River · Canada
Fraser River
The Fraser River is the longest river in British Columbia, Canada. It starts high in the Rocky Mountains at Fraser Pass and flows into the Pacific Ocean at the Strait of Georgia, just south of Vancouver.
Picture credit: -JvL- (CC BY 2.0) · Trougnouf (Benoit Brummer) (CC BY 4.0) · The Cosmonaut (CC BY-SA 2.5 ca) · Wikimedia Commons
Where is Fraser River?
The river starts here: Fraser Pass in the Rocky Mountains, Mount Robson Provincial Park.
It ends in the Strait of Georgia (Pacific Ocean), just south of Vancouver.
Countries on the river: Canada.
The story behind it
From the mountains of Mount Robson Provincial Park, the Fraser River flows past towns such as Prince George and Quesnel. Then it rushes through the Fraser Canyon. At Hell's Gate the rock walls close in, and the whole river must squeeze through a gap only 35 metres wide. Visitors can ride a cable car over the water there. The Fraser is Canada's largest producer of salmon, and five kinds of Pacific salmon swim up it. White sturgeon live here too: these giant fish can grow six metres long and live up to 100 years. Unlike many big rivers, the Fraser has never been dammed on its main course. First Nations have lived along the river for at least 10 000 years. In 1808 Simon Fraser travelled down it, and in 1858 gold found on sandbars started a gold rush.
Questions children ask
How long is the Fraser River?
The Fraser River is about 1 375 km long. It is the longest river in British Columbia and the longest of all Canadian Heritage Rivers.
What is Hell's Gate?
Hell's Gate is a narrow spot in the Fraser Canyon where the rock walls close in. The whole river is forced through a gap only 35 metres wide.
Why is the Fraser so important for salmon?
The Fraser produces more salmon than any other river in Canada. Sockeye, coho, chum, Chinook and pink salmon all swim up the river to lay their eggs.
Where these numbers come from
Every figure on this page was checked against public reference sources before publication. Where sources genuinely disagree, the text says so.
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