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River

Dender

65 km from source to mouth · Belgium.

BelgiumBelgiumFlows into Scheldt9th longest in Belgium

Follow the riverMonth by month

SourceMouth
The river and every tributary in its basin, drawn from RiverATLAS (CC BY 4.0).

In numbers

Length

65km

Average flow

8.8m³/s

Basin

1,384km²

Drop

105m

from 33 m to -72 m

Country

1

The journey

From source to mouth

65 km of river and 51 stops on the way: 39 towns and cities on its banks, dams, bridges and the tributaries that feed it.

33 m-72 m
Athat 33 m0 km
Silletributary9 km
Lessines17,687 people14 km
Geraardsbergen33,403 people21 km
Onkerzele3,108 people26 km
Appelterre-Eichem2,981 people33 km
Ninove34,795 people37 km
Liedekerke13,188 people43 km
Oud Hospitaal, Aalst52 km
Aalst88,854 people52 km
Scheldtat -72 m65 km
0204065 km
  1. 0 kmAthat 33 m
  2. 1 kmMaffle1,733 people
  3. 4 kmAth29,164 people
  4. 8 kmIsières1,205 people
  5. 9 kmSilletributary
  6. 10 kmPapignies1,297 people
  7. 13 kmOllignies1,539 people
  8. 14 kmLessines17,687 people
  9. 15 kmGhoy1,057 people
  10. 18 kmDeux-Acren3,896 people
  11. 21 kmGoeferdinge3,088 people
  12. 21 kmMajoor Van Lierde bridge
  13. 21 kmGeraardsbergen33,403 people
  14. 21 kmOverboelare4,140 people
  15. 22 kmGuillemin bridge
  16. 23 kmGrotestraatbrug
  17. 23 kmWijngaardbrug
  18. 24 kmNederboelare1,018 people
  19. 26 kmOnkerzele3,108 people
  20. 26 kmSchendelbeke1,870 people
  21. 28 kmIdegem1,779 people
  22. 31 kmZandbergen1,750 people
  23. 33 kmAppelterre-Eichem2,981 people
  24. 35 kmPollare1,362 people
  25. 35 kmOuter3,221 people
  26. 37 kmNinove34,795 people
  27. 38 kmMeerbeke5,866 people
  28. 40 kmPamel9,241 people
  29. 41 kmOkegem2,119 people
  30. 43 kmLiedekerke13,188 people
  31. 45 kmDenderleeuw16,969 people
  32. 45 kmTeralfene4,525 people
  33. 47 kmWelle4,722 people
  34. 49 kmErembodegem12,152 people
  35. 49 kmDomein Ronsevaal
  36. 50 kmOnze-Lieve-Vrouw Termurenkapel
  37. 52 kmOud Hospitaal, Aalst
  38. 52 kmAalst88,854 people
  39. 52 kmWerfkapel Onze-Lieve-Vrouw Ter Druiven
  40. 54 kmHofstade5,927 people
  41. 56 kmHerdersem2,546 people
  42. 57 kmGijzegem3,383 people
  43. 57 kmWieze bridge
  44. 57 kmWieze2,660 people
  45. 59 kmDenderbelle2,142 people
  46. 61 kmOudegem4,061 people
  47. 62 kmAppels2,862 people
  48. 63 kmPachterscamer Abdij van Zwijveke
  49. 63 kmOoie bridge
  50. 64 kmSint-Gillis-bij-Dendermonde12,953 people
  51. 64 kmDendermonde45,673 people
  52. 65 kmGrembergen7,080 people
  53. 65 kmScheldtat -72 m

Water level along the river (RiverATLAS; the height is exaggerated). Towns: GeoNames and Wikidata; bridges, dams and tributaries: Wikidata.

River in Belgium

At the mouth it carries 8.8 m³/s on average: an Olympic pool every 286 seconds. It drops from 33 m to -72 m, 1.6 m per kilometre on average. Its basin covers 1,384 km². 488,000 people live in it. Highest water: from November to January. No large dam holds it back: it is one of the world's free-flowing rivers.

Read more on Wikipedia

Where to start

  • AalstLargest city on its banks · 88,854 people
  • Brussels Airport (BRU)Nearest airport with scheduled flights, 32 km from the cityCar hire at BRU airport (Zaventem)Discover Cars · Affiliate link
  • On the water5 ferry piers, marinas, boat rentals and boat ramps along the river (OpenStreetMap)
  • Kayak and canoe1 put-ins and rapids mapped (OpenStreetMap)
  • From May to SeptemberThe best months to visit

Dender, month by month

Highest water: from November to January

Best months to visit: from May to September.

