River
Colville River
563 km from source to mouth · United States.
United StatesFlows into Beaufort Sea
In numbers
Length
563km
Average flow
250m³/s
Basin
53,000km²
Drop
586m
from 552 m to -34 m
Country
1
The journey
From source to mouth
563 km of river and 8 stops on the way: 0 towns and cities on its banks, dams, bridges and the tributaries that feed it.
- 0 kmThunder Creekat 552 m
- 177 kmIpnavik Rivertributary
- 199 kmEtivluk Rivertributary
- 229 kmAwuna Rivertributary
- 283 kmOolamnagavik Rivertributary
- 293 kmKillik Rivertributary
- 397 kmChandler Rivertributary
- 402 kmAnaktuvuk Rivertributary
- 488 kmItkillik Rivertributary
- 563 kmBeaufort Seaat -34 m
Water level along the river (RiverATLAS; the height is exaggerated). Towns: GeoNames and Wikidata; bridges, dams and tributaries: Wikidata.
River in Alaska
At the mouth it carries 252 m³/s on average: an Olympic pool every 9.9 seconds. It drops from 552 m to -34 m, 1.0 m per kilometre on average. Its basin covers 53,000 km², about the size of BA. Highest water, with the snowmelt: August; lowest: from January to April. No large dam holds it back: it is one of the world's free-flowing rivers.
Where to start
- Nuiqsut Airport (NUI)Nearest airport with scheduled flights, 23 km from the cityCar hire at FAI airport (Fairbanks)Discover Cars · Affiliate link↗
- JulyThe best months to visit
Colville River, month by month
Highest water: August
Lowest water: from January to April. Freezing months (average below −4 °C): from October to May. Melting snow makes up much of its water. Best months to visit: July.
From about 170 m³/s in the lowest month to 380 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
Colville River: the basin in numbers
59,613 km² of land send their water to this river. This is what lives on it.
- 394people live in the basin
- 544maverage altitude of the basin
- 213mmof rain a year (basin average)
- -12.0°Caverage air temperature
- 52%protected areas
- 1.1%covered by lakes
- 98%permafrost
What covers the basin
RiverATLAS (HydroATLAS v1.0, CC BY 4.0): land cover, people, protected areas, glaciers and dams over the whole basin upstream of the mouth.
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
Colville River in pictures
Tributaries
Where it flows, and what flows into it
Tributaries (12)
Also: Anaktuvuk River, Killik River, Awuna River, Etivluk River, Chandler River, Itkillik River, Ipnavik River, Nuka River, Oolamnagavik River, Kiligwa River, Kuna River, Kurupa River
Nearby
Rivers nearby
CanadaWhere these numbers come from
| Name, length, places | Wikidata (Q1113020) · 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 |
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