Athabasca River watershed in western Canada

The Athabasca River (French: rivière Athabasca) originates from the Columbia Glacier of the Columbia Icefield in Jasper National Park in Alberta, Canada. The impressive and scenic Athabasca Falls is located upstream about 30 km from the Jasper townsite. Image File history File links Download high-resolution version (1879x1353, 2602 KB) File links The following pages on the English Wikipedia link to this file (pages on other projects are not listed): Athabasca River ... Image File history File links Download high-resolution version (1879x1353, 2602 KB) File links The following pages on the English Wikipedia link to this file (pages on other projects are not listed): Athabasca River ... Athabasca Glacier, Columbia Icefield, Canadian Rockies. ... Jasper National Park is the largest national park in the Canadian Rockies, spanning 10,878 km² (4200 mi²). It is located in the province of Alberta, to the north of Banff National Park and west of the city of Edmonton. ... Motto: Fortis et liber (Latin: Strong and free) Official languages English (see below) Flower   Wild rose Tree Lodgepole Pine Bird Great Horned Owl Capital Edmonton Largest city Calgary Lieutenant-Governor Norman Kwong Premier Ed Stelmach (PC) Parliamentary representation  - House seats  - Senate seats 28 6 Area Total  - Land  - Water  (% of total... Athabasca Falls in Jasper National Park is just 23 metres high. ... Jasper is a specialized municipality in western Alberta, Canada. ...

In Woods Cree, the word ãthapãskãw means "clumps of plants" - likely a reference to the spotty vegetation along the river. The Canadian Heraldic Authority has named Athabaska Herald after the river. Cree is the name for a group of closely-related Algonquian languages spoken by approximately 50,000 speakers across Canada, from Alberta to Labrador. ... Badge of the Canadian Heraldic Authority The Canadian Heraldic Authority is an agency of the Government of Canada responsible for heraldry in Canada. ... The badge of office of Athabaska Herald Athabaske Herald of Arms (Héraut Athabaska in French)is the title of one of the officers of arms at the Canadian Heraldic Authority in Ottawa. ...

History

Hudson's Bay Company's scow in Athabasca River, circa 1910

Sekani, Shuswap, Kootenay, Salish, Stoney and Cree tribes hunted and fished along the river proir to the european colonization. David Thompson and Thomas the Iroquois travelled through the Athabasca Pass in 1811. In 1862, the Atahbasca springs area was crossed during the Cariboo Goldrush. Hudson Bay Companys scow going through Big Cascade, Athabasca River, Alberta, circa 1910 Credit: Library and Archives Canada / PA-169585 Created by Canadian Department of the Interior Retrieved from http://www. ... Hudson Bay Companys scow going through Big Cascade, Athabasca River, Alberta, circa 1910 Credit: Library and Archives Canada / PA-169585 Created by Canadian Department of the Interior Retrieved from http://www. ... The Hudsons Bay Company (HBC) is the oldest commercial corporation in North America and is one of the oldest in the world. ... David Thompson (April 30, 1770 – February 10, 1857), was an English-Canadian map-maker and explorer. ... The Cariboo Gold Rush is the most famous of the gold rushes in British Columbia and is erroneously sometimes mentioned as the reason for the creation of the Colony of British Columbia. ...

Heritage

This river has been designated a Canadian Heritage River for its importance to the fur trade and the construction of railways and roads opening up the Canadian west, as well as for its natural heritage^[1]. The Canadian Heritage Rivers System (CHRS) was established in 1984 by the federal, provincial and territorial governments to conserve and protect the best examples of Canadas river heritage, to give them national recognition, and to encourage the public to enjoy and appreciate them. ...

