River
Saguenay River
160 km from source to mouth · Canada.
CanadaFlows into St. Lawrence River
In numbers
Length
160km
Average flow
1,500m³/s
Basin
90,000km²
Drop
67m
from 66 m to -1 m
Country
1
The journey
From source to mouth
160 km of river and 30 stops on the way: 3 towns and cities on its banks, dams, bridges and the tributaries that feed it.
- 0 kmconfluenceat 66 m
- 0 kmLa Grande Déchargetributary
- 0 kmLa Petite Déchargetributary
- 0 kmLake St. John1,113 km²
- 21 kmRivière des Aulnaiestributary
- 21 kmChute Thomas-Gonie
- 28 kmPetit lac des Harvey22 km²
- 29 kmJonquière54,842 people
- 29 kmKénogami Bridge
- 31 kmArvida aluminium Bridge
- 31 kmShipshaw Dam
- 32 kmRivière Shipshawtributary
- 43 kmPont Dubuc
- 43 kmRivière Chicoutimitributary
- 43 kmChutes Price
- 43 kmPont Sainte-Anne
- 44 kmSaguenay148,886 people
- 44 kmChicoutimi69,004 people
- 46 kmChute Langevin
- 46 kmRivière du Moulintributary
- 51 kmRivière Valintributary
- 64 kmRivière Ha! Ha!tributary
- 64 kmRivière à Marstributary
- 97 kmLac Blanc0.4 km²
- 106 kmLac Biscambi0.4 km²
- 108 kmÉternité Rivertributary
- 118 kmLac Betty-Baldwin0.3 km²
- 119 kmRivière Saint-Jeantributary
- 126 kmRivière Petit Saguenaytributary
- 136 kmSainte-Marguerite Rivertributary
- 157 kmChute du Caribou-Qui-Pisse
- 160 kmSt. Lawrence Riverat -1 m
Water level along the river (RiverATLAS; the height is exaggerated). Towns: GeoNames and Wikidata; bridges, dams and tributaries: Wikidata.
River in Quebec, Canada
At the mouth it carries 1,470 m³/s on average: an Olympic pool every 1.7 seconds. It drops from 66 m to -1 m, 0.4 m per kilometre on average. Its basin covers 90,000 km², about the size of RS. 284,000 people live in it. Highest water, with the snowmelt: from May to June; lowest: from December to March. Dams and reservoirs hold back a large share of its water (28% of a year's flow).
Where to start
- SaguenayLargest city on its banks · 148,886 people
- Saguenay-Bagotville Airport (YBG)Nearest airport with scheduled flights, 11 km from the cityCar hire at YBG airport (Saguenay)Discover Cars · Affiliate link↗
- On the water15 ferry piers, marinas, boat rentals and boat ramps along the river (OpenStreetMap)
- Kayak and canoe16 put-ins and rapids mapped (OpenStreetMap)
- From June to AugustThe best months to visit
Saguenay River, month by month
Highest water: from May to June
Lowest water: from December to March. Freezing months (average below −4 °C): from December to March. Melting snow makes up much of its water. Best months to visit: from June to August.
From about 680 m³/s in the lowest month to 4,900 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
Saguenay River: the basin in numbers
87,596 km² of land send their water to this river. This is what lives on it.
- 284,000people live in the basin
- 4/km²people per km²
- 452maverage altitude of the basin
- 970mmof rain a year (basin average)
- -0.2°Caverage air temperature
- 2%protected areas
- 7.2%covered by lakes
- 7%permafrost
- 17km³held in reservoirs
What covers the basin
- 74% Forest
- 1% Cropland
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
Saguenay River: what you find on the way
- 3WaterfallsChute-à-Caron
- 16Rapids
- 7Boat rampsChemin de la Rive, Marina Saguenay, Saint-Fulgence and 4 more
- 5Ferry piersParc Aventures Cap Jaseux, Sainte-Rose-du-Nord, Croisières du Fjord and 2 more
- 2Marinas
- 2River beachesPlage de la zone portuaire de Chicoutimi, Battures aux Loups Marins
From OpenStreetMap, within 2.4 km of the river. Not mapped is not the same as not there.
Cross-checked with our atlases
Saguenay 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.
4waterfalls on the riverCascadyas
5lakes on its wayLakeyas
Waterfalls (4)
On the river, by Cascadyas
- Chute Thomas-Goniekm 22
- Chutes Pricekm 45
- Chute Langevinkm 47
- Chute du Caribou-Qui-Pissekm 162
Cascadyas is coming soonOpen Cascadyas ↗
Lakes and reservoirs (5)
Lakes it flows through, by Lakeyas
- Lake St. Johnkm 0 · 63 m deep1,113km²
- Petit lac des Harveykm 2822km²
- Lac Blanckm 990.4km²
- Lac Biscambikm 1100.4km²
- Lac Betty-Baldwinkm 1220.3km²
Lakeyas is coming soonOpen Lakeyas ↗
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
Saguenay River in pictures
Tributaries
Where it flows, and what flows into it
Tributaries (26)
Also: Rivière Ha! Ha!, La Petite Décharge, Sainte-Marguerite River, Rivière Valin, Rivière à Mars, Rivière Shipshaw, La Grande Décharge, Rivière Chicoutimi, Rivière Petit Saguenay, Rivière du Moulin, Rivière Saint-Jean, Rivière des Aulnaies, Rivière Dorval, Rivière aux Sables, Rivière à la Loutre, Rivière aux Outardes, Éternité River, Rivière aux Vases, Rivière Caribou, Rivière Gauthier, Rivière aux Rats, Rivière à la Croix, Rivière du Lac Onésime, Rivière Saint-Étienne
United StatesWhere these numbers come from
| Name, length, places | Wikidata (Q392161) · 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 | Cascadyas, 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.
beaches
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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
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Every canyon cut to scale: depth to the floor, rim and floor temperatures, trails and viewpoints.Coming soonVisit