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River

Fraser River

2,657 km from source to mouth · Canada.

CanadaCanadaFlows into Strait of Georgia2nd longest in Canada

Follow the riverMonth by month

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

In numbers

Length

2,657km

Average flow

3,500m³/s

Basin

233,100km²

Drop

1,516m

from 1,516 m to 0 m

Country

1

The journey

From source to mouth

2,657 km of river and 68 stops on the way: 25 towns and cities on its banks, dams, bridges and the tributaries that feed it.

1,516 m0 m
Rocky Mountainsat 1,516 m0 km
Rearguard Falls89 km
Hansard Lake3.9 km²399 km
Prince George76,708 people503 km
Eveline Lake0.8 km²685 km
Chilcotin Rivertributary806 km
Bridge Rivertributary942 km
Stein Rivertributary1,007 km
Burnaby249,125 people1,242 km
Surrey568,322 people1,243 km
05001,0001,338 km
  1. 0 kmRocky Mountainsat 1,516 m
  2. 28 kmWitney Lake0.6 km²
  3. 46 kmMoose Rivertributary
  4. 60 kmMoose Lake14 km²
  5. 75 kmOverlander Falls
  6. 80 kmRobson Rivertributary
  7. 89 kmRearguard Falls
  8. 151 kmRaush Rivertributary
  9. 156 kmCastle Creektributary
  10. 168 kmHorseshoe Lake0.3 km²
  11. 169 kmRainbow Falls
  12. 174 kmDoré Rivertributary
  13. 217 kmGoat Rivertributary
  14. 384 kmBowron Rivertributary
  15. 399 kmHansard Lake3.9 km²
  16. 405 kmMcGregor Rivertributary
  17. 467 kmWillow Rivertributary
  18. 471 kmSalmon Rivertributary
  19. 502 kmNechako Rivertributary
  20. 503 kmPrince George76,708 people
  21. 564 kmNaver Creektributary
  22. 591 kmWest Road Rivertributary
  23. 622 kmCottonwood Rivertributary
  24. 649 kmQuesnel9,889 people
  25. 650 kmQuesnel Rivertributary
  26. 685 kmEveline Lake0.8 km²
  27. 806 kmChilcotin Rivertributary
  28. 834 kmChurn Creektributary
  29. 942 kmBridge Rivertributary
  30. 951 kmSeton Rivertributary
  31. 1,007 kmStein Rivertributary
  32. 1,009 kmThompson Rivertributary
  33. 1,010 kmLytton249 people
  34. 1,056 kmAnderson Rivertributary
  35. 1,111 kmKawkawa Lake0.8 km²
  36. 1,113 kmCoquihalla Rivertributary
  37. 1,116 kmSilverhope Creektributary
  38. 1,139 kmHarrison Lake222 km²
  39. 1,163 kmHarrison Rivertributary
  40. 1,167 kmChilliwack83,788 people
  41. 1,179 kmSumas Rivertributary
  42. 1,189 kmHatzic Lake2.9 km²
  43. 1,193 kmD'Herbomez Creektributary
  44. 1,195 kmAbbotsford153,524 people
  45. 1,195 kmMission41,519 people
  46. 1,205 kmSilvermere Lake1.2 km²
  47. 1,205 kmStave Rivertributary
  48. 1,213 kmLangley132,603 people
  49. 1,220 kmMaple Ridge90,990 people
  50. 1,220 kmHaney21,041 people
  51. 1,225 kmKanaka Creektributary
  52. 1,228 kmPitt Meadows19,146 people
  53. 1,233 kmFraser Heights25,000 people
  54. 1,234 kmPort Coquitlam61,498 people
  55. 1,235 kmGuildford64,985 people
  56. 1,235 kmPitt Rivertributary
  57. 1,235 kmCoquitlam Rivertributary
  58. 1,235 kmCoquitlam148,625 people
  59. 1,240 kmCoquitlam West25,656 people
  60. 1,240 kmCariboo22,780 people
  61. 1,242 kmBurnaby249,125 people
  62. 1,243 kmSurrey568,322 people
  63. 1,243 kmNew Westminster78,916 people
  64. 1,244 kmEdmonds22,318 people
  65. 1,244 kmWhalley102,555 people
  66. 1,247 kmNorth Delta60,769 people
  67. 1,251 kmRichmond209,937 people
  68. 1,251 kmDelta108,455 people
  69. 1,251 kmLulu Island168,162 people
  70. 1,338 kmStrait of Georgiaat 0 m

