Current River (Ontario)

Current River
Current River seen from the Black Bay Bridge
Name origin: from the French "Rivière aux courants"
Country	Canada
Province	Ontario
Region	Northwestern Ontario
District	Thunder Bay
Part of	Great Lakes Basin
Tributaries
- left	North Current River
Source	Current Lake
- elevation	476 m (1,562 ft)
- coordinates	48°46′36″N 88°56′47″W / 48.77667°N 88.94639°W / 48.77667; -88.94639
Mouth	Thunder Bay, Lake Superior
- elevation	180 m (591 ft)
- coordinates	48°27′08″N 89°11′02″W / 48.45222°N 89.18389°W / 48.45222; -89.18389Coordinates: 48°27′08″N 89°11′02″W / 48.45222°N 89.18389°W / 48.45222; -89.18389
Location of the mouth of the Current River in Ontario

The Current River is a river in the City of Thunder Bay and Unorganized Thunder Bay District in Thunder Bay District, Northeastern Ontario, Canada. The river is in the Great Lakes Basin and is a tributary of Lake Superior. The river's name comes from the French "Rivière aux courants", referring to the river's currents.

For a map showing the river's course highlighted on a topographic map, see this reference.

The Current River begins at Current Lake in Unorganized Thunder Bay District and flows northwest, then turns southeast, passing out of Ray Lake over a dam, then under Ontario Highway 527 and reaches Onion Lake. It continues southwest, passes into geographic Gorham Township, flows past the community of Stepstone, and turns southeast before entering the City of Thunder Bay. It takes in the left tributary North Current River, turns south, passes under Ontario Highway 17, then flows through Boulevard Lake and over Boulevard Lake Dam, and flows into Thunder Bay on Lake Superior.

The river's name is the English version of the name given it by early French explorers: "Rivière aux courants", referring to the river's currents. In 1859 Lindsay Russell, Surveyor-General for Canada, followed the river from its mouth in Lake Superior towards its source, reporting that:

Two other sizable rivers and a creek — the Neebing River, the McIntyre River and McVicar's Creek — run between Current River and the Kaministiquia River to the south, but in 1858 neither of these two rivers were of sufficient interest to be identified by name. From the vantage point of Fort William, the Neebing River was referred to as "First River" and the McIntyre continued for some time to be known as "Second River." Sometimes, from the vantage point of Prince Arthur's Landing, the names were reversed, the McIntyre being the First River and the Neebing River the Second River.