Canada's longest river, draining a vast northern wilderness into the Arctic Ocean.
Length
1,738 km
Source
Great Slave Lake
Mouth
Arctic Ocean (Beaufort Sea)
Continent
North America
Countries
Canada
Did you know?
With its headwaters the Mackenzie system is the longest river in Canada and the second-longest in North America.
Little-known fact
Explorer Alexander Mackenzie was so disappointed it led to the Arctic rather than the Pacific that he called it the 'River of Disappointment'.
Highlights
- Canada's longest river
- Flows into the Arctic Ocean
- Once called the 'River of Disappointment'
Life in the Mackenzie
The fish and animals, waterbirds and water plants — including some of the rarest — that this water supports.
Animals & fish
Northern pike
A long, torpedo-shaped ambush predator that lurks among weeds across the cool rivers and lakes of the north.
North American beaver
Nature’s engineer: its dams create wetlands that reshape whole river valleys.
Waterbirds
Mallard
The familiar green-headed dabbling duck — ancestor of most domestic ducks — found on waters worldwide.
Interactive · 3D journey
Journey of a river · source → sea
Every river runs the same great journey — from an icy mountain spring, down through gorges and looping meanders, to a wide delta where it meets the sea. Tap a stage to follow the water downstream.
Tip: hover to tilt the valley · tap a stage to float downstream
The Source
Every river begins high up — in a mountain spring, a melting glacier or a boggy upland. The water is cold, clear and fast, tumbling down the steepest ground of its whole journey.
Landforms here