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

River in British Columbia, Canada

At the mouth it carries 3,475 m³/s on average: 1.4 Olympic pools every second. It drops from 1,516 m to 0 m, 0.6 m per kilometre on average. Its basin covers 233,100 km², about the size of UG. 1.3 million people live in it. Highest water, with the snowmelt: from April to June; lowest: from December to February and August. Dams and reservoirs hold back a large share of its water (24% of a year's flow).

Read more on Wikipedia

Where to start

  • SurreyLargest city on its banks · 568,322 people
  • Vancouver International Airport (YVR)Nearest airport with scheduled flights, 24 km from the cityCar hire at YVR airport (Vancouver)Discover Cars · Affiliate link
  • On the water47 ferry piers, marinas, boat rentals and boat ramps along the river (OpenStreetMap)
  • Kayak and canoe122 put-ins and rapids mapped (OpenStreetMap)
  • From June to AugustThe best months to visit

Fraser River, month by month

Highest water: from April to June

Lowest water: from December to February and August. Freezing months (average below −4 °C): from December to January. Melting snow makes up much of its water. Best months to visit: from June to August.

2,100
-8°82 mmJan
1,600
-4°57 mmFeb
2,900
0°48 mmMar
7,000
5°38 mmApr
7,200
10°46 mmMay
6,800
14°58 mmJun
5,500
16°51 mmJul
2,800
16°54 mmAug
2,900
11°55 mmSep
3,300
6°66 mmOct
3,000
-1°75 mmNov
2,500
-6°83 mmDec
Water (estimated flow)Air (average) Rain (mm)Best months

From about 1,600 m³/s in the lowest month to 7,200 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 YVR airport (Vancouver)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

Fraser River: the basin in numbers

230,824 km² of land send their water to this river. This is what lives on it.

Heavily regulatedReservoirs can hold 24% of a year's flow: dams shape its seasons.
  • 1.3millionpeople live in the basin
  • 6/km²people per km²
  • 1,192maverage altitude of the basin
  • 637mmof rain a year (basin average)
  • 2.2°Caverage air temperature
  • 14%protected areas
  • 3.3%covered by lakes
  • 1%glaciers
  • 3%permafrost
  • 27km³held in reservoirs

What covers the basin

  • 72% Forest
  • 1% Cropland
  • 2% Pasture
  • 1% Ice

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

Fraser River: what you find on the way

  • 13DamsKanaka Thornvale Ponds Dam, Derby Reach Markow Pond Dam and 11 more
  • 1Weirs
  • 1Locks
  • 61WaterfallsOverlander Falls, Rearguard Waterfalls, Beaver Falls and 58 more
  • 122RapidsFraser River, Knowlton Falls, Rearguard Falls and 119 more
  • 37Boat rampsRaft Take-out, Dewdney Regional Park Boat Ramp, Kanaka Landing and 34 more
  • 8Ferry piersBarnston Island, Port Kells, Quayside and 5 more
  • 2MarinasMcIvor's Landing, Grants Landing Marina
  • 13River beachesTexas Bar, Cantilever Bar, Kanaka Bar and 10 more

From OpenStreetMap, within 2.6 km of the river. Not mapped is not the same as not there.

Cross-checked with our atlases

Fraser 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.

