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River

Ucayali River

1,460 km from source to mouth · Peru.

PeruPeruFlows into Amazon River2nd longest in Peru

Follow the riverMonth by month

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

In numbers

Length

1,460km

Average flow

12,600m³/s

Basin

375,000km²

Drop

120m

from 207 m to 87 m

Country

1

The journey

From source to mouth

1,460 km of river and 21 stops on the way: 5 towns and cities on its banks, dams, bridges and the tributaries that feed it.

207 m87 m
Sourceat 207 m0 km
Pucallpa326,040 people472 km
Laguna Brasil0.6 km²501 km
Contamana20,900 people711 km
Laguna Jíbaro0.7 km²1,276 km
Amazon Riverat 87 m1,460 km
05001,0001,460 km
  1. 0 kmSourceat 207 m
  2. 2 kmAtalaya16,700 people
  3. 2 kmTambo Rivertributary
  4. 2 kmUrubamba Rivertributary
  5. 407 kmPachitea Rivertributary
  6. 470 kmSan Fernando67,844 people
  7. 472 kmPucallpa326,040 people
  8. 501 kmLaguna Brasil0.6 km²
  9. 538 kmAguaytía Rivertributary
  10. 610 kmLaguna Cashibomuyuna5.3 km²
  11. 620 kmLaguna Lopuna0.6 km²
  12. 639 kmLaguna Cupiso0.3 km²
  13. 650 kmPisqui Rivertributary
  14. 711 kmContamana20,900 people
  15. 1,276 kmLaguna Jíbaro0.7 km²
  16. 1,293 kmRequena25,300 people
  17. 1,294 kmLaguna Lobococha6.2 km²
  18. 1,295 kmTapiche Rivertributary
  19. 1,326 kmLaguna Vainilla0.5 km²
  20. 1,330 kmLaguna Supay1.1 km²
  21. 1,336 kmLaguna Capite0.9 km²
  22. 1,405 kmLaguna La Moringa1.3 km²
  23. 1,460 kmAmazon Riverat 87 m

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

River in Peru

At the mouth it carries 12,600 m³/s on average: 5.0 Olympic pools every second. It drops from 207 m to 87 m, 0.1 m per kilometre on average. Its basin covers 375,000 km², about the size of JP. 4.8 million people live in it. Highest water: from January to April. No large dam holds it back: it is one of the world's free-flowing rivers.

Read more on Wikipedia

Where to start

  • PucallpaLargest city on its banks · 326,040 people
  • Cap FAP David Abenzur Rengifo International Airport (PCL)Nearest airport with scheduled flights, 3 km from the cityCar hire in TarapotoDiscover Cars · Affiliate link
  • On the water22 ferry piers, marinas, boat rentals and boat ramps along the river (OpenStreetMap)
  • From June to AugustThe best months to visit

Ucayali River, month by month

Highest water: from January to April

Best months to visit: from June to August.

19,600
27°205 mmJan
20,200
27°196 mmFeb
20,800
27°232 mmMar
21,000
27°206 mmApr
18,700
26°145 mmMay
15,100
26°108 mmJun
10,000
26°82 mmJul
6,600
26°95 mmAug
6,400
27°126 mmSep
9,000
27°177 mmOct
14,000
27°223 mmNov
17,500
27°206 mmDec
Water (estimated flow)Air (average) Rain (mm)Best months

From about 6,400 m³/s in the lowest month to 21,000 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 in TarapotoDiscover 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

Ucayali River: the basin in numbers

353,729 km² of land send their water to this river. This is what lives on it.

Free-flowingDams upstream can hold only 0.2% of a year's flow: the river still keeps its natural rhythm.
  • 4.8millionpeople live in the basin
  • 14/km²people per km²
  • 1,771maverage altitude of the basin
  • 1,576mmof rain a year (basin average)
  • 18.6°Caverage air temperature
  • 32%protected areas
  • 0.4%covered by lakes
  • 0.8km³held in reservoirs

What covers the basin

  • 65% Forest
  • 3% Cropland
  • 16% Pasture

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

Ucayali River: what you find on the way

  • 16Ferry piersAtalaya and 15 more
  • 6MarinasIparìa River Port, La Hoyada and 4 more

From OpenStreetMap, within 2.7 km of the river. Not mapped is not the same as not there.