28
2°65 mmJan
19
4°51 mmFeb
18
6°64 mmMar
11
9°50 mmApr
8.4
13°61 mmMay
8.8
16°69 mmJun
8.6
18°68 mmJul
7.6
18°64 mmAug
9.4
16°64 mmSep
17
12°73 mmOct
25
7°72 mmNov
29
4°71 mmDec
Water (estimated flow)Air (average) Rain (mm)Best months

From about 7.6 m³/s in the lowest month to 29 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

Car hire at BRU airport (Zaventem)Discover CarsSee 

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

Dender: the basin in numbers

1,336 km² of land send their water to this river. This is what lives on it.

Free-flowingDams upstream can hold only 0.0% of a year's flow: the river still keeps its natural rhythm.
  • 488,000people live in the basin
  • 365/km²people per km²
  • 48maverage altitude of the basin
  • 779mmof rain a year (basin average)
  • 10.1°Caverage air temperature
  • 13%protected areas

What covers the basin

  • 1% Forest
  • 42% Cropland
  • 21% Pasture
  • 32% 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

Dender: what you find on the way

  • 1Dams
  • 23Weirsstuw and 22 more
  • 19LocksBlaton-Ath, Ath-Blaton, Dendre and 16 more
  • 1Canoe put-ins
  • 2Boat ramps
  • 3MarinasJachthaven VVW Aalst

From OpenStreetMap, within 1.3 km of the river. Not mapped is not the same as not there.

Cross-checked with our atlases

Dender 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.

  • 10mountains at the sourcePeakyas

Mountains at the source (10)

Within 15 km of the source, by Peakyas

  1. Mont de Mainvault5.9 km away120m
  2. La Houppe15 km away148m
  3. Côte de les Hauts14 km away
  4. Hameau des Papins11 km away
  5. Le Trou Robin14 km away
  6. Tiep-Tiap15 km away
  7. Gauquier12 km away
  8. Côte du Paradis12 km away

2 more on PeakyasOpen Peakyas ↗

From space

The source and the mouth, seen from orbit

Dender: satellite view of the source
The source14 km across
Dender: satellite view of the mouth
The mouth10 km across

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

Dender in pictures

River Dender
Vitaly Volkov ( w:Flickr user vitalyzator ) · CC BY 2.0
Denderende Steden, pad langs de Dender in Aalst en Erembodegem
Klodde · CC BY-SA 3.0
Brug Denderleeuw Dender 2024 augustus
Jaronax · CC BY-SA 4.0
Denderzicht in Roosdaal
Leo Van Vreckem · CC BY-SA 4.0

Tributaries

Where it flows, and what flows into it

Tributaries (6)

Also: Mark, Bellebeek, Sille, Hunelle, Trimpont, Dendrelette

In the same basin

LysBelgiumBelgium202 km22 m³/sSenneBelgiumBelgium103 km5.5 m³/sDyle / DijleBelgiumBelgium86 km69 m³/s

Nearby

Rivers nearby

LysBelgiumBelgium202 km22 m³/s25 km awayRhineThe NetherlandsThe Netherlands1,233 km2,200 m³/s102 km awaySenneBelgiumBelgium103 km5.5 m³/s19 km awayMeuseThe NetherlandsThe Netherlands950 km230 m³/s86 km awayDyle / DijleBelgiumBelgium86 km69 m³/s22 km awaySambreBelgiumBelgium190 km36 m³/s84 km awayYserBelgiumBelgium78 km15 m³/s97 km awayOurtheBelgiumBelgium165 km55 m³/s114 km away

Where these numbers come from

Name, length, placesWikidata (Q269407) · CC0
Course, profile, basinRiverATLAS v1.0 (HydroATLAS, Linke et al. 2019) · CC BY 4.0 — followed from the source to the mouth given by Wikidata
FlowWaterGAP (RiverATLAS), 1971–2000 · CC BY 4.0
Climate along the riverWorldClim (RiverATLAS), 1970–2000 · CC BY 4.0
Towns, bridges, damsWikidata · CC0; GeoNames · CC BY 4.0
Along the river© OpenStreetMap contributors · ODbL
ImagesEOX Sentinel-2 cloudless 2016 · CC BY 4.0; Wikimedia Commons
Our other atlasesPeakyas — 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.

beachesCoastyaFind your beach: sea temperature, sun and swimming month by month.Visit
lakesLakeyasEvery lake on Earth: water temperature, ice, depth and the shore.Coming soonVisit
mountainsPeakyasEvery summit in 3D: summit weather, the 0 °C line, huts and trails.Visit
waterfallsCascadyasEvery waterfall: height, flow month by month and when it roars.Coming soonVisit
islandsIslandyasEvery island from the sea up: size, sea temperature, ferries and 3D.Coming soonVisit
riversRiveryasEvery river from source to sea: the journey, the flow and the basin in numbers.You are here
canyonsCanyonyasEvery canyon cut to scale: depth to the floor, rim and floor temperatures, trails and viewpoints.Coming soonVisit