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River

Ohio River

1,579 km from source to mouth · United States.

United StatesUnited StatesFlows into Mississippi River8th longest in United States

Follow the riverMonth by month

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

In numbers

Length

1,579km

Average flow

8,000m³/s

Basin

528,100km²

Drop

136m

from 216 m to 80 m

Country

1

The journey

From source to mouth

1,579 km of river and 68 stops on the way: 28 towns and cities on its banks, dams, bridges and the tributaries that feed it.

216 m80 m
Monongahela Riverat 216 m0 km
Parkersburg29,738 people285 km
Hocking Rivertributary308 km
Ashland21,625 people494 km
Little Sandy Rivertributary517 km
Cincinnati309,317 people722 km
Covington40,961 people722 km
Jeffersonville49,447 people922 km
Louisville246,161 people925 km
Owensboro60,183 people1,155 km
Evansville119,943 people1,208 km
Paducah27,137 people1,424 km
Mississippi Riverat 80 m1,579 km
05001,0001,579 km
  1. 0 kmMonongahela Riverat 216 m
  2. 3 kmPittsburgh302,971 people
  3. 5 kmMonongahela Rivertributary
  4. 5 kmAllegheny Rivertributary
  5. 9 kmChartiers Creektributary
  6. 44 kmBeaver Rivertributary
  7. 66 kmLittle Beaver Creektributary
  8. 144 kmWheeling Creektributary
  9. 239 kmMiddle Island Creektributary
  10. 262 kmLittle Muskingum Rivertributary
  11. 265 kmDuck Creektributary
  12. 266 kmMarietta13,385 people
  13. 267 kmMuskingum Rivertributary
  14. 279 kmVienna10,652 people
  15. 285 kmParkersburg29,738 people
  16. 285 kmLittle Kanawha Rivertributary
  17. 287 kmBelpre6,728 people
  18. 308 kmHocking Rivertributary
  19. 324 kmShade Rivertributary
  20. 340 kmSandy Creektributary
  21. 355 kmMill Creektributary
  22. 405 kmPoint Pleasant4,070 people
  23. 408 kmKanawha Rivertributary
  24. 468 kmGuyandotte Rivertributary
  25. 474 kmSymmes Creektributary
  26. 487 kmBig Sandy Rivertributary
  27. 494 kmAshland21,625 people
  28. 501 kmIronton10,571 people
  29. 517 kmLittle Sandy Rivertributary
  30. 543 kmPortsmouth18,252 people
  31. 546 kmLittle Scioto Rivertributary
  32. 548 kmScioto Rivertributary
  33. 596 kmOhio Brush Creektributary
  34. 627 kmMaysville8,873 people
  35. 712 kmLittle Miami Rivertributary
  36. 718 kmDayton5,666 people
  37. 720 kmBellevue5,548 people
  38. 722 kmCincinnati309,317 people
  39. 722 kmCovington40,961 people
  40. 722 kmLicking Rivertributary
  41. 725 kmLudlow4,385 people
  42. 755 kmGreat Miami Rivertributary
  43. 757 kmLawrenceburg5,129 people
  44. 765 kmLaughery Creektributary
  45. 776 kmRising Sun2,248 people
  46. 836 kmKentucky Rivertributary
  47. 856 kmMadison12,357 people
  48. 858 kmClifty Falls State Park
  49. 906 kmFourteen Mile Creektributary
  50. 922 kmJeffersonville49,447 people
  51. 925 kmLouisville246,161 people
  52. 929 kmClarksville22,333 people
  53. 932 kmNew Albany37,841 people
  54. 965 kmSalt Rivertributary
  55. 1,034 kmBlue Rivertributary
  56. 1,119 kmAnderson Rivertributary
  57. 1,155 kmOwensboro60,183 people
  58. 1,196 kmGreen Rivertributary
  59. 1,208 kmEvansville119,943 people
  60. 1,226 kmHenderson27,981 people
  61. 1,265 kmMount Vernon6,493 people
  62. 1,297 kmWabash Rivertributary
  63. 1,321 kmSaline Rivertributary
  64. 1,331 kmTradewater Rivertributary
  65. 1,405 kmCumberland Rivertributary
  66. 1,421 kmTennessee Rivertributary
  67. 1,424 kmPaducah27,137 people
  68. 1,437 kmMetropolis5,969 people
  69. 1,495 kmSwan Lake0.7 km²
  70. 1,579 kmMississippi Riverat 80 m

