River
Kootenay River
780 km from source to mouth · Canada and United States.
Canada and United StatesFlows into Columbia River
In numbers
Length
780km
Average flow
780m³/s
Basin
50,298km²
Drop
1,000m
from 1,420 m to 420 m
Countries
2
The journey
From source to mouth
780 km of river and 25 stops on the way: 2 towns and cities on its banks, dams, bridges and the tributaries that feed it.
- 0 kmRocky Mountainsat 1,420 m
- 8 kmNuma Falls
- 54 kmVermilion Rivertributary
- 123 kmWhite Rivertributary
- 185 kmPalliser Rivertributary
- 185 kmLussier Rivertributary
- 205 kmWasa Lake1.1 km²
- 223 kmSt. Mary Rivertributary
- 252 kmBull Rivertributary
- 295 kmElk Rivertributary
- 398 kmLake Koocanusa164 km²
- 398 kmLibby Dam
- 404 kmFisher Rivertributary
- 447 kmKootenai Falls
- 448 kmKootenai Falls Swinging Bridge
- 460 kmTheodore Roosevelt Memorial Bridge
- 473 kmYaak Rivertributary
- 591 kmGoat Rivertributary
- 612 kmLeach Lake3.1 km²
- 622 kmDuck Lake12 km²
- 708 kmNelson10,664 people
- 726 kmKootenay Lake422 km²
- 728 kmBonnington Falls
- 736 kmSlocan Rivertributary
- 750 kmBrilliant Suspension Bridge
- 752 kmCastlegar8,039 people
- 780 kmColumbia Riverat 420 m
Water level along the river (RiverATLAS; the height is exaggerated). Towns: GeoNames and Wikidata; bridges, dams and tributaries: Wikidata.
River in North America. Tributary of the Columbia River
At the mouth it carries 782 m³/s on average: an Olympic pool every 3.2 seconds. It drops from 1,420 m to 420 m, 1.3 m per kilometre on average. Its basin covers 50,298 km², about the size of CR. 122,000 people live in it. Highest water, with the snowmelt: from April to May; lowest: from November to February. Dams and reservoirs hold back a large share of its water (38% of a year's flow).
Where to start
- NelsonLargest city on its banks · 10,664 people
- Castlegar/West Kootenay Regional Airport (YCG)Nearest airport with scheduled flights, 34 km from the cityCar hire at YXC airport (Cranbrook)Discover Cars · Affiliate link↗
- On the water35 ferry piers, marinas, boat rentals and boat ramps along the river (OpenStreetMap)
- Kayak and canoe14 put-ins and rapids mapped (OpenStreetMap)
- From June to AugustThe best months to visit
Kootenay River, month by month
Highest water: from April to May
Lowest water: from November to February. Freezing months (average below −4 °C): from December to January. Melting snow makes up much of its water. Best months to visit: from June to August.
From about 120 m³/s in the lowest month to 2,300 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
Kootenay River: the basin in numbers
50,040 km² of land send their water to this river. This is what lives on it.
- 122,000people live in the basin
- 3/km²people per km²
- 1,540maverage altitude of the basin
- 751mmof rain a year (basin average)
- 2.1°Caverage air temperature
- 14%protected areas
- 1.8%covered by lakes
- 5%permafrost
- 10km³held in reservoirs
What covers the basin
- 74% Forest
- 1% Cropland
- 1% 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
Kootenay River: what you find on the way
- 19WaterfallsNuma Falls, Fenwick Falls, Pedley Falls and 16 more
- 14Rapids
- 25Boat rampsKootenai River Boat Ramp, The Old Ferry Landing and 23 more
- 6Ferry piersBalfour and 5 more
- 4MarinasKoocanusa Marina, Baynes Lake Public Boat Launch, Cripple Horse Marina and 1 more
- 12River beachesWasa Beach, Turtle Log, Martell Beach and 9 more
From OpenStreetMap, within 2.2 km of the river. Not mapped is not the same as not there.
Cross-checked with our atlases
Kootenay 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.
3waterfalls on the riverCascadyas
5lakes on its wayLakeyas
6mountains at the sourcePeakyas
Waterfalls (3)
On the river, by Cascadyas
- Numa Fallskm 7
- Kootenai Fallskm 421
- Bonnington Fallskm 686
Cascadyas is coming soonOpen Cascadyas ↗
Lakes and reservoirs (5)
Lakes it flows through, by Lakeyas
- Wasa Lakekm 1931.1km²
- Lake Koocanusakm 375164km²
- Leach Lakekm 5773.1km²
- Duck Lakekm 58612km²
- Kootenay Lakekm 684422km²
Lakeyas is coming soonOpen Lakeyas ↗
Mountains at the source (6)
Within 15 km of the source, by Peakyas
- Black Butte15 km away
- Clingback Mountain15 km away
- Marias Mountain12 km away
- Olsen Hill3.4 km away
- Sand Hill5.1 km away
- Hunter Point10 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
Kootenay River in pictures
Tributaries
Where it flows, and what flows into it
It flows into
Columbia RiverUnited States2,000 km7,500 m³/sTributaries (15)
Also: Elk River, Duncan River, Moyie River, Slocan River, Palliser River, Lussier River, Yaak River, Vermilion River, St. Mary River, Goat River, White River, Bull River, Cross River, Fisher River, Wild Horse River
Nearby
Rivers nearby
Canada209 km740 m³/s34 km awayClark ForkUnited States499 km620 m³/s157 km awayThompson RiverCanada489 km770 m³/s300 km awaySnake RiverUnited States1,735 km1,600 m³/s364 km awayFraser RiverCanada2,657 km3,500 m³/s386 km awayBow RiverCanada587 km130 m³/s435 km awayOldman RiverCanada445 km95 m³/s435 km awayWhere these numbers come from
| Name, length, places | Wikidata (Q2262) · 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, 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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