  • 3waterfalls on the riverCascadyas
  • 9lakes on its wayLakeyas
  • 19beaches at the mouth and on the banksCoastya
  • 17mountains at the sourcePeakyas
  • 5islands off the mouthIslandyas

Waterfalls (3)

On the river, by Cascadyas

  1. Overlander Fallskm 75
  2. Rearguard Fallskm 89
  3. Rainbow Fallskm 170

Cascadyas is coming soonOpen Cascadyas ↗

Lakes and reservoirs (9)

Lakes it flows through, by Lakeyas

  1. Witney Lakekm 280.6km²
  2. Moose Lakekm 6014km²
  3. Hansard Lakekm 3993.9km²
  4. Eveline Lakekm 6850.8km²
  5. Kawkawa Lakekm 1,1120.8km²
  6. Harrison Lakekm 1,139222km²
  7. Hatzic Lakekm 1,1892.9km²
  8. Silvermere Lakekm 1,2051.2km²

1 more on LakeyasLakeyas is coming soonOpen Lakeyas ↗

Beaches (19)

At the mouth (25 km) and on the banks, by Coastya

  1. Third Beach21 km away17.5°C
  2. Locarno Beach22 km away17.5°C
  3. Jericho Beach21 km away16.3°C
  4. Wreck Beach24 km away17.5°C
  5. Sapperton Barkm 1,23916.3°C
  6. Sunnyside Beach17 km away16.3°C
  7. Spanish Banks22 km away17.5°C
  8. Kitsilano Beach19 km away16.3°C

11 more on CoastyaOpen Coastya ↗

Mountains at the source (17)

Within 15 km of the source, by Peakyas

  1. Mount Erebus13 km away3,112m
  2. Scarp Mountain13 km away · prominence 317 m3,012m
  3. Mastodon Mountain9.9 km away · prominence 453 m2,986m
  4. Elephas Mountain8.6 km away · prominence 328 m2,978m
  5. Blackrock Mountain6.0 km away · prominence 479 m2,911m
  6. Whitecrow Mountain5.8 km away · prominence 313 m2,881m
  7. Angle Peak12 km away2,910m
  8. Mallard Peak6.6 km away · prominence 828 m2,848m

9 more on PeakyasOpen Peakyas ↗

Islands off the mouth (5)

Within 30 km of the mouth, by Islandyas

  1. Barnston Island20 km away
  2. Kirkland Island11 km away
  3. Westham Island16 km away
  4. Tree Island14 km away
  5. Deadman's Island19 km away

Islandyas is coming soonOpen Islandyas ↗

From space

The source and the mouth, seen from orbit

Fraser River: satellite view of the source
The source14 km across
Fraser River: satellite view of the mouth
The mouth66 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

Fraser River in pictures

Confluence of the Fraser and Thompson rivers
-JvL- · CC BY 2.0
Quesnel Fraser River foot bridge (DSCF5078)
Trougnouf (Benoit Brummer) · CC BY 4.0
FraserRiverNearLillooet
China Crisis · CC BY-SA 3.0
Fraser Pass
Roland Neave at English Wikipedia · CC BY 3.0

Tributaries

Where it flows, and what flows into it

Tributaries (42)

Thompson RiverCanadaCanada489 km770 m³/sjoins at km 1,009Nechako RiverCanadaCanada462 km280 m³/sjoins at km 502

Also: Chilcotin River, Pitt River, Quesnel River, Coquihalla River, West Road River, Harrison River, Anderson River, Robson River, Bridge River, McGregor River, Stave River, Moose River, Doré River, Salmon River, Bowron River, Coquitlam River, Cottonwood River, Seton River, Sumas River, Kanaka Creek, Willow River, Brunette River, Chehalis River, Churn Creek

Nearby

Rivers nearby

Thompson RiverCanadaCanada489 km770 m³/s156 km awayColumbia RiverUnited StatesUnited States2,000 km7,500 m³/s324 km awayWillamette RiverUnited StatesUnited States301 km900 m³/s389 km awayKootenay RiverCanadaCanada780 km780 m³/s386 km awayPend Oreille RiverCanadaCanada209 km740 m³/s390 km awaySnake RiverUnited StatesUnited States1,735 km1,600 m³/s445 km awayClark ForkUnited StatesUnited States499 km620 m³/s499 km away

Where these numbers come from

Name, length, placesWikidata (Q269710) · 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 atlasesCascadyas, Lakeyas, Coastya, Peakyas, Islandyas — 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