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

River in the midwestern United States

At the mouth it carries 7,973 m³/s on average: 3.2 Olympic pools every second. It drops from 216 m to 80 m, 0.1 m per kilometre on average. Its basin covers 528,100 km², about the size of YE. 29.4 million people live in it. Highest water: from March to May. Dams and reservoirs hold back a large share of its water (27% of a year's flow).

Read more on Wikipedia

Where to start

  • CincinnatiLargest city on its banks · 309,317 people
  • Cincinnati Municipal Airport Lunken Field (LUK)Nearest airport with scheduled flights, 8 km from the cityCar hire at CVG airport (Cincinnati / Covington)Discover Cars · Affiliate link
  • On the water406 ferry piers, marinas, boat rentals and boat ramps along the river (OpenStreetMap)
  • Kayak and canoe15 put-ins and rapids mapped (OpenStreetMap)
  • From June to OctoberThe best months to visit

Ohio River, month by month

Highest water: from March to May

Best months to visit: from June to October.

4,200
-1°75 mmJan
11,700
1°77 mmFeb
13,500
7°107 mmMar
13,000
12°101 mmApr
15,800
17°113 mmMay
9,500
22°96 mmJun
7,200
24°110 mmJul
5,400
23°93 mmAug
3,700
20°81 mmSep
3,400
13°71 mmOct
5,300
7°91 mmNov
8,000
2°89 mmDec
Water (estimated flow)Air (average) Rain (mm)Best months

From about 3,400 m³/s in the lowest month to 15,800 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 CVG airport (Cincinnati / Covington)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

Ohio River: the basin in numbers

527,761 km² of land send their water to this river. This is what lives on it.

Heavily regulatedReservoirs can hold 27% of a year's flow: dams shape its seasons.
  • 29.4millionpeople live in the basin
  • 57/km²people per km²
  • 348maverage altitude of the basin
  • 1,178mmof rain a year (basin average)
  • 11.7°Caverage air temperature
  • 3%protected areas
  • 0.8%covered by lakes
  • 66km³held in reservoirs

What covers the basin

  • 59% Forest
  • 32% Cropland
  • 5% Pasture
  • 4% 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

Ohio River: what you find on the way

  • 85DamsEmsworth Dam, Emsworth Back Channel Dam, Montour Heights Country Club Dam and 82 more
  • 21WeirsMarkland Dam, US Dam Number Four, Dam Number 49 and 18 more
  • 86LocksEmsworth Lock and Dam, Dashields Lock and Dam, Montgomery Lock and Dam and 83 more
  • 14WaterfallsSnake Run, Hoffman Falls, Wallace Falls and 11 more
  • 15Canoe put-insThree Rivers Rowing Launch, Lawrenceville Launch, Millvale Riverfront Park Launch and 12 more
  • 348Boat rampsPFBC Glenfield Launch Ramp, Paden City Park Boat Launch, Saint Marys boat ramp and 345 more
  • 19Ferry piersBlennerhassett Island Ferry, Augusta Ferry, Public Landing and 16 more
  • 38MarinasLock Wall One Marina, Midway Marine Marina, Chestnut Street Motorized Boat Dock and 35 more
  • 1Boat rentalsKayak Rental
  • 1River beachesBAB

From OpenStreetMap, within 2.8 km of the river. Not mapped is not the same as not there.

