The Bella Coola River is a major river on the Pacific slope of the

Coast Mountains The Coast Mountains (french: La chaîne Côtière) are a major mountain range in the Pacific Coast Ranges of western North America, extending from southwestern Yukon through the Alaska Panhandle and virtually all of the Coast of British Columbia ...

in southern British Columbia. The town of Bella Coola is at its mouth on

North Bentinck Arm North Bentinck Arm is a short inlet about in length in the Central Coast region of British Columbia, Canada. It is an arm of Burke Channel and is linked via that waterway and Labouchere Channel to Dean Channel, which is one of the largest inlets ...

. Bella Coola Indian Reserve No. 1 the location of the main community today of the surviving population of the Nuxalk who gathered there after depredations by smallpox and colonialization. Bella Coola is the only town on the mainland of the

British Columbia Coast , settlement_type = Region of British Columbia , image_skyline = , nickname = "The Coast" , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = Canada , subdivision_type1 = Province , subdivision_name1 = British ...

between

Kitimat Kitimat is a district municipality in the North Coast region of British Columbia, Canada. It is a member municipality of the Regional District of Kitimat–Stikine regional government. The Kitimat Valley is part of the most populous urban distri ...

and Squamish to have road access to the inland side of the Coast Mountains; it is at the end of Highway 20 from Williams Lake via the

Chilcotin Country The Chilcotin () region of British Columbia is usually known simply as "the Chilcotin", and also in speech commonly as "the Chilcotin Country" or simply Chilcotin. It is a plateau and mountain region in British Columbia on the inland lee of the Co ...

. It has a vehicular ferry terminal for a special routing from Port Hardy, on northern Vancouver Island, which also now stops at smaller communities on the inlets and islands in between. The Bella Coola River is actually only a short stretch of a much larger stream which changes names at various points during its length; it is primarily the

Atnarko River The Atnarko River is a river in the Canadian province of British Columbia. Course The Atnarko River flows originates at Charlotte Lake. It flows generally west for approximately , joining the Telchako River to form the Bella Coola River. For mu ...

, but a few miles upstream from the town of Bella Coola, at the confluence of Burnt Bridge Creek and the Talchako River with the Atnarko, the name officially changes to the Bella Coola River. This river is the northern boundary of the subgroup of the Coast Mountains known as the

Pacific Ranges , photo = Mount Garibaldi (50997016501).jpg , photo_size = 280px , photo_caption = Mount Garibaldi massif as seen from Squamish , map = , map_image = South BC-NW USA-relief PacificRanges.png , ...

; the large volcanic-shield and plateau Rainbow Range is immediately north and east of the Atnarko, while beyond it and the Dean River are the

Kitimat Ranges , photo = Lax Kw'alaams.jpg , photo_size = 280px , photo_caption = Lax Kw'alaams backdropped by Mount McNeil , map = , map_image = BC-relief_Kitimatranges.png , map_caption = Kitimat Range ...

, which correspond to the Pacific Ranges in scope. The drainage basin of the Bella Coola River and its tributaries is in size.

References

Rivers of the Central Coast of British Columbia Rivers of the Pacific Ranges Drainage basins of the Pacific Ocean Rivers of the Kitimat Ranges Bella Coola Valley {{BritishColumbiaCoast-river-stub

See also

References