Skip to content
riveryas
EN

River

River Tay

193 km from source to mouth · United Kingdom.

United KingdomUnited KingdomFlows into Firth of Tay6th longest in United Kingdom

Follow the riverMonth by month

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

In numbers

Length

193km

Average flow

170m³/s

Basin

6,216km²

Drop

282m

from 282 m to 0 m

Country

1

The journey

From source to mouth

193 km of river and 66 stops on the way: 7 towns and cities on its banks, dams, bridges and the tributaries that feed it.

282 m0 m
Coire Laoighat 282 m0 km
Loch Eigheach1.4 km²17 km
Loch Rannoch19 km²48 km
Dunalastair Water1.2 km²56 km
Loch Tummel5.4 km²85 km
Falls of Tummel91 km
Falls of the Braan123 km
The Hermitage123 km
River Islatributary152 km
Ballathie House155 km
Perth47,430 people179 km
Firth of Tayat 0 m193 km
050100150193 km
  1. 0 kmCoire Laoighat 282 m
  2. 9 kmLoch Laidon4.5 km²
  3. 17 kmLoch Eigheach1.4 km²
  4. 18 kmEas an Torre Mhoir
  5. 48 kmLoch Rannoch19 km²
  6. 56 kmDunalastair Water1.2 km²
  7. 68 kmKenmore Bridge
  8. 69 kmTaymouth Castle
  9. 69 kmChinese Bridge
  10. 70 kmdesigned landscape at Taymouth Castle
  11. 70 kmNewhall Bridge, Taymouth Castle
  12. 75 kmRiver Lyontributary
  13. 76 kmBolfracks
  14. 76 kmdesigned landscape at Bolfracks
  15. 76 kmAberfeldy Footbridge
  16. 76 kmWade's Bridge
  17. 76 kmAberfeldy1,986 people
  18. 80 kmAberfeldy Distillery
  19. 85 kmLoch Tummel5.4 km²
  20. 91 kmFalls of Tummel
  21. 96 kmPitlochry2,880 people
  22. 98 kmThe Black Spout
  23. 101 kmPitnacree Bridge
  24. 108 kmLogierait Viaduct
  25. 113 kmRiver Tummeltributary
  26. 115 kmDalguise Viaduct
  27. 121 kmJubilee Bridge
  28. 123 kmFalls of the Braan
  29. 123 kmThe Hermitage
  30. 123 kmBlack Linn Falls
  31. 123 kmDunkeld House
  32. 124 kmdesigned landscape at Dunkeld House
  33. 126 kmDunkeld1,330 people
  34. 126 kmDunkeld Bridge
  35. 128 kmLoch of the Lowes0.7 km²
  36. 135 kmKemp's Hold
  37. 135 kmMurthly Castle
  38. 138 kmVictoria Bridge
  39. 141 kmRiver Braantributary
  40. 151 kmMeikleour House
  41. 152 kmRiver Islatributary
  42. 152 kmKinclaven Bridge
  43. 153 kmKinclaven Castle
  44. 154 kmCargill Viaduct
  45. 155 kmBallathie House
  46. 161 kmCampsie Linn
  47. 161 kmTaymount House
  48. 163 kmInchbervis Castle
  49. 164 kmCambusmichael Church
  50. 164 kmCambusmichael Church graveyard
  51. 164 kmStanley1,410 people
  52. 166 kmThistlebridge
  53. 169 kmLuncarty1,650 people
  54. 172 kmGold Castle, enclosure 200m SW of Donald's Bank
  55. 172 kmDestiny Bridge, Perth
  56. 172 kmCross Tay Link Road bridge
  57. 173 kmBertha
  58. 177 kmScone5,030 people
  59. 179 kmPerth Bridge
  60. 179 kmPerth47,430 people
  61. 180 kmQueen's Bridge, Perth
  62. 180 kmTay Viaduct
  63. 183 kmFriarton Bridge
  64. 187 kmKinfauns Castle
  65. 190 kmElcho Castle
  66. 193 kmRiver Earntributary
  67. 193 kmRiver Almondtributary
  68. 193 kmFirth of Tayat 0 m

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

River in Perth and Kinross, and Stirling, Scotland, UK, flows into the North Sea at the Firth of Tay

At the mouth it carries 170 m³/s on average: an Olympic pool every 15 seconds. It drops from 282 m to 0 m, 1.5 m per kilometre on average. Its basin covers 6,216 km², about the size of PS. 121,000 people live in it. Highest water: from December to January. Its dams hold back little of its water (9.0% of a year's flow).

Read more on Wikipedia

Where to start

  • PerthLargest city on its banks · 47,430 people
  • Dundee Airport (DND)Nearest airport with scheduled flights, 26 km from the cityCar hire at EDI airport (Ingliston, Edinburgh)Discover Cars · Affiliate link
  • On the water4 ferry piers, marinas, boat rentals and boat ramps along the river (OpenStreetMap)
  • Kayak and canoe17 put-ins and rapids mapped (OpenStreetMap)
  • From June to AugustThe best months to visit

River Tay, month by month

Highest water: from December to January

Best months to visit: from June to August.

