Skip to content
riveryas
EN

River

Neosho River

745 km from source to mouth · United States.

United StatesUnited StatesFlows into Arkansas River

Follow the riverMonth by month

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

In numbers

Length

745km

Average flow

280m³/s

Basin

32,800km²

Drop

261m

from 415 m to 154 m

Country

1

The journey

From source to mouth

745 km of river and 15 stops on the way: 5 towns and cities on its banks, dams, bridges and the tributaries that feed it.

415 m154 m
Sourceat 415 m0 km
Cottonwood Rivertributary109 km
John Redmond Reservoir33 km²161 km
Iola5,470 people234 km
Chanute9,252 people275 km
Miami12,969 people450 km
Grand Lake o' the Cherokees102 km²561 km
Arkansas Riverat 154 m745 km
0200400600745 km
  1. 0 kmSourceat 415 m
  2. 30 kmCouncil Grove Lake10 km²
  3. 62 kmHarris Bridge
  4. 95 kmEmporia24,649 people
  5. 109 kmCottonwood Rivertributary
  6. 134 kmNeosho River Bridge
  7. 161 kmJohn Redmond Reservoir33 km²
  8. 234 kmIola5,470 people
  9. 275 kmChanute9,252 people
  10. 450 kmMiami12,969 people
  11. 476 kmSpring Rivertributary
  12. 506 kmElk Rivertributary
  13. 561 kmGrand Lake o' the Cherokees102 km²
  14. 623 kmLake Hudson16 km²
  15. 707 kmFitzgerald-Soldier Creek Site 1 Reservoir67 km²
  16. 719 kmFort Gibson4,083 people
  17. 745 kmArkansas Riverat 154 m

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

River in the United States of America

At the mouth it carries 285 m³/s on average: an Olympic pool every 8.8 seconds. It drops from 415 m to 154 m, 0.4 m per kilometre on average. Its basin covers 32,800 km², about the size of MD. 663,000 people live in it. Highest water: from May to June and November. It is heavily dammed: reservoirs can hold 75% of a year's flow.

Read more on Wikipedia

Where to start

  • EmporiaLargest city on its banks · 24,649 people
  • Manhattan Regional Airport (MHK)Nearest airport with scheduled flights, 92 km from the cityCar hire at MHK airport (Manhattan)Discover Cars · Affiliate link
  • On the water75 ferry piers, marinas, boat rentals and boat ramps along the river (OpenStreetMap)
  • From April to May and from August to OctoberThe best months to visit

Neosho River, month by month

Highest water: from May to June and November

Best months to visit: from April to May and from August to October.

130
0°36 mmJan
190
3°40 mmFeb
260
8°82 mmMar
390
14°94 mmApr
430
19°126 mmMay
460
24°131 mmJun
370
27°86 mmJul
290
26°95 mmAug
320
21°118 mmSep
380
15°93 mmOct
400
8°76 mmNov
310
2°50 mmDec
Water (estimated flow)Air (average) Rain (mm)Best months

From about 130 m³/s in the lowest month to 460 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

Neosho River: the basin in numbers

32,423 km² of land send their water to this river. This is what lives on it.

DammedReservoirs can hold 75% of a year's flow: much of the river is a chain of lakes.
  • 663,000people live in the basin
  • 21/km²people per km²
  • 328maverage altitude of the basin
  • 1,028mmof rain a year (basin average)
  • 13.6°Caverage air temperature
  • 1%protected areas
  • 1.2%covered by lakes
  • 6.8km³held in reservoirs

What covers the basin

  • 16% Forest
  • 45% Cropland
  • 27% 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

Neosho River: what you find on the way

  • 17DamsCouncil Grove Dam, Ruggles Dam, West Dam and 14 more
  • 8WeirsPensacola East Spillway 2 Dam, Pensacola East Spillway 1 Dam and 6 more
  • 1Waterfalls
  • 74Boat ramps
  • 1MarinasCypress Cove Marina

From OpenStreetMap, within 2.1 km of the river. Not mapped is not the same as not there.

Cross-checked with our atlases

Neosho 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.

  • 5lakes on its wayLakeyas

Lakes and reservoirs (5)

Lakes it flows through, by Lakeyas

  1. Council Grove Lakekm 2210km²
  2. John Redmond Reservoirkm 11533km²
  3. Grand Lake o' the Cherokeeskm 402102km²
  4. Lake Hudsonkm 44616km²
  5. Fitzgerald-Soldier Creek Site 1 Reservoirkm 50667km²

Lakeyas is coming soonOpen Lakeyas ↗

From space

The source and the mouth, seen from orbit

Neosho River: satellite view of the source
The source14 km across
Neosho River: satellite view of the mouth
The mouth25 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

Neosho River in pictures

Neosho River at Miami, OK.
Tig Steele · CC BY-SA 4.0

Where these numbers come from

Name, length, placesWikidata (Q516393) · 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 atlasesLakeyas — 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