River
Vindel River
450 km from source to mouth · Sweden.
SwedenFlows into Storvindeln5th longest in Sweden
In numbers
Length
450km
Average flow
250m³/s
Basin
13,000km²
Drop
434m
from 495 m to 61 m
Country
1
The journey
From source to mouth
450 km of river and 45 stops on the way: 2 towns and cities on its banks, dams, bridges and the tributaries that feed it.
- 0 kmSourceat 495 m
- 0 kmStorakersvatnet42 km²
- 25 kmÖveruman52 km²
- 57 kmMaisor1.1 km²
- 57 kmGaina0.7 km²
- 61 kmAhasjön1.4 km²
- 69 kmVästansjön4.3 km²
- 79 kmStor-Laisan13 km²
- 111 kmGeavhta47 km²
- 124 kmBjörkvattensdalen82 km²
- 138 kmHolmträsket3.7 km²
- 140 kmStenträsket1.1 km²
- 141 kmUmnässjön13 km²
- 167 kmRödingträsket0.5 km²
- 171 kmSvärdasjön0.4 km²
- 205 kmStoruman Lake169 km²
- 213 kmStenselet8.6 km²
- 217 kmRackosjön2.0 km²
- 217 kmByssträsket0.7 km²
- 223 kmLångselet2.0 km²
- 224 kmMyrträsket0.9 km²
- 240 kmGrundforsdammen12 km²
- 244 kmGrundforsavan0.6 km²
- 245 kmBrännträsktjärnen0.4 km²
- 260 kmSpänningträsket0.9 km²
- 261 kmMörtsjön0.5 km²
- 269 kmHaukträsket0.7 km²
- 272 kmBlåviken17 km²
- 288 kmRusfors dämningsområde9.3 km²
- 288 kmStor-Granselet0.7 km²
- 293 kmLill-Granträsket0.3 km²
- 299 kmHöglandstjärnen0.4 km²
- 303 kmSkovelträsket1.1 km²
- 314 kmLycksträsket3.0 km²
- 316 kmLycksele8,545 people
- 317 kmKraftwerk Hällforsen
- 324 kmRenträsket0.3 km²
- 326 kmStorbacksjön1.9 km²
- 344 kmYttre Kroksjön2.3 km²
- 353 kmRössjön (lanaw sa Suwesya, Västerbottens län)3.1 km²
- 383 kmBjurfors östra dämningsområde1.9 km²
- 391 kmBjurfors norra dämningsområde1.3 km²
- 401 kmHarrsele dämningsområde1.8 km²
- 410 kmHällforstjärnen1.1 km²
- 419 kmVännäs4,373 people
- 425 kmStrandsjön0.7 km²
- 450 kmStorvindelnat 61 m
Water level along the river (RiverATLAS; the height is exaggerated). Towns: GeoNames and Wikidata; bridges, dams and tributaries: Wikidata.
River in Sweden
At the mouth it carries 248 m³/s on average: an Olympic pool every 10 seconds. It drops from 495 m to 61 m, 1.0 m per kilometre on average. Its basin covers 13,000 km², about the size of BS. 17,000 people live in it. Highest water, with the snowmelt: from May to July; lowest: from January to April. It is heavily dammed: reservoirs can hold 52% of a year's flow.
Where to start
- LyckseleLargest city on its banks · 8,545 people
- Lycksele Airport (LYC)Nearest airport with scheduled flights, 6 km from the cityCar hire at AJR airport (Arvidsjaur)Discover Cars · Affiliate link↗
- On the water10 ferry piers, marinas, boat rentals and boat ramps along the river (OpenStreetMap)
- From June to AugustThe best months to visit
Vindel River, month by month
Highest water: from May to July
Lowest water: from January to April. Freezing months (average below −4 °C): from November to March. Melting snow makes up much of its water. Best months to visit: from June to August.
From about 63 m³/s in the lowest month to 830 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
Vindel River: the basin in numbers
12,474 km² of land send their water to this river. This is what lives on it.
- 17,000people live in the basin
- 1/km²people per km²
- 534maverage altitude of the basin
- 718mmof rain a year (basin average)
- 0.2°Caverage air temperature
- 20%protected areas
- 8.7%covered by lakes
- 5%permafrost
- 4.1km³held in reservoirs
What covers the basin
- 72% Forest
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
Vindel River: what you find on the way
- 2Weirs
- 1Waterfalls
- 9Boat ramps
- 1MarinasStorumans båtklubb
- 10River beachesAnsia badplats, Hedlunda strand, Tannbäckens badplats and 7 more
From OpenStreetMap, within 1.9 km of the river. Not mapped is not the same as not there.
Cross-checked with our atlases
Vindel 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.
1waterfall on the riverCascadyas
42lakes on its wayLakeyas
91mountains at the sourcePeakyas
Waterfalls (1)
On the river, by Cascadyas
- Kraftwerk Hällforsenkm 310
Cascadyas is coming soonOpen Cascadyas ↗
Lakes and reservoirs (42)
Lakes it flows through, by Lakeyas
- Storakersvatnetkm 042km²
- Överumankm 25 · 79 m deep52km²
- Stor-Laisankm 77 · 28 m deep13km²
- Geavhtakm 108 · 58 m deep47km²
- Björkvattensdalenkm 12182km²
- Umnässjönkm 138 · 44 m deep13km²
- Storuman Lakekm 200 · 135 m deep169km²
- Blåvikenkm 26617km²
34 more on LakeyasLakeyas is coming soonOpen Lakeyas ↗
Mountains at the source (91)
Within 15 km of the source, by Peakyas
- Avahaugan9.1 km away
- Medhukerten5.7 km away
- Bontaheimen15 km away
- Stormuren10 km away
- Sør-Åbittinden12 km away
- Haremhøgda13 km away
- Tretuva12 km away
- Møllerakkorden3.8 km away
83 more on PeakyasOpen Peakyas ↗
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
Vindel River in pictures
Tributaries
Where it flows, and what flows into it
Tributaries (5)
Also: Laisälven, Bjurbäcken, Hjuksån, Krycklan, Rödån
In the same basin
Nearby
Rivers nearby
Sweden467 km450 m³/s27 km awaySkellefte RiverSweden410 km160 m³/s104 km awayPite RiverSweden400 km160 m³/s177 km awayIndalsälvenSweden420 km460 m³/s197 km awayLjunganSweden350 km140 m³/s216 km awayKalix RiverSweden461 km290 m³/s265 km awayTorne RiverSweden470 km380 m³/s293 km awayKemijoki
Finland550 km560 m³/s302 km awayWhere these numbers come from
| Name, length, places | Wikidata (Q1272368) · 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, 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.
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