The Cariboo River is a river in the Cariboo District of the Central Interior of British Columbia, Canada. It is a tributary of the Quesnel River, joining that river just northwest of the settlement of Likely. Its reaches below Cariboo Lake were formerly known also as the North Fork Quesnel River. Above Cariboo Lake it was formerly known as the Swamp River. The name was adopted, and replaced the former names, in 1936 in association with Cariboo Lake.