River
Colorado River
1,387 km from source to mouth · United States.
United StatesFlows into Gulf of Mexico
In numbers
Length
1,387km
Average flow
21,700m³/s
Basin
103,341km²
Drop
838m
from 838 m to 0 m
Country
1
The journey
From source to mouth
1,387 km of river and 36 stops on the way: 13 towns and cities on its banks, dams, bridges and the tributaries that feed it.
- 0 kmSourceat 838 m
- 89 kmLake J B Thomas39 km²
- 166 kmLake Colorado City3.3 km²
- 191 kmBeals Creektributary
- 253 kmE.V. Spence Reservoir13 km²
- 257 kmRobert Lee1,027 people
- 329 kmBallinger3,619 people
- 375 kmConcho Rivertributary
- 383 kmO.H. Ivie Lake47 km²
- 514 kmRegency Bridge
- 576 kmSan Saba Rivertributary
- 624 kmGorman Falls
- 674 kmLake Buchanan80 km²
- 680 kmInks Lake2.2 km²
- 693 kmKingsland7,028 people
- 696 kmLlano Rivertributary
- 703 kmSunrise Beach Village739 people
- 705 kmGranite Shoals5,129 people
- 712 kmHorseshoe Bay4,257 people
- 724 kmMarble Falls7,037 people
- 726 kmLake Lyndon B. Johnson2.3 km²
- 797 kmLakeway19,189 people
- 816 kmLake Travis51 km²
- 816 kmMansfield Dam
- 845 kmBull Creektributary
- 852 kmLake Austin2.1 km²
- 857 kmUniversity of Texas53,082 people
- 857 kmBarton Creektributary
- 858 kmSouth First Street Bridge
- 858 kmAustin974,447 people
- 862 kmLady Bird Lake0.8 km²
- 865 kmMontopolis Bridge
- 935 kmColorado River Bridge at Bastrop
- 935 kmBastrop8,231 people
- 1,200 kmWharton8,726 people
- 1,246 kmBay City17,598 people
- 1,276 kmKelly Lake28 km²
- 1,387 kmGulf of Mexicoat 0 m
Water level along the river (RiverATLAS; the height is exaggerated). Towns: GeoNames and Wikidata; bridges, dams and tributaries: Wikidata.
River in Texas, United States
At the mouth it carries 21,700 m³/s on average: 8.7 Olympic pools every second. It drops from 838 m to 0 m, 0.6 m per kilometre on average. Its basin covers 103,341 km², about the size of IS. 2.0 million people live in it. Highest water: June and from October to December. It is heavily dammed: reservoirs can hold 171% of a year's flow.
Where to start
- AustinLargest city on its banks · 974,447 people
- Austin Bergstrom International Airport (AUS)Nearest airport with scheduled flights, 11 km from the cityCar hire at AUS airport (Austin)Discover Cars · Affiliate link↗
- On the water86 ferry piers, marinas, boat rentals and boat ramps along the river (OpenStreetMap)
- From March to April and from October to NovemberThe best months to visit
Colorado River, month by month
Highest water: June and from October to December
Best months to visit: from March to April and from October to November.
From about 110 m³/s in the lowest month to 350 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
106,730 km² of land send their water to this river. This is what lives on it.
- 2.0millionpeople live in the basin
- 19/km²people per km²
- 670maverage altitude of the basin
- 593mmof rain a year (basin average)
- 17.6°Caverage air temperature
- 0.4%covered by lakes
- 12km³held in reservoirs
What covers the basin
- 11% Forest
- 22% Cropland
- 63% Pasture
- 1% Towns and cities
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
- 40WeirsLane City Diversion Dam and 39 more
- 8LocksColorado River East Lock, Gulf Intracoastal Waterway, Colorado River West Lock and 5 more
- 10WaterfallsGorman Falls, Small Falls, Middle Bull Creek Falls and 7 more
- 66Boat rampsInks Lake State Park Boat Ramp, Collier Boat Ramp, Briarcliff Marina and 63 more
- 8MarinasThe Rough Hollow Yacht Club & Marina, Crosswater Yacht Club, Hurst Harbor Marina and 5 more
- 1River beachesHippie Hollow Beach
From OpenStreetMap, within 2.4 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.
1waterfall on the riverCascadyas
11lakes on its wayLakeyas
Waterfalls (1)
On the river, by Cascadyas
- Gorman Fallskm 553
Cascadyas is coming soonOpen Cascadyas ↗
Lakes and reservoirs (11)
Lakes it flows through, by Lakeyas
- Lake J B Thomaskm 7939km²
- O.H. Ivie Lakekm 34047km²
- Lake Buchanankm 597 · 40 m deep80km²
- Lake Lyndon B. Johnsonkm 6432.3km²
- Lake Traviskm 722 · 64 m deep51km²
- Lake Austinkm 754 · 23 m deep2.1km²
- Lady Bird Lakekm 763 · 6 m deep0.8km²
- Kelly Lakekm 1,13028km²
3 more on LakeyasLakeyas is coming soonOpen Lakeyas ↗
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 (11)
Also: Concho River, Llano River, San Saba River, Garcitas Creek, Onion Creek, Barton Creek, Beals Creek, Bull Creek, Cummins Creek, Pecan Bayou, Walnut Creek
Nearby
Rivers nearby
United States1,352 km240 m³/s66 km awayTrinity RiverUnited States1,140 km210 m³/s179 km awayNueces RiverUnited States507 km30 m³/s172 km awayRio GrandeUnited States3,051 km85 m³/s316 km awaySabine RiverUnited States820 km270 m³/s263 km awayRed RiverUnited States2,189 km1,900 m³/s493 km awayAtchafalaya RiverUnited States270 km240 m³/s475 km awayWhere these numbers come from
| Name, length, places | Wikidata (Q847785) · 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 | Cascadyas, Lakeyas — 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