km²
- 76 kmLago Menéndez53 km²
- 95 kmFutalaufquen Lake41 km²
- 99 kmLago Krüger4.4 km²
- 133 kmAmutui Quimey Reservoir82 km²
- 134 kmFutaleufú Dam
- 246 kmYelcho Lakeat 42 m
Water level along the river (RiverATLAS; the height is exaggerated). Towns: GeoNames and Wikidata; bridges, dams and tributaries: Wikidata.
River in Chile and Argentina
At the mouth it carries 373 m³/s on average: an Olympic pool every 6.7 seconds. It drops from 569 m to 42 m, 2.1 m per kilometre on average. Its basin covers 10,979 km², about the size of JM. 32,000 people live in it. Highest water: from July to August; lowest: from December to March. It is heavily dammed: reservoirs can hold 50% of a year's flow.
Where to start
- FutaleufúLargest city on its banks · 2,297 people
- Esquel Brigadier Antonio Parodi International Airport (EQS)Nearest airport with scheduled flights, 67 km from the cityCar hire at PMC airport (Puerto Montt)Discover Cars · Affiliate link↗
- On the water9 ferry piers, marinas, boat rentals and boat ramps along the river (OpenStreetMap)
- Kayak and canoe12 put-ins and rapids mapped (OpenStreetMap)
- From December to FebruaryThe best months to visit
Futaleufú River, month by month
Highest water: from July to August
Lowest water: from December to March. Best months to visit: from December to February.
From about 97 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
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
Futaleufú River: the basin in numbers
9,236 km² of land send their water to this river. This is what lives on it.
- 32,000people live in the basin
- 4/km²people per km²
- 1,017maverage altitude of the basin
- 1,060mmof rain a year (basin average)
- 6.5°Caverage air temperature
- 30%protected areas
- 3.2%covered by lakes
- 5.6km³held in reservoirs
What covers the basin
- 57% Forest
- 1% Cropland
- 23% Pasture
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
Futaleufú River: what you find on the way
- 2WaterfallsCascada de los Tambores
- 12RapidsInitiation, Exit, Gates of Infierno and 9 more
- 6Boat rampsPuerto Mermod, Bajada de lanchas and 4 more
- 3Ferry piersPuerto Chucao
From OpenStreetMap, within 1.8 km of the river. Not mapped is not the same as not there.
Cross-checked with our atlases
Futaleufú 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.
7lakes on its wayLakeyas
7mountains at the sourcePeakyas
Lakes and reservoirs (7)
Lakes it flows through, by Lakeyas
- Lago Cholilakm 22 · 48 m deep16km²
- Lago Rivadaviakm 55 · 104 m deep22km²
- Lago Verdekm 631.4km²
- Lago Menéndezkm 65 · 149 m deep53km²
- Futalaufquen Lakekm 80 · 101 m deep41km²
- Lago Krügerkm 844.4km²
- Amutui Quimey Reservoirkm 113 · 65 m deep82km²
Lakeyas is coming soonOpen Lakeyas ↗
Mountains at the source (7)
Within 15 km of the source, by Peakyas
- Cerro Tres Uñas7.9 km away
- Cerro Ver13 km away
- Cerro Refugio7.9 km away
- Cerro Sin Fin14 km away
- Cerro la Portada11 km away
- Cordón de los Galenses15 km away
- Cerro Ascensión10 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
Futaleufú River in pictures
Tributaries
Where it flows, and what flows into it
Tributaries (5)
Also: Río Corintos, Río Espolón, Río Chico, Malito River, Rio Azul
Nearby
Rivers nearby
Where these numbers come from
| Name, length, places | Wikidata (Q2631575) · 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, 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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