SLAVE RIVER

The 'Slave River' is a Canadian river that flows from Lake Athabasca in northeastern Alberta and empties into Great Slave Lake in the Northwest Territories.

Slave River in western Canada

This river's name is thought to come from the Athabaskan "Deh Gah Got'ine", the name for the Slavey group of the Dene First Nations.^[1] The Chipewyan had displaced other native people from this region.
The Slave River and the rapids around Fort Smith are some of the best big water play kayaking in the world. There are four sets of rapids: Pelican, Rapids of the Drowned, Mountain Portage, and Cassette. The rapids range from easy class 1 to unrunnable killer class 6 holes. Huge volume, massive waves, and the home of the northern most river pelican colony in North America characterize this river. The pelicans nest on many of the islands at the aptly named Mountain Portage Rapids. These islands serve as a sanctuary to the birds and are closed to human traffic from April 15th to September 15th. It is very important to respect these regulations as human intrusions into the pelican nesting area causes widespread nest abandonment.
Although very few actual fatalities have occurred in the Slave River rapids. The earliest recorded fatalities occurred as a part of Grant's Ill fated expedition on the far river right of the rapids of the drowned (a class IV feature), a more recent fatality occurred in the land of a thousand holes (class IV). These fatalities serve as a reminder not to take difficulty grades at face value, and that while paddling on the Slave it is important to know the limits of your abilities.

Contents

Course

Tributaries

References

Course

The Peace and Athabasca Rivers drain into the Slave River, which flows north into the Northwest Territories and into the Great Slave Lake north of Fort Resolution. Water from this river reaches the Arctic Ocean through the Mackenzie River.
The river is 434 km in length, and has a cumulative drainage area of 616,400 km².^[2]

Tributaries

★ Peace-Athabasca Delta

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★ Athabasca River

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★ Lake Athabasca

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★ Riviere Des Roches

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★ Chilloneys Creek

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★ Revillon Coupe

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★ Dempsey Creek

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★ Peace River

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★ Scow Channel

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★ Murdock Creek

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★ Darough Creek

★ Powder Creek

★ La Butte Creek

★ Hornaday River

★ Salt River

★ Little Buffalo River

References

1. Slave River. (2006). In Encyclopædia Britannica. Retrieved September 12, 2006, from Encyclopædia Britannica Premium Service
2.