| Athabasca River | |
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Athabasca River in Jasper National Park
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| Country | Canada |
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| Province | Alberta |
| Source | Columbia Icefield |
| - location | Jasper National Park |
| - elevation | 1,520 m (4,987 ft) (foot of glacier) |
| - coordinates | |
| Mouth | Lake Athabasca |
| - elevation | 205 m (673 ft) |
| - coordinates | |
| Length | 1,231 km (765 mi) [1] |
| Basin | 95,300 km2 (36,796 sq mi) [1] |
| Discharge | for Athabasca River Below McMurray |
| - average | 623 m3/s (22,000 cu ft/s) [2] |
| - max | 4,790 m3/s (169,160 cu ft/s) |
| - min | 75.0 m3/s (2,650 cu ft/s) |
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Athabasca River watershed in western Canada
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The Athabasca River (French: rivière Athabasca) originates from the Columbia Glacier of the Columbia Icefield in Jasper National Park in Alberta, Canada. The impressive and scenic Athabasca Falls is located upstream about 30 km (19 mi) from the Jasper townsite.
In Woods Cree, the word aðapaskāw means "[where] there are plants one after another",[3] likely a reference to the spotty vegetation along the river.
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Sekani, Shuswap, Kootenay, Salish, Stoney and Cree tribes hunted and fished along the river prior to the European colonization. From about 1778, the Athabasca River, the Clearwater River, which enters the Athabasca River from the east at Fort McMurray, and the Methye Portage were part of the main fur trade route from the Mackenzie River to the Great Lakes. See Canadian Canoe Routes (early). David Thompson and Thomas the Iroquois travelled through Athabasca Pass in 1811. In 1862, the Athabasca Springs area was crossed during the Cariboo Goldrush by the Overlander Party.
This river was designated a Canadian Heritage River for its importance to the fur trade and the construction of railways and roads opening up the Canadian West, as well as for its natural heritage.[4]
The Athabasca River originates in Jasper National Park at the toe of the Athabasca Glacier, between Mount Columbia, Snow Dome, and the Sir Winston Churchill Range, at an altitude of approximately 1,600 metres (5,200 ft).
The river flows along icefields and through gorges, offering wildlife habitat on its shores and adjacent marshes. Throughout its course, it flows through or adjacent to numerous national and provincial parks, including Jasper National Park, Fort Assiniboine Sandhills Wildland Provincial Park, Hubert Lake Wildland Provincial Park, La Biche River Wildland Provincial Park, Grand Rapids Wildland Provincial Park, Richardson River Dunes Wildland Provincial Park, and Wood Buffalo National Park. Its course is marked by rapids, impeding navigation southwest of Fort McMurray.[5]
The Athabasca River travels 1,231 km (765 mi) before draining into the Peace-Athabasca Delta near Lake Athabasca south of Fort Chipewyan. From there, its waters flow north as Rivière des Rochers, then joining the Peace River to form the Slave River that empties into Great Slave Lake and discharges through the Mackenzie River system into the Arctic Ocean. The cumulative drainage area is 95,300 km2 (36,800 sq mi).[6]
Numerous communities are located on the banks of the Athabasca River, including Jasper, Brule, Entrance, Hinton, Whitecourt, Fort Assiniboine, Smith, Athabasca, Fort McMurray, and Fort MacKay.
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An independent study has concluded that the Athabasca River contains elevated levels of pollution downstream of the Athabasca oil sands. Testing has shown this portion of the river contains mercury, lead and 11 other toxic elements.[7]
The Canadian Heraldic Authority named the position of Athabaska Herald after the river.
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