River
White River
1,162 km from source to mouth · United States.
United StatesFlows into Mississippi River
In numbers
Length
1,162km
Average flow
740m³/s
Basin
71,911km²
Drop
397m
from 435 m to 38 m
Country
1
The journey
From source to mouth
1,162 km of river and 23 stops on the way: 3 towns and cities on its banks, dams, bridges and the tributaries that feed it.
- 0 kmBoston Mountainsat 435 m
- 157 kmBeaver Lake71 km²
- 163 kmU.S. 62 White River Bridge
- 173 kmWhite River Bridge at Elkins
- 190 kmRoaring Rivertributary
- 209 kmKings Rivertributary
- 239 kmJames Rivertributary
- 271 kmTable Rock Lake118 km²
- 289 kmBranson11,431 people
- 317 kmForsyth2,730 people
- 454 kmBull Shoals Lake153 km²
- 486 kmMNA White River Railway Bridge (Cotter, Arkansas)
- 486 kmCotter Bridge
- 517 kmBuffalo Rivertributary
- 533 kmNorth Fork Rivertributary
- 678 kmBatesville10,668 people
- 739 kmBlack Rivertributary
- 747 kmNewport Bridge
- 825 kmJennings Lake0.7 km²
- 893 kmBayou des Arctributary
- 928 kmWhite River Bridge (DeValls Bluff, Arkansas)
- 942 kmBayou De Viewtributary
- 957 kmHighway 79 Bridge
- 1,097 kmSwan Lake0.3 km²
- 1,162 kmMississippi Riverat 38 m
Water level along the river (RiverATLAS; the height is exaggerated). Towns: GeoNames and Wikidata; bridges, dams and tributaries: Wikidata.
River in Arkansas and Missouri, United States
At the mouth it carries 741 m³/s on average: an Olympic pool every 3.4 seconds. It drops from 435 m to 38 m, 0.3 m per kilometre on average. Its basin covers 71,911 km², about the size of SL. 1.2 million people live in it. Highest water: from December to January and from April to May. It is heavily dammed: reservoirs can hold 61% of a year's flow.
Where to start
- BransonLargest city on its banks · 11,431 people
- Branson Airport (BKG)Nearest airport with scheduled flights, 12 km from the cityCar hire at SGF airport (Springfield)Discover Cars · Affiliate link↗
- On the water76 ferry piers, marinas, boat rentals and boat ramps along the river (OpenStreetMap)
- April, June and from August to OctoberThe best months to visit
White River, month by month
Highest water: from December to January and from April to May
Best months to visit: April, June and from August to October.
From about 330 m³/s in the lowest month to 2,000 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
White River: the basin in numbers
71,743 km² of land send their water to this river. This is what lives on it.
- 1.2millionpeople live in the basin
- 17/km²people per km²
- 244maverage altitude of the basin
- 1,181mmof rain a year (basin average)
- 14.3°Caverage air temperature
- 6%protected areas
- 1.0%covered by lakes
- 20km³held in reservoirs
What covers the basin
- 63% Forest
- 31% Cropland
- 11% 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
White River: what you find on the way
- 3WeirsLock and Dam Number One, Montgomery Point Lock and Dam
- 5LocksArkansas Post Canal, Montgomery Point Lock and Dam, White River and 2 more
- 1Waterfalls
- 63Boat rampsJames's Slip, Boat Ramp, Boat Launch and 60 more
- 3Ferry piersShowboat Branson Belle, Peel Ferry
- 8MarinasHickory Creek Marina, Horseshoe Bend Marina, Château Marina and 5 more
- 3River beachesDon's Island, Moonshine Beach, Taylor Bay Beach
From OpenStreetMap, within 2.3 km of the river. Not mapped is not the same as not there.
Cross-checked with our atlases
White 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
20mountains at the sourcePeakyas
Lakes and reservoirs (5)
Lakes it flows through, by Lakeyas
- Beaver Lakekm 13071km²
- Table Rock Lakekm 225118km²
- Bull Shoals Lakekm 377153km²
- Jennings Lakekm 6850.7km²
- Swan Lakekm 9110.3km²
Lakeyas is coming soonOpen Lakeyas ↗
Mountains at the source (20)
Within 15 km of the source, by Peakyas
- Allen Knob8.5 km away
- Barker Knob5.6 km away
- Chimney Rock Mountain15 km away
- Cooper Mountain15 km away
- Cowan Knob15 km away
- Garrett Mountain6.2 km away
- Hall Mountain14 km away
- High Davey Mountain12 km away
12 more on PeakyasOpen Peakyas ↗
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
It flows into
Mississippi RiverUnited States3,766 km12,700 m³/sTributaries (14)
Also: Bayou des Arc, Black River, James River, Buffalo River, Bayou De View, North Fork River, Roaring River, Kings River, La Grue Bayou, War Eagle Creek, Cache River, Fourche River, Little Red River, Wilsons Creek
In the same basin
United States3,726 km2,500 m³/sOhio RiverUnited States1,579 km8,000 m³/sArkansas RiverUnited States2,364 km240 m³/sTennessee RiverUnited States1,049 km2,000 m³/sRed RiverUnited States2,189 km1,900 m³/sYellowstone RiverUnited States1,114 km390 m³/sPlatte RiverUnited States500 km200 m³/sCanadian RiverUnited States1,458 km200 m³/sIllinois RiverUnited States432 km660 m³/sAllegheny RiverUnited States523 km560 m³/sNearby
Rivers nearby
United States2,364 km240 m³/s21 km awaySt. Francis RiverUnited States686 km400 m³/s87 km awayRed RiverUnited States2,189 km1,900 m³/s332 km awayOhio RiverUnited States1,579 km8,000 m³/s380 km awayTennessee RiverUnited States1,049 km2,000 m³/s415 km awayCanadian RiverUnited States1,458 km200 m³/s396 km awayCumberland RiverUnited States1,107 km860 m³/s426 km awayAlabama RiverUnited States640 km950 m³/s430 km awayWhere these numbers come from
| Name, length, places | Wikidata (Q1813795) · 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, 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
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