page_title: Drance
section_title: Geography
hierarchical_section_title: Drance / Geography
caption_attribution_description: Deutsch: Reliefkarte des Kantons Wallis Topographischer Hintergrund: NASA Shuttle Radar Topography Mission (public domain). SRTM3 v.2.
context_page_description: The Drance is a river in Valais Switzerland with a length of 14.5 kilometers to the confluence with the Rhône, a maximum length of 43 kilometers. It has a drainage basin of 676 square kilometers. The river is formed from the confluence of the Dranse d'Entremont and the Dranse de Bagnes at the village of Sembrancher. Further upriver the Dranse d'Entremont splits into the Dranse d'Entremont and the Dranse de Ferret.
context_section_description: The Drance river is an alpine river mostly fed by glacial runoff. High in the Alps it is fed by numerous small streams that run down the surrounding mountains. The river flows into the Rhone river near the village of Martigny. About 14.5 kilometers (9.0 mi) upriver at Sembrancher, the river splits into the Dranse d'Entremont and the Dranse de Bagnes. Continuing upstream past Sembrancher the Dranse d'Entremont rises to the south. At Orsières it splits into the Dranse d'Entremont and the Dranse de Ferret. The Dranse d'Entremont passes through Lac des Toules before reaching its source near the Great St Bernard Pass. The Dranse de Ferret continues south until it reaches the Lacs de Fenêtre on the western slope of the Pointe de Drône. The Dranse de Bagnes rises to the east and then south east, passing through Lac de Mauvoisin, before reaching its source at the Brenay Glacier.
caption: Location of the Drance in Valais
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