page_title: Kootenay River
section_title: Course
hierarchical_section_title: Kootenay River / Course
caption_attribution_description: English: Scenic birds-eye view of Columbia and Kootenay valleys, 1913.
context_page_description: The Kootenay is a major river in the Northwest Plateau, within the borders of southeastern British Columbia, Canada, and northern Montana and Idaho in the United States. It is one of the uppermost major tributaries of the Columbia River, the largest North American river that empties into the Pacific Ocean. The Kootenay River runs 781 kilometres from its headwaters in the Kootenay Ranges of the Canadian Rockies, flowing from British Columbia's East Kootenay region into northwestern Montana, then west into the northernmost Idaho Panhandle and returning to British Columbia in the West Kootenay region, where it joins the Columbia at Castlegar.
  Fed mainly by glaciers and snow melt, the river drains a rugged, sparsely populated region of more than 50,000 km²; over 70 percent of the basin is in Canada. From its highest headwaters to its confluence with the Columbia River, the Kootenay falls more than 2,000 metres in elevation. Above its confluence with the Columbia, the Kootenay is comparable in terms of length, drainage area and volume, but has a steeper gradient and is characterized by larger falls and rapids.
context_section_description: The Kootenay rises on the northeast side of the Beaverfoot Range of southeastern British Columbia, and flows initially southeast through a marshy valley in Kootenay National Park. The river becomes significantly larger at its confluence with the Vermilion River, which is actually the larger of the two where they meet near Kootenay Crossing. The Kootenay continues southeast, receiving the Palliser River from the left, and flows south into a gorge at the confluence with the White River.
  At the small town of Canal Flats the Kootenay River passes within 2 kilometres (1.2 mi) of Columbia Lake, the headwaters of the Columbia River, as it merges into the Rocky Mountain Trench along the eastern foothills of the Selkirk Mountains. It receives the Lussier River near Skookumchuck Station of the Canadian Pacific Railway and the St. Mary and Wild Horse rivers at the historic mining town of Fort Steele, then receives the Bull River at the settlement of the same name. At Wardner, British Columbia, the Kootenay widens into the Lake Koocanusa reservoir, formed by Libby Dam over 130 kilometres (81 mi) downstream at Jennings, Montana. The Elk River, the Kootenay's longest tributary, enters Lake Koocanusa south of Elko, British Columbia.
  Below Libby Dam the river, now known as the Kootenai, forms the "Big Bend" around the south side of the Purcell Mountains. It receives the Fisher River from the south and turns west, passing Libby, Montana. About 15 km (9.3 mi) below Libby it drops over Kootenai Falls. The river turns northwest at Troy, and the Yaak River and Moyie River (both originating in BC) join from the north, the latter near Moyie Springs, Idaho. In Idaho the river enters the gentle terrain of the Kootenai Valley, turning north at Bonners Ferry
  The Kootenai re-enters Canada and becomes the Kootenay again south of Creston, British Columbia, and flows through a marshy area called the Kootenay Flats. It then empties into  100-kilometre (62 mi)-long Kootenay Lake, which is also joined by the Duncan River, the largest tributary in terms of volume. Near Balfour an arm of the lake branches westward to Nelson, where the Kootenay River exits the lake below Corra Linn Dam. The final westbound stretch of the river flows through a deep canyon, forming several waterfalls including Bonnington Falls. Four run-of-the river hydroelectric dams impound this part of the river. At Brilliant the Kootenay forms a small inland delta, then at Castlegar it joins with the Columbia River.
caption: 1913 bird's-eye view map of the Kootenay and Columbia Rivers in the Rocky Mountain Trench. Columbia Lake is near the center and the Kootenay River flows from the upper right into the foreground.
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