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River

Missouri River

3,726 km from source to mouth · United States.

United StatesUnited StatesFlows into Mississippi River2nd longest in United States

Follow the riverMonth by month

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

In numbers

Length

3,726km

Average flow

2,500m³/s

Basin

1,371,010km²

Drop

1,112m

from 1,230 m to 118 m

Country

1

The journey

From source to mouth

3,726 km of river and 68 stops on the way: 9 towns and cities on its banks, dams, bridges and the tributaries that feed it.

1,230 m118 m
Sourceat 1,230 m0 km
Colter Falls274 km
Fort Peck Lake814 km²764 km
Milk Rivertributary778 km
Lake Sakakawea1,127 km²1,293 km
Lake Oahe1,093 km²1,764 km
Pierre14,091 people1,775 km
McCook Lake0.6 km²2,263 km
Omaha486,051 people2,444 km
Kansas City508,090 people2,804 km
Jefferson City43,228 people3,131 km
Mississippi Riverat 118 m3,726 km
01,0002,0003,0003,726 km
  1. 0 kmSourceat 1,230 m
  2. 4 kmJefferson Rivertributary
  3. 4 kmMadison Rivertributary
  4. 12 kmGallatin Rivertributary
  5. 42 kmSixteen Mile Creektributary
  6. 101 kmCanyon Ferry Lake121 km²
  7. 181 kmDearborn Rivertributary
  8. 231 kmSmith Rivertributary
  9. 273 kmSun Rivertributary
  10. 274 kmColter Falls
  11. 274 kmRainbow Falls
  12. 281 kmBig Falls
  13. 289 kmBelt Creektributary
  14. 360 kmMarias Rivertributary
  15. 451 kmArrow Creektributary
  16. 457 kmJudith Rivertributary
  17. 513 kmCow Creektributary
  18. 616 kmMusselshell Rivertributary
  19. 764 kmFort Peck Lake814 km²
  20. 778 kmMilk Rivertributary
  21. 889 kmPoplar Rivertributary
  22. 954 kmBig Muddy Creektributary
  23. 1,014 kmYellowstone Rivertributary
  24. 1,293 kmLake Sakakawea1,127 km²
  25. 1,316 kmKnife Rivertributary
  26. 1,408 kmHeart Rivertributary
  27. 1,467 kmCannonball Rivertributary
  28. 1,577 kmGrand Rivertributary
  29. 1,610 kmMoreau Rivertributary
  30. 1,708 kmCheyenne Rivertributary
  31. 1,764 kmLake Oahe1,093 km²
  32. 1,775 kmPierre14,091 people
  33. 1,779 kmBad Rivertributary
  34. 1,895 kmLake Sharpe228 km²
  35. 1,946 kmWhite Rivertributary
  36. 2,115 kmNiobrara Rivertributary
  37. 2,163 kmLewis and Clark Lake85 km²
  38. 2,165 kmLake Yankton0.9 km²
  39. 2,170 kmYankton15,411 people
  40. 2,182 kmJames Rivertributary
  41. 2,218 kmVermillion Rivertributary
  42. 2,263 kmMcCook Lake0.6 km²
  43. 2,275 kmBig Sioux Rivertributary
  44. 2,291 kmFloyd Rivertributary
  45. 2,367 kmLittle Sioux Rivertributary
  46. 2,407 kmDeSoto Lake (Iowa)2.8 km²
  47. 2,421 kmBoyer Rivertributary
  48. 2,435 kmCarter Lake1.1 km²
  49. 2,444 kmOmaha486,051 people
  50. 2,451 kmBellevue64,176 people
  51. 2,455 kmLake Manawa2.7 km²
  52. 2,467 kmBase Lake0.4 km²
  53. 2,476 kmPlatte Rivertributary
  54. 2,490 kmBeaver Lake0.8 km²
  55. 2,550 kmNishnabotna Rivertributary
  56. 2,642 kmWolf Rivertributary
  57. 2,665 kmNodaway Rivertributary
  58. 2,685 kmSt. Joseph72,473 people
  59. 2,693 kmLake Contrary1.3 km²
  60. 2,736 kmBean Lake1.4 km²
  61. 2,762 kmLeavenworth37,351 people
  62. 2,790 kmRiss Lake0.4 km²
  63. 2,804 kmKansas Rivertributary
  64. 2,804 kmKansas City508,090 people
  65. 2,818 kmBlue Rivertributary
  66. 2,842 kmCooley Lake0.3 km²
  67. 2,997 kmChariton Rivertributary
  68. 3,131 kmJefferson City43,228 people
  69. 3,291 kmChesterfield49,999 people
  70. 3,726 kmMississippi Riverat 118 m

