River
Río Grande de Matagalpa
465 km from source to mouth · Nicaragua.
NicaraguaFlows into Caribbean Sea1st longest in Nicaragua
In numbers
Length
465km
Average flow
600m³/s
Basin
18,857km²
Drop
437m
from 437 m to 0 m
Country
1
The journey
From source to mouth
465 km of river and 5 stops on the way: 2 towns and cities on its banks, dams, bridges and the tributaries that feed it.
- 0 kmSourceat 437 m
- 3 kmCiudad Darío13,318 people
- 78 kmSalto El Esquirín
- 175 kmBocana de Paiwas7,872 people
- 230 kmSalto Grande
- 290 kmPresa de Tumarín
- 465 kmCaribbean Seaat 0 m
Water level along the river (RiverATLAS; the height is exaggerated). Towns: GeoNames and Wikidata; bridges, dams and tributaries: Wikidata.
River flowing from the Matagalpa highlands through Matagalpa and Boaco departments and the North and South Caribbean Coast autonomous regions to the Caribbean Sea, Nicaragua
At the mouth it carries 604 m³/s on average: an Olympic pool every 4.1 seconds. It drops from 437 m to 0 m, 0.9 m per kilometre on average. Its basin covers 18,857 km², about the size of FJ. 822,000 people live in it. Highest water: from August to September; lowest: from February to May. Its dams hold back little of its water (2.3% of a year's flow).
Where to start
- Ciudad DaríoLargest city on its banks · 13,318 people
- Augusto C. Sandino (Managua) International Airport (MGA)Nearest airport with scheduled flights, 66 km from the cityCar hire at MGA airport (Managua)Discover Cars · Affiliate link↗
- On the water12 ferry piers, marinas, boat rentals and boat ramps along the river (OpenStreetMap)
- From February to AprilThe best months to visit
Río Grande de Matagalpa, month by month
Highest water: from August to September
Lowest water: from February to May. Best months to visit: from February to April.
From about 160 m³/s in the lowest month to 1,200 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
Río Grande de Matagalpa: the basin in numbers
18,445 km² of land send their water to this river. This is what lives on it.
- 822,000people live in the basin
- 45/km²people per km²
- 371maverage altitude of the basin
- 2,209mmof rain a year (basin average)
- 24.0°Caverage air temperature
- 22%protected areas
- 0.2%covered by lakes
- 0.4km³held in reservoirs
What covers the basin
- 57% Forest
- 25% Cropland
- 50% 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
Río Grande de Matagalpa: what you find on the way
- 5WaterfallsSalto El Esquirín, Rápido El Salto de La Hoya, Salto Tarica and 2 more
- 10Ferry piers
- 2Marinas
From OpenStreetMap, within 2.0 km of the river. Not mapped is not the same as not there.
Cross-checked with our atlases
Río Grande de Matagalpa 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.
2waterfalls on the riverCascadyas
3mountains at the sourcePeakyas
Waterfalls (2)
On the river, by Cascadyas
- Salto El Esquirínkm 81
- Salto Grandekm 237
Cascadyas is coming soonOpen Cascadyas ↗
Mountains at the source (3)
Within 15 km of the source, by Peakyas
- Cerro La Montaña15 km away1,349m
- Cerro El Congo11 km away590m
- Loma Las Mesas9.8 km away571m
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.
Tributaries
Where it flows, and what flows into it
Tributaries (1)
Also: Río Tuma
Nearby
Rivers nearby
Honduras780 km760 m³/s235 km awayRío San JuanNicaragua192 km530 m³/s246 km awayRío FríoNicaragua428 km380 m³/s239 km awayReventazón River
Costa Rica145 km220 m³/s290 km awayPatuca RiverHonduras500 km450 m³/s332 km awayTárcoles RiverCosta Rica111 km100 m³/s368 km awaySixaola RiverCosta Rica146 km160 m³/s387 km awayGoascorán River
El Salvador130 km33 m³/s471 km awayWhere these numbers come from
| Name, length, places | Wikidata (Q2568291) · CC0 |
|---|---|
| Course, profile, basin | RiverATLAS v1.0 (HydroATLAS, Linke et al. 2019) · CC BY 4.0 — followed along the river network from the point 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 | Cascadyas, Peakyas — 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.
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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