13 Facts About MacKenzie River

Mackenzie River is a river in the Canadian boreal forest.

Ultimate source of the Mackenzie River is Thutade Lake, in the Northern Interior of British Columbia.

The Slave MacKenzie River is formed by the confluence of the two rivers and flows 415 kilometres due north into Great Slave Lake, at Fort Resolution, Northwest Territories.

MacKenzie River continues west-northwest until its confluence with the North Nahanni MacKenzie River, where it turns north towards the Arctic.

The Peel MacKenzie River, carrying much of the runoff from the northern Yukon, joins in the delta at a point northeast of Fort McPherson.

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Today's Mackenzie River is very young in geologic terms – its channel formed over a period of no more than several thousand years as the ice sheet retreated.

The Mackenzie River has a similar range of fish fauna to the Mississippi River system.

Fish in the Mackenzie River proper include the northern pike, several minnow species, and lake whitefish.

Bennett Dam on the Peace MacKenzie River has reduced the seasonal variations of water levels in the delta, causing damage to its ecosystem.

Steamboat service on the Mackenzie River began in the 1880s, and the number of vessels surged in the early 1900s as the Klondike Gold Rush brought a wave of prospectors to the Yukon.

The Mackenzie River was one of the main routes into the northern interior, with sternwheelers transporting passengers, domestic supplies and industrial goods from as far upstream as the Athabasca River all the way to the delta, though with several areas such as the huge rapids on the Slave River requiring portages.

Communities along the Mackenzie River depend on subsistence fishing, although there is some commercial fishing on the river.

Agriculture in the Mackenzie River basin is mainly concentrated in the Peace and Athabasca valleys to the south.