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

Major river in central United States

At the mouth it carries 2,478 m³/s on average: an Olympic pool every 1.0 seconds. It drops from 1,230 m to 118 m, 0.3 m per kilometre on average. Its basin covers 1,371,010 km², about the size of PE. 12.6 million people live in it. Highest water: June; lowest: from January to February. It is heavily dammed: reservoirs can hold 144% of a year's flow.

Read more on Wikipedia

Where to start

  • Kansas CityLargest city on its banks · 508,090 people
  • Kansas City International Airport (MCI)Nearest airport with scheduled flights, 30 km from the cityCar hire at MCI airport (Kansas City)Discover Cars · Affiliate link
  • On the water338 ferry piers, marinas, boat rentals and boat ramps along the river (OpenStreetMap)
  • Kayak and canoe21 put-ins and rapids mapped (OpenStreetMap)
  • From May to SeptemberThe best months to visit

Missouri River, month by month

Highest water: June

Lowest water: from January to February. Freezing months (average below −4 °C): from December to February. Best months to visit: from May to September.

2,000
-8°17 mmJan
1,700
-4°18 mmFeb
3,000
2°36 mmMar
3,700
9°54 mmApr
4,300
15°80 mmMay
4,800
20°85 mmJun
4,000
23°68 mmJul
3,800
22°60 mmAug
3,500
16°59 mmSep
3,200
10°41 mmOct
3,000
2°27 mmNov
2,600
-5°22 mmDec
Water (estimated flow)Air (average) Rain (mm)Best months

From about 1,700 m³/s in the lowest month to 4,800 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 at MCI airport (Kansas City)Discover CarsSee 

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

Missouri River: the basin in numbers

1,326,743 km² of land send their water to this river. This is what lives on it.

DammedReservoirs can hold 144% of a year's flow: much of the river is a chain of lakes.
  • 12.6millionpeople live in the basin
  • 10/km²people per km²
  • 994maverage altitude of the basin
  • 513mmof rain a year (basin average)
  • 7.4°Caverage air temperature
  • 4%protected areas
  • 0.7%covered by lakes
  • 134km³held in reservoirs

What covers the basin

  • 13% Forest
  • 37% Cropland
  • 44% Pasture
  • 1% 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

Missouri River: what you find on the way

  • 270DamsToston Dam, Broadwater-Missouri Dam, BROADWATER POWER PROJECT and 267 more
  • 25WeirsKatz Dam and 24 more
  • 10WaterfallsBlack Eagle Falls, Rainbow Falls, Crooked Falls and 7 more
  • 20RapidsBrunots Rapids, Flennikens Rapids, Lone Pine Rapids and 17 more
  • 1Canoe put-ins
  • 304Boat rampsBoat Launch, York Bridge, Fort Benton BLM Boat Launch and 301 more
  • 7Ferry piersSioux Ferry and 6 more
  • 25MarinasGoose Bay Marina, Kim's Marina, Yacht Basin Marina and 22 more
  • 2Boat rentalsMissouri River Outfitters, American Creek Recreation Area Kayak Rentals
  • 4River beachesBlack Sandy Beach, Pebble Beach, Hobie Cat Beach and 1 more

From OpenStreetMap, within 3.1 km of the river. Not mapped is not the same as not there.

Cross-checked with our atlases

Missouri 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.

