Stream
Rímac River
180 km from source to mouth · Peru.
PeruFlows into Pacific Ocean
In numbers
Length
180km
Average flow
26m³/s
Basin
3,389km²
Drop
4,274m
from 4,274 m to 0 m
Country
1
The journey
From source to mouth
180 km of river and 18 stops on the way: 9 towns and cities on its banks, dams, bridges and the tributaries that feed it.
- 0 kmSourceat 4,274 m
- 29 kmInfernillo Bridge
- 56 kmMatucana4,517 people
- 99 kmRicardo Palma4,842 people
- 108 kmAsentamiento Humano Nicolas de Pierola5,800 people
- 108 kmChosica88,606 people
- 139 kmSanta María14,853 people
- 154 kmHuaca Mangomarca
- 159 kmHuascar Bridge
- 161 kmPuente Balta
- 161 kmRicardo Palma Bridge
- 162 kmPuente de Piedra
- 162 kmLima9,943,800 people
- 162 kmPuente Rayito de Sol
- 162 kmSanta Rosa Bridge
- 164 kmPuente del Ejército
- 164 kmBreña81,909 people
- 172 kmCarmen De La Legua Reynoso41,863 people
- 180 kmCallao1,226,200 people
- 180 kmPacific Oceanat 0 m
Water level along the river (RiverATLAS; the height is exaggerated). Towns: GeoNames and Wikidata; bridges, dams and tributaries: Wikidata.
Peruvian river
At the mouth it carries 26 m³/s on average: an Olympic pool every 96 seconds. It drops from 4,274 m to 0 m, 24 m per kilometre on average. Its basin covers 3,389 km², about the size of CV. 2.6 million people live in it. Highest water: from February to March; lowest: from June to August and November. Its dams hold back little of its water (5.7% of a year's flow).
Where to start
- LimaLargest city on its banks · 9,943,800 people
- Jorge Chávez International Airport (LIM)Nearest airport with scheduled flights, 9 km from the cityCar hire at LIM airport (Lima)Discover Cars · Affiliate link↗
- On the water2 ferry piers, marinas, boat rentals and boat ramps along the river (OpenStreetMap)
- From January to MayThe best months to visit
Rímac River, month by month
Highest water: from February to March
Lowest water: from June to August and November. Best months to visit: from January to May.
From about 4.4 m³/s in the lowest month to 60 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
Rímac River: the basin in numbers
3,302 km² of land send their water to this river. This is what lives on it.
- 2.6millionpeople live in the basin
- 791/km²people per km²
- 3,143maverage altitude of the basin
- 508mmof rain a year (basin average)
- 8.3°Caverage air temperature
- 0.3%covered by lakes
- 0.0km³held in reservoirs
What covers the basin
- 16% Forest
- 2% Cropland
- 43% Pasture
- 11% 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
Rímac River: what you find on the way
- 11WeirsBocatoma La Atarjea and 10 more
- 7WaterfallsCatarata El Encuentro, Waterfall Cuchimachay, Huanano Waterfall and 4 more
- 2MarinasMuelle del Callao
From OpenStreetMap, within 1.5 km of the river. Not mapped is not the same as not there.
Cross-checked with our atlases
Rímac 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.
40beaches at the mouth and on the banksCoastya
79mountains at the sourcePeakyas
3islands off the mouthIslandyas
Beaches (40)
At the mouth (25 km) and on the banks, by Coastya
- Playa Mar Brava2.7 km away21.5°C
- Playa La Pampilla14 km away21.5°C
- Playa Estrella16 km away21.5°C
- Playa Barranco18 km away21.5°C
- Playa Tres Picos13 km away21.5°C
- Malecón La Marina14 km away21.5°C
- Malecón Cisneros15 km away21.5°C
- Playa Miraflores15 km away21.5°C
32 more on CoastyaOpen Coastya ↗
Mountains at the source (79)
Within 15 km of the source, by Peakyas
- Paca11 km away5,500m
- Carhuachuco10 km away5,507m
- Huallacancha12 km away5,500m
- Antachayri13 km away5,600m
- Suyruqucha15 km away5,500m
- Pachanqutu13 km away5,400m
- Wararayuq14 km away5,354m
- Wayllakancha12 km away5,400m
71 more on PeakyasOpen Peakyas ↗
Islands off the mouth (3)
Within 30 km of the mouth, by Islandyas
- San Lorenzo Island10 km away16km²
- El Frontón9.5 km away1.0km²
- Palomino Islands14 km away
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
Rímac River in pictures
Tributaries
Where it flows, and what flows into it
Tributaries (2)
Also: Río Blanco, Santa Eulalia River
Where these numbers come from
| Name, length, places | Wikidata (Q1343245) · CC0 |
|---|---|
| Course, profile, basin | RiverATLAS v1.0 (HydroATLAS, Linke et al. 2019) · CC BY 4.0 — followed along the river network from the point 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