Course

The river flows along icefields, through gorges, offers wildlife habitat on its shores and adjacent marshes. National and provincial parks were established to protect this habitats and landscapes, such as Jasper National Park, Sundance Provincial Park, Carson-Pegasus Provincial Park, Obed Lake Provincial Park, William A. Switzer Provincial Park. The river also crosses the southeast limits of Wood Buffalo National Park, where its course is marked by rapids, impeding navigation north of Fort McMurray.^[2] A gorge is a narrow passage between steep mountains or hills. ... Brecon Beacons National Park, Wales, UK A national park is a reserve of land, usually declared and owned by a national government, protected from most human development and pollution. ... // Alberta Aspen Beach Provincial Park Beauvais Lake Provincial Park Big Hill Springs Provincial Park Big Knife Provincial Park Bow Valley Provincial Park Calling Lake Provincial Park Carson-Pagasus Provincial Park Chain Lakes Provincial Park Cold Lake Provincial Park Crimson Lake Provincial Park Cross Lake Provincial Park Cypress Hills Provincial Park... Jasper National Park is the largest national park in the Canadian Rockies, spanning 10,878 km² (4200 mi²). It is located in the province of Alberta, to the north of Banff National Park and west of the city of Edmonton. ... Sundance Provincial Park is a provincial park located in western Alberta, Canada, 100km east of Jasper National Park. ... Carson-Pegasus Provincial Park is a provincial park located in Alberta, Canada. ... William A. Switzer Provincial Park is a provincial park in Alberta, Canada. ... Wood Buffalo National Park, located in northeastern Alberta and southern Northwest Territories, is the largest national park in Canada at 44,807 km². The park was established in 1922 to protect the worlds largest herd of free roaming Wood Bison, currently estimated at more than 2,000. ... A rapid is a section of a river where it loses elevation over a relatively short distance (that is, the stream gradient is locally steepened), causing an increase in water flow and (usually) turbulence. ...

The Athabasca River travels 1500 km before draining into the Peace-Athabasca Delta near Lake Athabasca, south of Fort Chipewyan and Wood Buffalo National Park. From there, its waters flow north as Slave River into the Great Slave Lake, which discharges through the Mackenzie River system into the Arctic Ocean. The cumulative drainage area is 133,000 km² (at Fort McMurray)^[3]. The Peace-Athabasca Delta is a large freshwater, inland delta in northeastern Alberta located where the Peace and Athabasca Rivers join the Slave River. ... Lake Athabasca, Canada Lake Athabasca is located in the Northwest corner of Saskatchewan and the Northeast corner of Alberta between the 58° and 60° latitudes. ... Fort Chipewyan is the oldest European settlement in the province of Alberta, Canada. ... Wood Buffalo National Park, located in northeastern Alberta and southern Northwest Territories, is the largest national park in Canada at 44,807 km². The park was established in 1922 to protect the worlds largest herd of free roaming Wood Bison, currently estimated at more than 2,000. ... The Slave River is a Canadian river that flows from Lake Athabasca in northeastern Alberta and empties into Great Slave Lake. ... Mackenzie River drainage basin showing Great Slave Lakes position in the Western Canadian Arctic Great Slave Lake (French: Grand lac des Esclaves) is the second largest lake in the Northwest Territories of Canada (behind Great Bear Lake), the deepest lake in North America at 614 meters (2,015 ft. ... Approximate extent of the Mackenzie River watershed The Mackenzie River (French: Fleuve Mackenzie) originates in Great Slave Lake, in the Northwest Territories, and flows north into the Arctic Ocean. ...

Many communities are located on the banks of this river. Among the larger ones are Jasper, Hinton, Whitecourt, Athabasca and Fort McMurray. Jasper is a specialized municipality in western Alberta, Canada. ... Hinton is a town in western Alberta, Canada, about 70 km northeast of Jasper and about 300 km west of Albertas capital city, Edmonton. ... Whitecourt, Alberta is a booming oil, forestry, and agricultural town 175 km north west of Edmonton at the junction of Highway 43 and Highway 32. ... The town of Athabasca is located in northern Alberta, Canada. ... Fort McMurray, colloquially referred to as Fort Mac, is a hamlet in the northeastern part of Canadas western province of Alberta, in the Regional Municipality of Wood Buffalo. ...

Tributaries

Clearwater Valley south of Fort McMurray Clearwater River is the name of a river in the Canadian provinces of Saskatchewan and Alberta. ... Firebag River in western Canada Firebag is a river in northern Alberta and Saskatchewan, Canada. ...

