Slave River

Slave River
Slave River Watershed
Country	Canada
Basin features
Main source	Peace-Athabasca Delta 210 m (690 ft) 58°59′53″N 111°24′33″W / 58.99793°N 111.40906°W / 58.99793; -111.40906 (Slave River origin)
River mouth	Great Slave Lake 160 m (520 ft) 61°16′49″N 113°35′17″W / 61.28019°N 113.58798°W / 61.28019; -113.58798 (Slave River mouth)Coordinates: 61°16′49″N 113°35′17″W / 61.28019°N 113.58798°W / 61.28019; -113.58798 (Slave River mouth)
Basin size	616,400 km2 (238,000 sq mi)
Physical characteristics
Length	434 km (270 mi)
Discharge	Average rate: 3,414 m3/s (120,600 cu ft/s) max: 7,930 m3/s (280,000 cu ft/s) min: 543 m3/s (19,200 cu ft/s) (for Fitzgerald, Alberta)

The Slave River is a Canadian river that flows from the confluence of the Rivière des Rochers and Peace River in northeastern Alberta and empties into Great Slave Lake in the Northwest Territories. The river's name is thought to derive from the name for the Slavey group of the Dene First Nations, Deh Gah Got'ine, in the Athabaskan language. The Chipewyan had displaced other native people from this region.

The Slave River and the rapids around Fort Smith are some of the best whitewater 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 I on the International Scale of River Difficulty to unrunnable killer class VI 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 15 to September 15. It is very important to respect these regulations as human intrusions into the pelican nesting area cause widespread nest abandonment.

Boaters have been killed in the Slave River rapids. The earliest recorded fatalities occurred as a part of Cuthbert Grant's ill fated expedition of 1786 at the Rapids of the Drowned (a class II-IV Rapid Set). A more recent fatality occurred in the Land of a Thousand Holes (class IV).

The Slave River originates in the Peace-Athabasca Delta, at the forks of Peace River and Rivière des Rochers, which drains the Athabasca River and Lake Athabasca. The Slave River flows north into the Northwest Territories and into the Great Slave Lake north of Fort Resolution. From there the water reaches the Arctic Ocean through the Mackenzie River.