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River

Nelson River

644 km from source to mouth · Canada.

CanadaCanadaFlows into Hudson Bay

Follow the riverMonth by month

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

In numbers

Length

644km

Average flow

2,800m³/s

Basin

1,093,442km²

Drop

215m

from 215 m to 0 m

Country

1

The journey

From source to mouth

644 km of river and 24 stops on the way: 0 towns and cities on its banks, dams, bridges and the tributaries that feed it.

215 m0 m
Lake Winnipegat 215 m0 km
Playgreen Lake760 km²48 km
Cross Lake286 km²141 km
Eves Falls144 km
Sipiwesk Lake514 km²235 km
Whitewater Falls253 km
Prud'homme Lake126 km²336 km
Split Lake281 km²389 km
Gull Lake30 km²428 km
Limestone Rivertributary502 km
Weir Rivertributary563 km
Hudson Bayat 0 m644 km
0200400644 km
  1. 0 kmLake Winnipegat 215 m
  2. 1 kmLake Winnipeg23,923 km²
  3. 48 kmPlaygreen Lake760 km²
  4. 71 kmSea River Falls
  5. 79 kmCarpenters Lake2.3 km²
  6. 86 kmSugar Falls
  7. 118 kmPipestone Lake39 km²
  8. 120 kmKichi Sipi Bridge
  9. 141 kmCross Lake286 km²
  10. 144 kmEves Falls
  11. 147 kmWhitemud Falls
  12. 235 kmSipiwesk Lake514 km²
  13. 253 kmWhitewater Falls
  14. 277 kmHunting Lake6.3 km²
  15. 308 kmGlossop Lake0.9 km²
  16. 336 kmPrud'homme Lake126 km²
  17. 337 kmGrass Rivertributary
  18. 343 kmBurntwood Rivertributary
  19. 389 kmSplit Lake281 km²
  20. 411 kmCarscadden Lake4.1 km²
  21. 428 kmGull Lake30 km²
  22. 432 kmJames James Lake0.7 km²
  23. 465 kmStephens Lake317 km²
  24. 502 kmLimestone Rivertributary
  25. 563 kmWeir Rivertributary
  26. 644 kmHudson Bayat 0 m

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

River that flows from Lake Winnipeg to Hudson's Bay

At the mouth it carries 2,800 m³/s on average: 1.1 Olympic pools every second. It drops from 215 m to 0 m, 0.3 m per kilometre on average. Its basin covers 1,093,442 km², about the size of BO. 6.1 million people live in it. Highest water: from June to August; lowest: from January to April. It is heavily dammed: reservoirs can hold 120% of a year's flow.

Read more on Wikipedia

Where to start

  • Churchill Airport (YYQ)Nearest airport with scheduled flights, 215 km from the cityCar hire at YTH airport (Thompson)Discover Cars · Affiliate link
  • On the water3 ferry piers, marinas, boat rentals and boat ramps along the river (OpenStreetMap)
  • Kayak and canoe72 put-ins and rapids mapped (OpenStreetMap)
  • From July to AugustThe best months to visit

Nelson River, month by month

Highest water: from June to August

Lowest water: from January to April. Freezing months (average below −4 °C): from November to March. Best months to visit: from July to August.

2,600
-25°19 mmJan
2,600
-21°16 mmFeb
2,600
-14°20 mmMar
2,600
-3°26 mmApr
2,900
6°41 mmMay
2,900
12°60 mmJun
3,000
16°72 mmJul
3,000
14°69 mmAug
2,800
8°57 mmSep
2,800
1°40 mmOct
2,700
-11°30 mmNov
2,700
-22°25 mmDec
Water (estimated flow)Air (average) Rain (mm)Best months

From about 2,600 m³/s in the lowest month to 3,000 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 YTH airport (Thompson)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

Nelson River: the basin in numbers

1,004,347 km² of land send their water to this river. This is what lives on it.

DammedReservoirs can hold 120% of a year's flow: much of the river is a chain of lakes.
  • 6.1millionpeople live in the basin
  • 6/km²people per km²
  • 512maverage altitude of the basin
  • 494mmof rain a year (basin average)
  • 1.4°Caverage air temperature
  • 10%protected areas
  • 9.4%covered by lakes
  • 2%permafrost
  • 104km³held in reservoirs

What covers the basin

  • 35% Forest
  • 32% Cropland
  • 11% 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

Nelson River: what you find on the way

  • 13DamsKelsey Generating Station, South Dike, North Dike and 10 more
  • 1Waterfalls
  • 72RapidsSugar Falls, High Hill Rapids, Eves Rapids and 69 more
  • 3Ferry piersNorway House, Sea Falls, Split Lake

From OpenStreetMap, within 3.0 km of the river. Not mapped is not the same as not there.

Cross-checked with our atlases

Nelson 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.

  • 5waterfalls on the riverCascadyas
  • 14lakes on its wayLakeyas

Waterfalls (5)

On the river, by Cascadyas

  1. Sea River Fallskm 77
  2. Sugar Fallskm 94
  3. Eves Fallskm 157
  4. Whitemud Fallskm 160
  5. Whitewater Fallskm 274

Cascadyas is coming soonOpen Cascadyas ↗

Lakes and reservoirs (14)

Lakes it flows through, by Lakeyas

  1. Lake Winnipegkm 1 · 36 m deep23,923km²
  2. Playgreen Lakekm 52760km²
  3. Pipestone Lakekm 12839km²
  4. Cross Lakekm 153286km²
  5. Sipiwesk Lakekm 255514km²
  6. Prud'homme Lakekm 365126km²
  7. Split Lakekm 423281km²
  8. Stephens Lakekm 505317km²

6 more on LakeyasLakeyas is coming soonOpen Lakeyas ↗

From space

The source and the mouth, seen from orbit

Nelson River: satellite view of the source
The source14 km across
Nelson River: satellite view of the mouth
The mouth137 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.

Tributaries

Where it flows, and what flows into it

Tributaries (7)

Winnipeg RiverCanadaCanada298 km950 m³/s

Also: Burntwood River, Grass River, Limestone River, Boots Creek, Weir River, Leslie Creek

In the same basin

Saskatchewan RiverCanadaCanada547 km700 m³/sNorth Saskatchewan RiverCanadaCanada1,380 km240 m³/sSouth Saskatchewan RiverCanadaCanada1,000 km250 m³/sRed River of the NorthCanadaCanada890 km260 m³/sAssiniboine RiverCanadaCanada1,275 km45 m³/sBow RiverCanadaCanada587 km130 m³/sRed Deer RiverCanadaCanada801 km70 m³/sOldman RiverCanadaCanada445 km95 m³/sQu'Appelle RiverCanadaCanada743 km14 m³/sSouris RiverCanadaCanada1,240 km60 m³/s

Nearby

Rivers nearby

Hayes RiverCanadaCanada551 km590 m³/s31 km awayChurchill RiverCanadaCanada1,609 km1,200 m³/s211 km awaySevern RiverCanadaCanada940 km640 m³/s330 km away

Where these numbers come from

Name, length, placesWikidata (Q3292) · 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 — 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