Cross-checked with our atlases

Ucayali 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.

  • 10lakes on its wayLakeyas
  • 3mountains at the sourcePeakyas

Lakes and reservoirs (10)

Lakes it flows through, by Lakeyas

  1. Laguna Brasilkm 4880.6km²
  2. Laguna Cashibomuyunakm 5935.3km²
  3. Laguna Lopunakm 6040.6km²
  4. Laguna Jíbarokm 1,2410.7km²
  5. Laguna Lobocochakm 1,2596.2km²
  6. Laguna Supaykm 1,2941.1km²
  7. Laguna Capitekm 1,3000.9km²
  8. Laguna La Moringakm 1,3671.3km²

2 more on LakeyasLakeyas is coming soonOpen Lakeyas ↗

Mountains at the source (3)

Within 15 km of the source, by Peakyas

  1. Cerro Sito Mora8.5 km away
  2. Cerro Canela8.9 km away
  3. Cerro Azúl5.4 km away

Open Peakyas ↗

From space

The source and the mouth, seen from orbit

Ucayali River: satellite view of the source
The source14 km across
Ucayali River: satellite view of the mouth
The mouth81 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.

Photos

Ucayali River in pictures

Atalaya (Peru) Rios Tambo+Ucayali
Maurice Chédel · Public domain
Oil drilling rig in Peru next to Ucayali River 2021
Editorq35 · CC BY-SA 4.0
Río Ucayali en el malecón Grau (04-09-10)
DSan · CC BY-SA 4.0
Reflejos en Río Ucayali
Techylm · CC BY-SA 4.0

Tributaries

Where it flows, and what flows into it

It flows into

Amazon RiverBrazilBrazil6,400 km209,000 m³/s

Tributaries (20)

Urubamba RiverPeruPeru725 km2,200 m³/sjoins at km 2Tambo RiverPeruPeru159 km3,500 m³/sjoins at km 2

Also: Pachitea River, Tapiche River, Aguaytía River, Pacaya River, Cushabatay River, Pisqui River, Abujao River, Callería River, Cashiboya River, Cohengua Rover, Guanache River, Maquía River, Santa Catalina River, Sheshea River, Tahuanía River, Tamaya River, Unine River, Utiquinía River

In the same basin

Rio NegroBrazilBrazil2,250 km30,000 m³/sMadeira RiverBrazilBrazil1,450 km31,200 m³/sMarañón RiverPeruPeru1,737 km16,700 m³/sJapurá RiverBrazilBrazil2,820 km13,900 m³/sXingu RiverBrazilBrazil1,640 km9,700 m³/sMamoré RiverBrazilBrazil1,930 km11,600 m³/sJuruá RiverBrazilBrazil3,100 km4,800 m³/sTapajós RiverBrazilBrazil1,930 km13,000 m³/sPutumayo RiverBrazilBrazil1,610 km7,000 m³/sPurus RiverBrazilBrazil2,960 km8.4 m³/s

Nearby

Rivers nearby

Marañón RiverPeruPeru1,737 km16,700 m³/s0 km awayTigre RiverPeruPeru598 km2,700 m³/s71 km awayNapo RiverPeruPeru1,130 km7,100 m³/s133 km awayHuallaga RiverPeruPeru1,080 km3,800 m³/s249 km awayPastaza RiverPeruPeru710 km2,300 m³/s333 km awayJavary RiverBrazilBrazil1,056 km2,500 m³/s384 km away

Where these numbers come from

Name, length, placesWikidata (Q200952) · CC0
Course, profile, basinRiverATLAS v1.0 (HydroATLAS, Linke et al. 2019) · CC BY 4.0 — followed from the source to the mouth 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 atlasesLakeyas, Peakyas — 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