Finlay River

Originally catchment area of ​​the Finlay River

River

The river, which is part of the river system of the Mackenzie River rises, directly east of the Continental Divide in the Cassiar Mountains and flows from there initially in an easterly direction, then in a south-southeast direction to Williston Lake; this is drained by the Peace River.

All this takes place in a huge, almost deserted high mountain area, through which even today leads still no road. It is inhabited only by a few Indians in small settlements. The catchment area of ​​the Finlay River originally encompassed 43,000 km ². With construction of the W. - A. - C. Bennett Dam and the creation of Williston Lake reservoir, the flow length and the area of the catchment area have significantly reduced. The latter now measures about 22,000 km ².

The actual source of the river Mackenzie

Of all the tributaries of the Mackenzie River, the source of the Finlay River is farthest from the Mackenzie Estuary of the Beaufort Sea. Therefore, the Finlay River, while by far the longest to or tributary Mackenzie is not to be considered as the actual flow source. It thus forms the Finlay - Peace - Slave - Mackenzie river.