  • 4waterfalls on the riverCascadyas
  • 17lakes on its wayLakeyas
  • 1mountain at the sourcePeakyas

Waterfalls (4)

On the river, by Cascadyas

  1. Colter Fallskm 277
  2. Rainbow Fallskm 278
  3. Big Fallskm 285
  4. Great Fallskm 285

Cascadyas is coming soonOpen Cascadyas ↗

Lakes and reservoirs (17)

Lakes it flows through, by Lakeyas

  1. Canyon Ferry Lakekm 102121km²
  2. Fort Peck Lakekm 774814km²
  3. Lake Sakakaweakm 1,309 · 55 m deep1,127km²
  4. Lake Oahekm 1,787 · 62 m deep1,093km²
  5. Lake Sharpekm 1,919228km²
  6. Lewis and Clark Lakekm 2,191 · 14 m deep85km²
  7. Lake Manawakm 2,4862.7km²
  8. Bean Lakekm 2,7711.4km²

9 more on LakeyasLakeyas is coming soonOpen Lakeyas ↗

Mountains at the source (1)

Within 15 km of the source, by Peakyas

  1. High Peak14 km away

Open Peakyas ↗

From space

The source and the mouth, seen from orbit

Missouri River: satellite view of the source
The source14 km across
Missouri River: satellite view of the mouth
The mouth157 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

Missouri River in pictures

George Caleb Bingham - Boatmen on the Missouri - Google Art Project
George Caleb Bingham · Public domain
Missouri river at hwy 364
Gvolk · CC BY-SA 3.0
Diorama - Missouri River P6070768
Chris Light · CC BY-SA 4.0
Blue Sucker Capture on the Missouri River (51283679331)
USFWS Mountain Prairie · Public domain

Tributaries

Where it flows, and what flows into it

It flows into

Mississippi RiverUnited StatesUnited States3,766 km12,700 m³/s

Tributaries (69)

Milk RiverUnited StatesUnited States1,173 km17 m³/sjoins at km 788James RiverUnited StatesUnited States1,143 km18 m³/sjoins at km 2,210Yellowstone RiverUnited StatesUnited States1,114 km390 m³/sjoins at km 1,026White RiverUnited StatesUnited States933 km990 m³/sjoins at km 1,971Niobrara RiverUnited StatesUnited States915 km1,000 m³/sjoins at km 2,142Platte RiverUnited StatesUnited States500 km200 m³/sjoins at km 2,507Cheyenne RiverUnited StatesUnited States475 km65 m³/sjoins at km 1,730Osage RiverUnited StatesUnited States444 km310 m³/sjoins at km 3,196Kansas RiverUnited StatesUnited States238 km210 m³/sjoins at km 2,839Jefferson RiverUnited StatesUnited States134 km54 m³/sjoins at km 4

Also: Little Missouri River, Big Sioux River, Roe River, Madison River, Gallatin River, Grand River, Heart River, Musselshell River, Marias River, Cannonball River, Moreau River, Sun River, Bad River, Gasconade River, Little Sioux River, Knife River, Vermillion River, Platte River, Big Muddy Creek, Judith River, Dearborn River, Poplar River, Floyd River, Boyer River

In the same basin

Ohio RiverUnited StatesUnited States1,579 km8,000 m³/sArkansas RiverUnited StatesUnited States2,364 km240 m³/sTennessee RiverUnited StatesUnited States1,049 km2,000 m³/sRed RiverUnited StatesUnited States2,189 km1,900 m³/sCanadian RiverUnited StatesUnited States1,458 km200 m³/sIllinois RiverUnited StatesUnited States432 km660 m³/sAllegheny RiverUnited StatesUnited States523 km560 m³/sCumberland RiverUnited StatesUnited States1,107 km860 m³/sWabash RiverUnited StatesUnited States960 km1,000 m³/sCimarron RiverUnited StatesUnited States1,123 km1,100 m³/s

Nearby

Rivers nearby

Illinois RiverUnited StatesUnited States432 km660 m³/s34 km awayOhio RiverUnited StatesUnited States1,579 km8,000 m³/s220 km awayOsage RiverUnited StatesUnited States444 km310 m³/s157 km awayTennessee RiverUnited StatesUnited States1,049 km2,000 m³/s235 km awayWabash RiverUnited StatesUnited States960 km1,000 m³/s215 km awayDes Moines RiverUnited StatesUnited States845 km250 m³/s207 km awayCumberland RiverUnited StatesUnited States1,107 km860 m³/s239 km awayIowa RiverUnited StatesUnited States520 km280 m³/s273 km away

Where these numbers come from

Name, length, placesWikidata (Q5419) · 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 atlasesCascadyas, 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.

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