Athabasca River

Province: Alberta

The Athabasca River (Indian for "where reeds grow") rises in the Rocky Mountains near the Columbia Icefield at about 2200 m (7220 ft) above sea level. It runs through Jasper National Park, plunges down on to a shelf some 150 km (90 mi.) above the Grand Rapids and after a further 1225 km (760 mi.) flows into Lake Athabaska in the North-east of Alberta; this lake covers an area of some 8000 sq. km 3100 sq. mi.) and is 320 km (200 mi.) long and up to 60 m (200 ft) deep. Above it, where the Peace River and Stone River also enter the lake, stands Fort Chipewyan, built in 1788 and one of the oldest fur-trading posts in the whole of Canada.

Along the Athabasca, between the settlement of the same name