Cross-checked with our atlases

Ohio 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.

  • 1waterfall on the riverCascadyas
  • 1lake on its wayLakeyas
  • 1mountain at the sourcePeakyas

Waterfalls (1)

On the river, by Cascadyas

  1. Clifty Falls State Parkkm 879

Cascadyas is coming soonOpen Cascadyas ↗

Lakes and reservoirs (1)

Lakes it flows through, by Lakeyas

  1. Swan Lakekm 1,5320.7km²

Lakeyas is coming soonOpen Lakeyas ↗

Mountains at the source (1)

Within 15 km of the source, by Peakyas

  1. Mount Washington1.8 km away

Open Peakyas ↗

From space

The source and the mouth, seen from orbit

Ohio River: satellite view of the source
The source14 km across
Ohio River: satellite view of the mouth
The mouth99 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

Ohio River in pictures

Horseshoe bend in Ohio River
SouthernOculus · CC BY-SA 4.0
Ohio Falls Bridge 2025j
Antony-22 · CC BY-SA 4.0
Barge on Ohio River
SouthernOculus · CC BY-SA 4.0
Barge on the ohio river
Butler Janet, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service · Public domain

Tributaries

Where it flows, and what flows into it

It flows into

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

Tributaries (73)

Cumberland RiverUnited StatesUnited States1,107 km860 m³/sjoins at km 1,440Tennessee RiverUnited StatesUnited States1,049 km2,000 m³/sjoins at km 1,456Wabash RiverUnited StatesUnited States960 km1,000 m³/sjoins at km 1,329Allegheny RiverUnited StatesUnited States523 km560 m³/sjoins at km 5Kentucky RiverUnited StatesUnited States417 km280 m³/sjoins at km 857Scioto RiverUnited StatesUnited States372 km190 m³/sjoins at km 561Monongahela RiverUnited StatesUnited States209 km360 m³/sjoins at km 5Kanawha RiverUnited StatesUnited States156 km430 m³/sjoins at km 418

Also: Muskingum River, Green River, Great Miami River, Licking River, Beaver River, Big Sandy River, Little Miami River, Little Kanawha River, Hocking River, Guyandotte River, Little Muskingum River, Salt River, Little Scioto River, Little Sandy River, Shade River, Ohio Brush Creek, Duck Creek, Little Beaver Creek, Little Hocking River, Symmes Creek, Anderson River, Chartiers Creek, Saline River, Laughery Creek

In the same basin

Missouri RiverUnited StatesUnited States3,726 km2,500 m³/sArkansas RiverUnited StatesUnited States2,364 km240 m³/sRed RiverUnited StatesUnited States2,189 km1,900 m³/sYellowstone RiverUnited StatesUnited States1,114 km390 m³/sPlatte RiverUnited StatesUnited States500 km200 m³/sCanadian RiverUnited StatesUnited States1,458 km200 m³/sIllinois RiverUnited StatesUnited States432 km660 m³/sKansas RiverUnited StatesUnited States238 km210 m³/sCimarron RiverUnited StatesUnited States1,123 km1,100 m³/sMinnesota RiverUnited StatesUnited States534 km120 m³/s

Nearby

Rivers nearby

Tennessee RiverUnited StatesUnited States1,049 km2,000 m³/s51 km awayCumberland RiverUnited StatesUnited States1,107 km860 m³/s64 km awayWabash RiverUnited StatesUnited States960 km1,000 m³/s129 km awayMissouri RiverUnited StatesUnited States3,726 km2,500 m³/s220 km awayIllinois RiverUnited StatesUnited States432 km660 m³/s249 km awaySt. Francis RiverUnited StatesUnited States686 km400 m³/s294 km awayOsage RiverUnited StatesUnited States444 km310 m³/s305 km awayArkansas RiverUnited StatesUnited States2,364 km240 m³/s400 km away

Where these numbers come from

Name, length, placesWikidata (Q4915) · 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