The Wanapitei River (French: ''Rivière Wanapitei'') is a

river A river is a natural flowing watercourse, usually freshwater, flowing towards an ocean, sea, lake or another river. In some cases, a river flows into the ground and becomes dry at the end of its course without reaching another body of wate ...

Northeastern Ontario Northeastern Ontario is a secondary region of Northern Ontario in the Canadian province of Ontario, which lies north of Lake Huron and east of Lake Superior. Northeastern Ontario consists of the districts of Algoma, Sudbury, Cochrane, Timiska ...

, Canada. It is in the

Great Lakes Basin The Great Lakes Basin consists of the Great Lakes and the surrounding lands of the states of Illinois, Indiana, Michigan, Minnesota, New York, Ohio, Pennsylvania, and Wisconsin in the United States, and the province of Ontario in Canada, whose dir ...

and is a right tributary of the French River. The river's source is Scotia Lake, a small lake east of

Halfway Lake Provincial Park Halfway Lake Provincial Park is a provincial park astride Ontario Highway 144 in Sudbury District in northeastern Ontario, Canada. It is operated by Ontario Parks and is named for Halfway Lake, which is entirely within the park grounds. The neare ...

Sudbury District The Sudbury District is a district in Northeastern Ontario in the Canadian province of Ontario. It was created in 1894 from townships of eastern Algoma District and west Nipissing District. The overwhelming majority of the district (about 92%) is ...

. From there, it flows north and east, taking in two small tributaries and continuing to a point 20 kilometres southwest of the

Ishpatina Ridge Ishpatina Ridge is the highest point of land in the Canadian province of Ontario, at an estimated above sea level. Ishpatina Ridge rises approximately above the immediate area. It was only truly recognized as Ontario's highest point after topog ...

, where it turns south. After approximately 60 kilometres, the river flows into

Lake Wanapitei Lake Wanapitei (also known as Lake Wahnapitae) occupies a meteorite crater in Sudbury, Ontario, Canada. It is located near the much larger Sudbury meteorite crater but they are not related. The crater is in diameter and the age is estimated t ...

in the northeastern portion of

Greater Sudbury Sudbury, officially the City of Greater Sudbury is the largest city in Northern Ontario by population, with a population of 166,004 at the 2021 Canadian Census. By land area, it is the largest in Ontario and the List of the largest cities and to ...

. At the south end of the lake, the river continues, flowing south until it joins the French River near the latter's mouth on

Georgian Bay Georgian Bay (french: Baie Georgienne) is a large bay of Lake Huron, in the Laurentia bioregion. It is located entirely within the borders of Ontario, Canada. The main body of the bay lies east of the Bruce Peninsula and Manitoulin Island. To ...

Lake Huron Lake Huron ( ) is one of the five Great Lakes of North America. Hydrology, Hydrologically, it comprises the easterly portion of Lake Michigan–Huron, having the same surface elevation as Lake Michigan, to which it is connected by the , Strait ...

. The river is approximately in length and is a popular wilderness

canoeing Canoeing is an activity which involves paddling a canoe with a single-bladed paddle. Common meanings of the term are limited to when the canoeing is the central purpose of the activity. Broader meanings include when it is combined with other acti ...

route.

Ontario Power Generation Ontario Power Generation Inc. (OPG) is a Crown corporations of Canada, Crown corporation and "government business enterprise" that is responsible for approximately half of the electricity generation in the province of Ontario, Canada. It is w ...

operates three

hydroelectric Hydroelectricity, or hydroelectric power, is electricity generated from hydropower (water power). Hydropower supplies one sixth of the world's electricity, almost 4500 TWh in 2020, which is more than all other renewable sources combined and ...

generating stations on the river as well as one control dam, at Wanapitei Lake. The river's name comes from the

Ojibwa The Ojibwe, Ojibwa, Chippewa, or Saulteaux are an Anishinaabe people in what is currently southern Canada, the northern Midwestern United States, and Northern Plains. According to the U.S. census, in the United States Ojibwe people are one of ...

word ''waanabidebiing'', or "concave-tooth hapedwater", which describes the shape of Lake Wanapitei. A community which takes its name from the river is spelled Wahnapitae. However, the Wanapitei spelling is correct for both the lake and the river. On June 2, 2013, a rail bridge crossing the Wanapitei River at

Wanup Wanup is a dispersed rural community and unincorporated place in the geographic township of Dill in the southeast of the city of Greater Sudbury, Ontario, Canada. Wanup became part of Greater Sudbury on January 1, 2001, when that city was created ...

collapsed, causing a train derailment.

References

Rivers of Greater Sudbury Rivers of Sudbury District {{NorthernOntario-river-stub

See also

References