The North Saskatchewan River is a glacier-fed river flowing east from the Canadian Rockies to Lake Winnipeg. It is one of two major rivers that make up the Saskatchewan River.
The North Saskatchewan has been designated a Canadian Heritage River for its importance in opening up western Canada.
Course
- The river begins above 1,800 metres at the toe of the Saskatchewan Glacier in the Columbia Icefield, and flows southeast through Banff National Park alongside the Icefields Parkway.
- At the junction of the David Thompson Highway (#11), it initially turns northeast for 10 kilometres before switching to a more direct eastern flow for about 30 km. At this point, it turns north where it eventually arrives at Abraham Lake.
- The north end of Abraham Lake is constricted by the Big Horn Dam, where the North Saskatchewan emerges to track eastward to Rocky Mountain House .
- At Rocky Mountain House, the river abruptly turns north again for 100 km where it switches east towards Edmonton, Alberta.
- In Edmonton, the river passes through the center of the city in a northeasterly direction and out towards Smoky Lake at which point it quickly changes to the southeast and then more to the east as it makes it way to the Alberta-Saskatchewan boundary.
- From the Saskatchewan boundary, the river flows southeast past North Battleford and on towards Saskatoon.
- About 40 km from Saskatoon, the river turns to the northeast where it passes through Prince Albert.
- Around 30 km east of Prince Albert, the North Saskatchewan River joins the South Saskatchewan River to become the Saskatchewan River. From here, the river flows east to Tobin Lake.