North Saskatchewan

Course

The North Saskatchewan River has a length of 1,287 kilometres (800 mi), and a drainage area of 122,800 square kilometres (47,400 mi2). At its end point at Saskatchewan River Forks it has a mean discharge of 245 cubic metres per second (8,700 cu ft/s). The yearly discharge at the Alberta–Saskatchewan border is more than 7 cubic kilometres (1.7 mi3).

The river begins above 1,800 metres (5,900 ft) at the toe of the Saskatchewan Glacier in the Columbia Icefield, and flows southeast through Banff National Park alongside the Icefields Parkway. At the junction of the David Thompson Highway (Highway 11), it initially turns northeast for ten kilometres (6.2 mi) before switching to a more direct eastern flow for about 30 kilometres (19 mi).

Geography

The river course can be divided into five distinct sections. The first, the eastern slopes of the Rocky Mountains, is the smallest area geographically, although the largest in terms of run-off and contributed water flow. The glaciers and perpetual snows of the mountain peaks feed the river year-round. Mountains, with little vegetation, experience fast-melting snow cover. The second section of the river comprises the foothills region. The terrain is hilly and rough, with a deeper and more defined valley. This area is well covered with forest and muskeg, and run-off into the river is much more constant and stable than in the mountains.

From Edmonton to the mouth of the Vermilion River, the North Saskatchewan flows through the plains-parkland divide, with occasional stretches of prairie.

History

The river is shown on a Hudson's Bay Company (HBC) map from 1760, labelled as the Beaver River.

Its Cree name is kisiskâciwanisîpiy, meaning 'swift current'. From this name is derived the name Saskatchewan, used as well for the South Saskatchewan River and the Saskatchewan River (of which both the North and South Saskatchewan rivers are major tributaries), and the province of that name.

The 49-kilometre section of the North Saskatchewan River that falls within the boundaries of Banff National Park was designated a Canadian Heritage River in 1989, due to its importance in the development of Western Canada.