River
River Don
131 km from source to mouth · United Kingdom.
United KingdomFlows into North Sea
In numbers
Length
131km
Average flow
21m³/s
Basin
1,309km²
Drop
292m
from 294 m to 2 m
Country
1
The journey
From source to mouth
131 km of river and 23 stops on the way: 6 towns and cities on its banks, dams, bridges and the tributaries that feed it.
- 0 kmGrampian Mountainsat 294 m
- 0 kmLuib Bridge
- 4 kmPoldullie Bridge
- 8 kmBridge of Newe
- 11 kmBridge of Buchaam
- 49 kmBridge of Alford
- 51 kmAlford2,290 people
- 59 kmBridge of Keig
- 81 kmKemnay3,830 people
- 92 kmInverurie13,640 people
- 93 kmDon Viaduct
- 94 kmRiver Urietributary
- 99 kmKintore4,680 people
- 99 kmDon Bridge
- 115 kmParkhill, Railway Viaduct
- 117 kmDyce5,730 people
- 123 kmPersley Bridge
- 126 kmGrandholm Bridge
- 126 kmWhite Bridge
- 126 kmGordon's Mills footbridge
- 127 kmDiamond Bridge
- 129 kmAberdeen200,680 people
- 129 kmBrig o' Balgownie
- 130 kmBridge of Don
- 131 kmNorth Seaat 2 m
Water level along the river (RiverATLAS; the height is exaggerated). Towns: GeoNames and Wikidata; bridges, dams and tributaries: Wikidata.
River in north-east Scotland, flows into the North Sea
At the mouth it carries 21 m³/s on average: an Olympic pool every 121 seconds. It drops from 294 m to 2 m, 2.2 m per kilometre on average. Its basin covers 1,309 km², about the size of MQ. 126,000 people live in it. Highest water: from November to January. No large dam holds it back: it is one of the world's free-flowing rivers.
Where to start
- AberdeenLargest city on its banks · 200,680 people
- Aberdeen International Airport (ABZ)Nearest airport with scheduled flights, 8 km from the cityCar hire at ABZ airport (Aberdeen)Discover Cars · Affiliate link↗
- From June to AugustThe best months to visit
River Don, month by month
Highest water: from November to January
Best months to visit: from June to August.
From about 12 m³/s in the lowest month to 35 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
River Don: the basin in numbers
1,309 km² of land send their water to this river. This is what lives on it.
- 126,000people live in the basin
- 97/km²people per km²
- 256maverage altitude of the basin
- 845mmof rain a year (basin average)
- 7.0°Caverage air temperature
- 22%protected areas
What covers the basin
- 7% Forest
- 24% Cropland
- 46% Pasture
- 3% 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
River Don: what you find on the way
- 7WeirsCruive Dikes and 6 more
- 1Waterfalls
From OpenStreetMap, within 1.3 km of the river. Not mapped is not the same as not there.
Cross-checked with our atlases
River Don 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.
5beaches at the mouth and on the banksCoastya
58mountains at the sourcePeakyas
2islands off the mouthIslandyas
Beaches (5)
At the mouth (25 km) and on the banks, by Coastya
- Aberdeen Beach2.6 km away13.3°C
- Newburgh Seals Beach16 km away13.3°C
- Portlethen Bay14 km away · cove13.3°C
- Newtonhill Bay16 km away · cove13.3°C
- Hackley Bay19 km away · cove13.3°C
Mountains at the source (58)
Within 15 km of the source, by Peakyas
- Beinn a' Bhùird12 km away · prominence 456 m1,197m
- Ben Avon8.1 km away1,171m
- Leabaidh an Daimh Bhuidhe8.0 km away · prominence 197 m1,171m
- Meall an t-Slugain13 km away732m
- Creag a' Chleirich14 km away650m
- Culardoch8.0 km away
- Little Craigandal9.5 km away
- Carn Ealasaid5.9 km away
50 more on PeakyasOpen Peakyas ↗
Islands off the mouth (2)
Within 30 km of the mouth, by Islandyas
- Craigmaroinn14 km away
- Craiglethy29 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.
Tributaries
Where it flows, and what flows into it
Tributaries (4)
Also: River Urie, Deskry Water, Water of Buchat, Bucks Burn
Nearby
Rivers nearby
United Kingdom154 km44 m³/s3 km awayRiver SpeyUnited Kingdom172 km64 m³/s83 km awayRiver TayUnited Kingdom193 km170 m³/s118 km awayRiver TweedUnited Kingdom156 km89 m³/s157 km awayRiver ForthUnited Kingdom47 km61 m³/s160 km awayRiver ClydeUnited Kingdom176 km90 m³/s202 km awayRiver TyneUnited Kingdom100 km63 m³/s244 km awayRiver WearUnited Kingdom96 km21 m³/s255 km awayWhere these numbers come from
| Name, length, places | Wikidata (Q387736) · 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.
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Every summit in 3D: summit weather, the 0 °C line, huts and trails.Visit 
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Every island from the sea up: size, sea temperature, ferries and 3D.Coming soonVisit 
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Every river from source to sea: the journey, the flow and the basin in numbers.You are here
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Every canyon cut to scale: depth to the floor, rim and floor temperatures, trails and viewpoints.Coming soonVisit