220
2°90 mmJan
190
2°59 mmFeb
170
4°66 mmMar
120
6°47 mmApr
100
9°58 mmMay
81
13°58 mmJun
82
14°62 mmJul
92
14°73 mmAug
120
11°78 mmSep
160
8°86 mmOct
180
5°80 mmNov
200
2°84 mmDec
Water (estimated flow)Air (average) Rain (mm)Best months

From about 81 m³/s in the lowest month to 220 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 EDI airport (Ingliston, Edinburgh)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

River Tay: the basin in numbers

5,060 km² of land send their water to this river. This is what lives on it.

Lightly regulatedReservoirs can hold 9.0% of a year's flow.
  • 121,000people live in the basin
  • 24/km²people per km²
  • 392maverage altitude of the basin
  • 1,266mmof rain a year (basin average)
  • 6.2°Caverage air temperature
  • 45%protected areas
  • 2.0%covered by lakes
  • 0.4km³held in reservoirs

What covers the basin

  • 4% Forest
  • 14% Cropland
  • 12% 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

River Tay: what you find on the way

  • 24DamsClunie Dam and 23 more
  • 7WeirsStanley Weir and 6 more
  • 26WaterfallsWaterfall on River Tummel, Linn of Tummel, The Black Spout and 23 more
  • 13RapidsWeir, Falls of Tummel, Slide and 10 more
  • 4Canoe put-insUpper Tummel, Tummel (Lower), SCA Isla Access Point and 1 more
  • 3Boat ramps
  • 1MarinasLeisure
  • 1River beachesPlage

From OpenStreetMap, within 1.6 km of the river. Not mapped is not the same as not there.

Cross-checked with our atlases

River Tay 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.

  • 7waterfalls on the riverCascadyas
  • 6lakes on its wayLakeyas
  • 42mountains at the sourcePeakyas
  • 1island off the mouthIslandyas

Waterfalls (7)

On the river, by Cascadyas

  1. Eas an Torre Mhoirkm 12
  2. Falls of Tummelkm 63
  3. The Black Spoutkm 69
  4. Falls of the Braankm 86
  5. The Hermitagekm 86
  6. Black Linn Fallskm 86
  7. Campsie Linnkm 113

Cascadyas is coming soonOpen Cascadyas ↗

Lakes and reservoirs (6)

Lakes it flows through, by Lakeyas

  1. Loch Laidonkm 64.5km²
  2. Loch Eigheachkm 121.4km²
  3. Loch Rannochkm 34 · 134 m deep19km²
  4. Dunalastair Waterkm 391.2km²
  5. Loch Tummelkm 605.4km²
  6. Loch of the Loweskm 900.7km²

Lakeyas is coming soonOpen Lakeyas ↗

Mountains at the source (42)

Within 15 km of the source, by Peakyas

  1. Meall a' Bhùiridh12 km away · prominence 795 m1,108m
  2. Beinn Achaladair10 km away · prominence 226 m1,038m
  3. Beinn a' Chreachain8.8 km away · prominence 650 m1,081m
  4. Beinn an Dòthaidh13 km away · prominence 249 m1,004m
  5. Stuchd an Lochain14 km away · prominence 482 m960m
  6. Stob a' Choire Odhair13 km away · prominence 277 m945m
  7. Beinn Mhanach12 km away · prominence 315 m953m
  8. Càrn Dearg14 km away · prominence 218 m941m

34 more on PeakyasOpen Peakyas ↗

Islands off the mouth (1)

Within 30 km of the mouth, by Islandyas

  1. Mugdrum Island4.9 km away

Islandyas is coming soonOpen Islandyas ↗

From space

The source and the mouth, seen from orbit

River Tay: satellite view of the source
The source14 km across
River Tay: satellite view of the mouth
The mouth10 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 (8)

Also: River Tummel, River Earn, River Isla, River Dochart, River Almond, River Lyon, River Braan, Craigie Burn

Nearby

Rivers nearby

River ForthUnited KingdomUnited Kingdom47 km61 m³/s42 km awayRiver ClydeUnited KingdomUnited Kingdom176 km90 m³/s86 km awayRiver TweedUnited KingdomUnited Kingdom156 km89 m³/s106 km awayRiver DeeUnited KingdomUnited Kingdom154 km44 m³/s116 km awayRiver DonUnited KingdomUnited Kingdom131 km21 m³/s118 km awayRiver SpeyUnited KingdomUnited Kingdom172 km64 m³/s146 km awayRiver TyneUnited KingdomUnited Kingdom100 km63 m³/s192 km awayRiver WearUnited KingdomUnited Kingdom96 km21 m³/s203 km away

Where these numbers come from

Name, length, placesWikidata (Q19719) · CC0
Course, profile, basinRiverATLAS v1.0 (HydroATLAS, Linke et al. 2019) · CC BY 4.0 — followed along the river network from the point 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, 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.

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