River
Maipo River
270 km from source to mouth · Chile.
ChileFlows into Pacific Ocean4th longest in Chile
In numbers
Length
270km
Average flow
160m³/s
Basin
15,381km²
Drop
2,548m
from 2,548 m to 0 m
Country
1
The journey
From source to mouth
270 km of river and 9 stops on the way: 5 towns and cities on its banks, dams, bridges and the tributaries that feed it.
- 0 kmVolcán Maipoat 2,548 m
- 68 kmVolcán Rivertributary
- 90 kmSan José de Maipo13,376 people
- 95 kmColorado Rivertributary
- 119 kmPuente Alto568,106 people
- 126 kmRio Clarillotributary
- 166 kmIsla de Maipo13,207 people
- 183 kmMapocho Rivertributary
- 203 kmMelipilla148,899 people
- 266 kmSanto Domingo6,696 people
- 270 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 Chile
At the mouth it carries 156 m³/s on average: an Olympic pool every 16 seconds. It drops from 2,548 m to 0 m, 9.4 m per kilometre on average. Its basin covers 15,381 km², about the size of TL. 7.0 million people live in it. Highest water: July; lowest: from December to March. Its dams hold back little of its water (5.1% of a year's flow).
Where to start
- Puente AltoLargest city on its banks · 568,106 people
- Comodoro Arturo Merino Benítez International Airport (SCL)Nearest airport with scheduled flights, 31 km from the cityCar hire at SCL airport (Santiago)Discover Cars · Affiliate link↗
- From January to April and NovemberThe best months to visit
Maipo River, month by month
Highest water: July
Lowest water: from December to March. Best months to visit: from January to April and November.
From about 18 m³/s in the lowest month to 350 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
Maipo River: the basin in numbers
15,100 km² of land send their water to this river. This is what lives on it.
- 7.0millionpeople live in the basin
- 463/km²people per km²
- 1,670maverage altitude of the basin
- 495mmof rain a year (basin average)
- 9.7°Caverage air temperature
- 6%protected areas
- 0.2%covered by lakes
- 4%permafrost
- 0.2km³held in reservoirs
What covers the basin
- 1% Forest
- 9% Cropland
- 16% Pasture
- 9% Towns and cities
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
Maipo River: what you find on the way
- 11WeirsBocatoma Clarillo and 10 more
- 32LocksLas Coloradas 2, Las Coloradas 1, La Sola and 29 more
- 6WaterfallsCascada Las Melosas, Cascada de los vientos, Cascada del Colibrí and 3 more
- 4River beachesPlaya Santo Domingo, Playa de Llolleo, Playa Marbella and 1 more
From OpenStreetMap, within 1.9 km of the river. Not mapped is not the same as not there.
Cross-checked with our atlases
Maipo 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.
11beaches at the mouth and on the banksCoastya
5mountains at the sourcePeakyas
1island off the mouthIslandyas
Beaches (11)
At the mouth (25 km) and on the banks, by Coastya
- Playa Sur1.7 km away16.2°C
- Playa Grande9.3 km away16.2°C
- Playa Chica8.1 km away16.2°C
- Playa de Santo Domingo5.1 km away16.2°C
- Playa Llolleo2.0 km away16.2°C
- Playa de la Chépica16 km away16.2°C
- El Panul5.3 km away · cove16.2°C
- El Agua Salada5.8 km away · cove16.2°C
3 more on CoastyaOpen Coastya ↗
Mountains at the source (5)
Within 15 km of the source, by Peakyas
- Volcán Maipo3.2 km away5,264m
- Cerro Alvarado8.7 km away
- Cerro Amarillo11 km away
- Cerro Bayo11 km away
- Picos Bayos11 km away
Islands off the mouth (1)
Within 30 km of the mouth, by Islandyas
- Islote Pájaros Niños29 km away0.1km²
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
Maipo River in pictures
Tributaries
Where it flows, and what flows into it
Tributaries (16)
Also: Yeso River, Angostura River, Rio Clarillo, Volcán River, Colorado River, Estero Quempo, Río Negro (Maipo), Puangue river, Estero Popeta, Río Blanco (Maipo), Alvarado River, Volcán River, Estero de El Sauce, Estero de Coyanco, Estero Llolleo
ArgentinaWhere these numbers come from
| Name, length, places | Wikidata (Q738867) · 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 | 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.
beaches
Find your beach: sea temperature, sun and swimming month by month.Visit 
lakes
Every lake on Earth: water temperature, ice, depth and the shore.Coming soonVisit mountains
Every summit in 3D: summit weather, the 0 °C line, huts and trails.Visit 
waterfalls
Every waterfall: height, flow month by month and when it roars.Coming soonVisit islands
Every island from the sea up: size, sea temperature, ferries and 3D.Coming soonVisit 
rivers
Every river from source to sea: the journey, the flow and the basin in numbers.You are here
canyons
Every canyon cut to scale: depth to the floor, rim and floor temperatures, trails and viewpoints.Coming soonVisit