River
Savannah River
563 km from source to mouth · United States.
United StatesFlows into Atlantic Ocean
In numbers
Length
563km
Average flow
360m³/s
Basin
25,511km²
Drop
342m
from 342 m to 0 m
Country
1
The journey
From source to mouth
563 km of river and 20 stops on the way: 6 towns and cities on its banks, dams, bridges and the tributaries that feed it.
- 0 kmSeneca Riverat 342 m
- 17 kmLake Jocassee29 km²
- 39 kmLake Keowee59 km²
- 58 kmClemson15,446 people
- 105 kmLake Hartwell189 km²
- 105 kmHartwell Dam
- 110 kmSmith-McGee Bridge
- 148 kmGeorgia–Carolina Memorial Bridge
- 156 kmRichard B. Russell Lake98 km²
- 157 kmRichard B. Russell Dam
- 224 kmJ. Strom Thurmond Dam
- 224 kmLake Strom Thurmond131 km²
- 238 kmFurys Ferry Bridge
- 257 kmNorth Augusta24,379 people
- 262 kmAugusta202,081 people
- 270 kmSand Bar Ferry Bridge
- 507 kmSavannah River Bridge
- 518 kmPort Wentworth7,637 people
- 523 kmGarden City8,999 people
- 528 kmTalmadge Memorial Bridge
- 529 kmSavannah147,780 people
- 563 kmAtlantic Oceanat 0 m
Water level along the river (RiverATLAS; the height is exaggerated). Towns: GeoNames and Wikidata; bridges, dams and tributaries: Wikidata.
River in the southeastern United States
At the mouth it carries 360 m³/s on average: an Olympic pool every 6.9 seconds. It drops from 342 m to 0 m, 0.6 m per kilometre on average. Its basin covers 25,511 km², about the size of MK. 1.2 million people live in it. Highest water: from February to March. It is heavily dammed: reservoirs can hold 107% of a year's flow.
Where to start
- AugustaLargest city on its banks · 202,081 people
- Augusta Regional At Bush Field (AGS)Nearest airport with scheduled flights, 11 km from the cityCar hire at AGS airport (Augusta)Discover Cars · Affiliate link↗
- On the water131 ferry piers, marinas, boat rentals and boat ramps along the river (OpenStreetMap)
- Kayak and canoe7 put-ins and rapids mapped (OpenStreetMap)
- From April to May and from September to NovemberThe best months to visit
Savannah River, month by month
Highest water: from February to March
Best months to visit: from April to May and from September to November.
From about 160 m³/s in the lowest month to 730 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
Savannah River: the basin in numbers
27,173 km² of land send their water to this river. This is what lives on it.
- 1.2millionpeople live in the basin
- 47/km²people per km²
- 195maverage altitude of the basin
- 1,288mmof rain a year (basin average)
- 16.3°Caverage air temperature
- 3%protected areas
- 2.6%covered by lakes
- 12km³held in reservoirs
What covers the basin
- 75% Forest
- 13% Cropland
- 5% 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
Savannah River: what you find on the way
- 1WeirsNew Savannah Bluff Dam
- 4LocksTide Gate and 3 more
- 28WaterfallsEel Line Falls, Teds Falls, Lower Bearwallow Falls and 25 more
- 5RapidsPossum Eddy and 4 more
- 2Canoe put-ins
- 117Boat rampsMile Creek Park, Mountain View Park Boat Ramp, Martins Creek Boat Ramp and 114 more
- 4Ferry piersChatham Area Transit owned Ferry Terminal, City Hall Landing - City of Savannah, Trade Center Landing - Chatham County personal property and 1 more
- 7MarinasDorn Boating Facility, Boathouse Community Center, Riverfront Marina Warehouse and 4 more
- 4River beachesSandstone Beach, North Beach, South Beach and 1 more
From OpenStreetMap, within 2.1 km of the river. Not mapped is not the same as not there.
Cross-checked with our atlases
Savannah 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.
5lakes on its wayLakeyas
1beach at the mouth or on the banksCoastya
1mountain at the sourcePeakyas
5islands off the mouthIslandyas
Lakes and reservoirs (5)
Lakes it flows through, by Lakeyas
- Lake Jocasseekm 1529km²
- Lake Keoweekm 3559km²
- Lake Hartwellkm 94189km²
- Richard B. Russell Lakekm 14098km²
- Lake Strom Thurmondkm 200131km²
Lakeyas is coming soonOpen Lakeyas ↗
Beaches (1)
At the mouth (25 km) and on the banks, by Coastya
- Butter Bean Beach17 km away28.8°C
Mountains at the source (1)
Within 15 km of the source, by Peakyas
- Little Mountain14 km away
Islands off the mouth (5)
Within 30 km of the mouth, by Islandyas
- Hilton Head Island26 km away
- Dutch Island9.2 km away
- Daufuskie Island11 km away
- Wassaw Island19 km away
- Cockspur Island8.6 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
Savannah River in pictures
Tributaries
Where it flows, and what flows into it
Tributaries (13)
Also: Tugaloo River, Seneca River, Keowee River, Black Creek, Brier Creek, Broad River, Chauga River, Ebenezer Creek, Horsepasture River, Little River, Rocky River, Toxaway River, Little River
Where these numbers come from
| Name, length, places | Wikidata (Q370750) · 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 | Lakeyas, 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