River
Mackenzie River
1,738 km from source to mouth · Canada.
CanadaFlows into Beaufort Sea4th longest in Canada
In numbers
Length
1,738km
Average flow
10,700m³/s
Basin
1,805,200km²
Drop
312m
from 134 m to -178 m
Country
1
The journey
From source to mouth
1,738 km of river and 19 stops on the way: 0 towns and cities on its banks, dams, bridges and the tributaries that feed it.
- 0 kmGreat Slave Lakeat 134 m
- 13 kmDeh Cho Bridge
- 21 kmGreat Slave Lake26,734 km²
- 52 kmHorn Rivertributary
- 135 kmRedknife Rivertributary
- 271 kmLiard Rivertributary
- 388 kmNorth Nahanni Rivertributary
- 413 kmRoot Rivertributary
- 443 kmWillowlake Rivertributary
- 637 kmRedstone Rivertributary
- 654 kmKeele Rivertributary
- 662 kmMio Lake7.4 km²
- 736 kmGreat Bear Rivertributary
- 802 kmD.O.T. Lake0.7 km²
- 910 kmCarcajou Rivertributary
- 915 kmMountain Rivertributary
- 1,270 kmDzandyee Ehchęęjiltyin1.0 km²
- 1,314 kmArctic Red Rivertributary
- 1,315 kmChii Echęįį Van0.5 km²
- 1,550 kmHope Lake3.6 km²
- 1,738 kmBeaufort Seaat -178 m
Water level along the river (RiverATLAS; the height is exaggerated). Towns: GeoNames and Wikidata; bridges, dams and tributaries: Wikidata.
Largest river system in Canada
At the mouth it carries 10,700 m³/s on average: 4.3 Olympic pools every second. It drops from 134 m to -178 m, 0.2 m per kilometre on average. Its basin covers 1,805,200 km², about the size of LY. 466,000 people live in it. Highest water, with the snowmelt: from May to August; lowest: from January to April. Dams and reservoirs hold back a large share of its water (26% of a year's flow).
Where to start
- Inuvik Mike Zubko Airport (YEV)Nearest airport with scheduled flights, 125 km from the cityCar hire in WhitehorseDiscover Cars · Affiliate link↗
- On the water6 ferry piers, marinas, boat rentals and boat ramps along the river (OpenStreetMap)
- From June to AugustThe best months to visit
Mackenzie River, month by month
Highest water: from May to August
Lowest water: from January to April. Freezing months (average below −4 °C): from October to April. Melting snow makes up much of its water. Best months to visit: from June to August.
From about 5,800 m³/s in the lowest month to 16,200 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
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
Mackenzie River: the basin in numbers
1,795,841 km² of land send their water to this river. This is what lives on it.
- 466,000people live in the basin
- 0/km²people per km²
- 622maverage altitude of the basin
- 395mmof rain a year (basin average)
- -4.3°Caverage air temperature
- 9%protected areas
- 9.6%covered by lakes
- 41%permafrost
- 76km³held in reservoirs
What covers the basin
- 36% Forest
- 2% Cropland
- 1% 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
Mackenzie River: what you find on the way
- 1Boat ramps
- 5Ferry piers
From OpenStreetMap, within 3.2 km of the river. Not mapped is not the same as not there.
Cross-checked with our atlases
Mackenzie 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.
6lakes on its wayLakeyas
1island off the mouthIslandyas
Lakes and reservoirs (6)
Lakes it flows through, by Lakeyas
- Great Slave Lakekm 21 · 614 m deep26,734km²
- Mio Lakekm 6717.4km²
- D.O.T. Lakekm 8130.7km²
- Dzandyee Ehchęęjiltyinkm 1,2861.0km²
- Chii Echęįį Vankm 1,3330.5km²
- Hope Lakekm 1,5713.6km²
Lakeyas is coming soonOpen Lakeyas ↗
Islands off the mouth (1)
Within 30 km of the mouth, by Islandyas
- Kendall Island27 km away14km²
Islandyas is coming soonOpen Islandyas ↗
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
Mackenzie River in pictures
Tributaries
Where it flows, and what flows into it
Tributaries (31)
Canada1,115 km2,400 m³/sjoins at km 275Hay RiverCanada702 km130 m³/sPeel RiverCanada684 km700 m³/sSlave RiverCanada434 km3,500 m³/sGreat Bear RiverCanada113 km530 m³/sjoins at km 745Also: Arctic Red River, North Nahanni River, Kakisa River, Keele River, Horn River, Redknife River, Mountain River, Redstone River, Trout River, Willowlake River, Carcajou River, Root River, Blackwater River, River Between Two Mountains, Big Fish River, Ochre River, Martin River, Johnson River, Little Bear River, Dahadinni River, Harris River, Hare Indian River, Wrigley River, Rabbitskin River
Nearby
Rivers nearby
Where these numbers come from
| Name, length, places | Wikidata (Q3411) · 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, 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.
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