River
Colorado River
1,200 km from source to mouth · Argentina.
ArgentinaFlows into Atlantic Ocean4th longest in Argentina
In numbers
Length
1,200km
Average flow
140m³/s
Basin
350,000km²
Drop
884m
from 882 m to -2 m
Country
1
The journey
From source to mouth
1,200 km of river and 10 stops on the way: 4 towns and cities on its banks, dams, bridges and the tributaries that feed it.
- 0 kmBarrancas Riverat 882 m
- 13 kmGrande Rivertributary
- 149 kmBarrancas Rivertributary
- 300 kmVeinticinco de Mayo10,215 people
- 317 kmCatriel15,169 people
- 426 kmCasa de Piedra Reservoir238 km²
- 427 kmCasa de Piedra Dam
- 734 kmDesaguadero Rivertributary
- 835 kmRío Colorado16,132 people
- 1,020 kmLaguna La Petrona3.9 km²
- 1,037 kmPedro Luro11,114 people
- 1,200 kmAtlantic Oceanat -2 m
Water level along the river (RiverATLAS; the height is exaggerated). Towns: GeoNames and Wikidata; bridges, dams and tributaries: Wikidata.
River in Argentina
At the mouth it carries 140 m³/s on average: an Olympic pool every 18 seconds. It drops from 882 m to -2 m, 0.7 m per kilometre on average. Its basin covers 350,000 km², about the size of DE. 2.7 million people live in it. Highest water: from May to June and from October to November. It is heavily dammed: reservoirs can hold 128% of a year's flow.
Where to start
- Río ColoradoLargest city on its banks · 16,132 people
- Comandante Espora Airport (BHI)Nearest airport with scheduled flights, 169 km from the cityCar hire at BHI airport (Bahía Blanca)Discover Cars · Affiliate link↗
- From November to February and AprilThe best months to visit
Colorado River, month by month
Highest water: from May to June and from October to November
Best months to visit: from November to February and April.
From about 16 m³/s in the lowest month to 240 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
Colorado River: the basin in numbers
294,151 km² of land send their water to this river. This is what lives on it.
- 2.7millionpeople live in the basin
- 9/km²people per km²
- 1,535maverage altitude of the basin
- 271mmof rain a year (basin average)
- 11.7°Caverage air temperature
- 6%protected areas
- 0.3%covered by lakes
- 3%permafrost
- 6.3km³held in reservoirs
What covers the basin
- 2% Forest
- 2% Cropland
- 21% 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
Colorado River: what you find on the way
- 8WeirsToma I and 7 more
- 2WaterfallsRío Colorado, Señal Picada
From OpenStreetMap, within 2.7 km of the river. Not mapped is not the same as not there.
Cross-checked with our atlases
Colorado 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.
2lakes on its wayLakeyas
5mountains at the sourcePeakyas
Lakes and reservoirs (2)
Lakes it flows through, by Lakeyas
- Casa de Piedra Reservoirkm 373 · 39 m deep238km²
- Laguna La Petronakm 8933.9km²
Lakeyas is coming soonOpen Lakeyas ↗
Mountains at the source (5)
Within 15 km of the source, by Peakyas
- Cochiquito Volcanic Group13 km away1,435m
- Sierra de Reyes8.9 km away
- Cerro Peinado9.0 km away
- Cerro Mayal11 km away
- Cerro Huenul9.5 km away
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
Colorado River in pictures
Tributaries
Where it flows, and what flows into it
Tributaries (3)
Also: Grande River, Barrancas River
In the same basin
Where these numbers come from
| Name, length, places | Wikidata (Q270627) · CC0 |
|---|---|
| Course, profile, basin | RiverATLAS v1.0 (HydroATLAS, Linke et al. 2019) · CC BY 4.0 — followed from the source to the mouth 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 | 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.
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