The Sunwapta River is a major
tributary
A tributary, or affluent, is a stream or river that flows into a larger stream or main stem (or parent) river or a lake. A tributary does not flow directly into a sea or ocean. Tributaries and the main stem river drain the surrounding drai ...
of the
Athabasca River
The Athabasca River (French: ''Rivière Athabasca'') is a river in Alberta, Canada, which originates at the Columbia Icefield in Jasper National Park and flows more than before emptying into Lake Athabasca. Much of the land along its banks is ...
in
Jasper National Park
Jasper National Park is a national park in Alberta, Canada. It is the largest national park within Alberta's Rocky Mountains spanning . It was established as a national park in 1930 and declared a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1984. Its locatio ...
in
Alberta
Alberta ( ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada. It is part of Western Canada and is one of the three prairie provinces. Alberta is bordered by British Columbia to the west, Saskatchewan to the east, the Northwest Ter ...
, Canada.
Course
The headwaters of the Sunwapta River are near the
Columbia Icefield
The Columbia Icefield is the largest ice field in North America's Rocky Mountains. Located within the Canadian Rocky Mountains astride the Continental Divide along the border of British Columbia and Alberta, Canada, the ice field lies partly in ...
in the valley west-northwest of
Sunwapta Pass, which divides
Jasper National Park
Jasper National Park is a national park in Alberta, Canada. It is the largest national park within Alberta's Rocky Mountains spanning . It was established as a national park in 1930 and declared a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1984. Its locatio ...
from
Banff National Park. Several kilometres down the valley from the pass is
Sunwapta Lake, at the toe of the
Athabasca Glacier
The Athabasca Glacier is one of the six principal 'toes' of the Columbia Icefield, located in the Canadian Rockies. The glacier currently loses depth at a rate of about per year and has receded more than and lost over half of its volume in ...
, which is considered the nominal source for the river. The Sunwapta River then continues to run northwest through Jasper National Park, following the
Icefields Parkway
Highway 93 is a north–south highway in Alberta, Canada. It is also known as the Banff-Windermere Parkway south of the Trans-Canada Highway ( Highway 1) and the Icefields Parkway north of the Trans-Canada Highway. It travels through ...
, and finally joins the
Athabasca River
The Athabasca River (French: ''Rivière Athabasca'') is a river in Alberta, Canada, which originates at the Columbia Icefield in Jasper National Park and flows more than before emptying into Lake Athabasca. Much of the land along its banks is ...
shortly after
Sunwapta Falls
Sunwapta Falls is a pair of waterfalls of the Sunwapta River in Jasper National Park, Alberta, Canada.
The falls are accessible via a access road off the Icefields Parkway, which connects Jasper and Banff National Parks. The falls have a drop of ...
.
''Sunwapta'' is a
Stoney language
Stoney—also called Nakota, Nakoda, Isga, and formerly Alberta Assiniboine—is a member of the Dakota subgroup of the Mississippi Valley grouping of the Siouan languages. The Dakotan languages constitute a dialect continuum consisting of Santee ...
word meaning "turbulent river". Geologist A. P. Coleman named the river in 1892.
[Karamitsanis, Aphrodite (1991). ''Place Names of Alberta, Volume 1''. Calgary: University of Calgary Press, pg. 240]
Tributaries
*Kitchener Creek
*Tangle Creek
*Woolley Creek
*Beauty Creek
*Diadem Creek
*Grizzly Creek
*Jonas Creek
*Poboktan Creek
Image:Melting Toe of Athabasca Glacier.jpg, Sunwapta River originates at the toe of the Athabasca Glacier
The Athabasca Glacier is one of the six principal 'toes' of the Columbia Icefield, located in the Canadian Rockies. The glacier currently loses depth at a rate of about per year and has receded more than and lost over half of its volume in ...
Image:TangleFallsAB.jpg, Tangle Creek, a tributary of the Sunwapta
See also
*
List of rivers of Alberta
Alberta's rivers flow towards three different bodies of water, the Arctic Ocean, the Hudson Bay and the Gulf of Mexico. Alberta is located immediately east of the continental divide, so no rivers from Alberta reach the Pacific Ocean.
List of r ...
References
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Jasper National Park
Rivers of Alberta