Gallery

Wikimedia Commons has media related to:

Athabasca River

Athabasca Glacier Image File history File links Commons-logo. ... Wikimedia Commons logo by Reid Beels The Wikimedia Commons (also called Commons or Wikicommons) is a repository of free content images, sound and other multimedia files. ... Image File history File linksMetadata Download high resolution version (2048x1360, 1789 KB) Summary Taken by Wing-Chi Poon on 4th July 2005 at the tip of Athabasca Glacier, Jasper National Park, Alberta, Canada. ... Athabasca Glacier The Athabasca Glacier is one of the six principal toes of the Columbia Icefield, located in the Canadian Rockies. ...	Athabasca River flowing into the linn at the Athabasca Falls Image File history File linksMetadata Athabasca_Falls_2005-06-11. ... Athabasca Falls in Jasper National Park is just 23 metres high. ...	Athabasca River with Colin Range in the background Image File history File linksMetadata Download high resolution version (1360x2048, 1687 KB) Taken by Wing-Chi Poon on 1st July 2005 in Jasper National Park, Alberta, Canada (along Yellowhead Highway 16 between intersection to Malign Valley Road and intersection to Snaring River Campground, overlooking Colin Range in the south). ... The Colin Range is a mountain range of the Canadian Rockies located directly northeast of Jasper townsite in Jasper National Park, Canada. ...	Athabasca River in Jasper National Park Image File history File links Download high-resolution version (2400x1615, 1301 KB) Athabasca River, along the Icefields Parkway, in Jasper National Park. ... Jasper National Park is the largest national park in the Canadian Rockies, spanning 10,878 km² (4200 mi²). It is located in the province of Alberta, to the north of Banff National Park and west of the city of Edmonton. ...
Athabasca River at the mouth of Brule Lake Image File history File linksMetadata Download high-resolution version (4496x3008, 1866 KB) Athabasca River at the mouth of Brule Lake The image copyright owner, Alcazar Mountain, hereby agrees to the licensing terms of the GFDL for use on WikiMedia Commons. ... Brûlé Lake on Athabasca River Brûlé Lake is a lake in western Alberta, Canada. ...	Bridge over Athabasca River at Fort McMurray Image File history File linksMetadata Download high resolution version (1600x1200, 318 KB) A picture of the main Highway 63 bridge across the Athabasca River in Fort McMurray, Alberta. ... Fort McMurray, colloquially referred to as Fort Mac, is a hamlet in the northeastern part of Canadas western province of Alberta, in the Regional Municipality of Wood Buffalo. ...

See also

• Geography of Alberta
• List of Alberta rivers

Alberta is a province in western Canada with an area 661,190 km² (260,000 mi²). It is bounded to the south by the United States boundary line, 49° north. ... See Also: Rivers in Canada Rivers of the Americas Hudson Bay Watershed Bow River North Saskatchewan River Red Deer River South Saskatchewan River Peace River watershed Oldman River Peace River Gulf of Mexico Watershed Missouri Watershed Milk River Alphabetical Listing: Athabasca River Bow River Elbow River Milk River North Saskatchewan...

References

v • d • e Rivers and Lakes of Alberta
Major Rivers	Athabasca • Beaver • Hay • Milk • North Saskatchewan • Peace • Red Deer • Slave • South Saskatchewan
Other Rivers	Battle • Bow • Brazeau • Chinchaga • Crowsnest • Clearwater • Elbow • Firebag • Lesser Slave • Little Smoky • Oldman • Pembina • Petitot • Sheep • Smoky • Sunwapta • Wabasca • Wapiti • (more...)
Major Lakes	Athabasca • Bistcho • Claire • Lesser Slave
Other Lakes	Abraham • Beaverhill • Brûlé • Calling • Cold • La Biche • Louise • Maligne • Minnewanka • Moraine • Peyto • Pigeon • Pinehurst • Pyramid • Skeleton • Sylvan • Utikuma • Vermilion • Wabamun • Waterton • Zama • (more...)