River
Urubamba River
725 km from source to mouth · Peru.
PeruFlows into Ucayali River6th longest in Peru
In numbers
Length
725km
Average flow
2,200m³/s
Basin
60,300km²
Drop
3,010m
from 3,217 m to 207 m
Country
1
The journey
From source to mouth
725 km of river and 8 stops on the way: 4 towns and cities on its banks, dams, bridges and the tributaries that feed it.
- 0 kmSourceat 3,217 m
- 79 kmCalca9,179 people
- 122 kmHuarocondo Rivertributary
- 146 kmCusichaca Rivertributary
- 183 kmLucumayo Rivertributary
- 203 kmQuillabamba25,300 people
- 206 kmSanta Ana25,145 people
- 359 kmYavero Rivertributary
- 700 kmAtalaya16,700 people
- 725 kmUcayali Riverat 207 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 2,235 m³/s on average: an Olympic pool every 1.1 seconds. It drops from 3,217 m to 207 m, 4.2 m per kilometre on average. Its basin covers 60,300 km², about the size of TG. 954,000 people live in it. Highest water: from January to March; lowest: from June to September. No large dam holds it back: it is one of the world's free-flowing rivers.
Where to start
- QuillabambaLargest city on its banks · 25,300 people
- Alejandro Velasco Astete International Airport (CUZ)Nearest airport with scheduled flights, 111 km from the cityCar hire at LIM airport (Lima)Discover Cars · Affiliate link↗
- On the water15 ferry piers, marinas, boat rentals and boat ramps along the river (OpenStreetMap)
- From May to SeptemberThe best months to visit
Urubamba River, month by month
Highest water: from January to March
Lowest water: from June to September. Best months to visit: from May to September.
From about 850 m³/s in the lowest month to 4,000 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
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
Urubamba River: the basin in numbers
59,590 km² of land send their water to this river. This is what lives on it.
- 954,000people live in the basin
- 16/km²people per km²
- 1,868maverage altitude of the basin
- 1,406mmof rain a year (basin average)
- 18.6°Caverage air temperature
- 39%protected areas
- 0.2%covered by lakes
What covers the basin
- 70% Forest
- 2% Cropland
- 13% 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
Urubamba River: what you find on the way
- 1Weirs
- 24WaterfallsCatarata Sirenachayoq, Arin Waterfall, Cascadas Alcamayo and 21 more
- 14Ferry piersIvochote, Pangoa, Saniriato and 11 more
- 1Marinas
- 1River beachesTahuaya
From OpenStreetMap, within 2.3 km of the river. Not mapped is not the same as not there.
Cross-checked with our atlases
Urubamba 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.
4mountains at the sourcePeakyas
Mountains at the source (4)
Within 15 km of the source, by Peakyas
- Hatun Ch'aqu15 km away5,000m
- Tuqtu (Canchis-Quispicanchi)15 km away5,000m
- Yana Urqu13 km away4,645m
- Quri2.3 km away4,200m
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
Urubamba River in pictures
Tributaries
Where it flows, and what flows into it
It flows into
Ucayali RiverPeru1,460 km12,600 m³/sTributaries (27)
Also: Yavero River, Cusichaca River, Huarocondo River, Huatanay River, Lucumayo River, Inuya River, Santa Teresa River, Pakaymayu River, Camisea River, Cushireni River, Hercca River, Huao River, Huipaya River, Huitiricoya River, Miaria River, Mishahua River, Paquiria River, Picha River, Pitumarca River, Salcca River, Sensa River, Sepa River, Sepahua River, Ticumpinia River
In the same basin
Brazil6,400 km209,000 m³/sRio NegroBrazil2,250 km30,000 m³/sMadeira RiverBrazil1,450 km31,200 m³/sMarañón RiverPeru1,737 km16,700 m³/sJapurá RiverBrazil2,820 km13,900 m³/sXingu RiverBrazil1,640 km9,700 m³/sMamoré RiverBrazil1,930 km11,600 m³/sJuruá RiverBrazil3,100 km4,800 m³/sTapajós RiverBrazil1,930 km13,000 m³/sPutumayo RiverBrazil1,610 km7,000 m³/sWhere these numbers come from
| Name, length, places | Wikidata (Q209590) · 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 | 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.
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