Pelly River
Encyclopedia
The Pelly River is a river in Canada
, and is a headstream of the Yukon River
. The river originates west of the Mackenzie Mountains
and flows 530 km (329 mi) long through the south central Yukon
. The Pelly has two main tributaries
, the Ross
and Macmillan
rivers.
The river was named by Robert Campbell
in honour of Sir John Henry Pelly
, governor of the Hudson's Bay Company
. The restored Hudson's Bay Company trading post of Fort Selkirk
is at the juncture of the Pelly and Yukon Rivers.
s on the western slopes of the Selwyn Mountains
above 1400 metres (4,593.2 ft) in elevation, close to the Yukon-Northwest Territories
boundary. It flows south and west through a wide valley, receiving many small tributaries from the east. It passes the Pelly Lakes, out of which flows the Woodside River, and there it turns to the west. The Pelly then assumes a northwesterly course through the Tintina Trench
. It flows northwest to receive the Ross River
at the town of Ross River
. It then merges with the Lapie River from the left and passes the community of Faro
, after which it runs south of Rose Mountain and receives the Glenlyon River from the left.
At the Glenlyon River confluence, the valley narrows and the walls grow higher and steeper, and a short distance later, receives the swift-flowing Tay River from the right. Several kilometers after, it turns north and receives the Earn River, also from the right. The river soon exits out of the canyon and winds across a plain, where it receives the Tummel River from the left. It then receives the Macmillan River
, its largest tributary, from the right, then turns west, looping around the town of Pelly Crossing and crossing under the Klondike Highway
, one of only two bridges on its course (the other is in Faro). The river continues west for about 25 kilometres (15.5 mi) to merge with the Yukon River near old Fort Selkirk.
), the Pelly River's drainage basin
, measured above the town of Pelly Crossing, is 49000 square kilometre in size. It drains a large part of the sparsely-populated Yukon Plateau
of the central Yukon Territory west of the Mackenzie Mountains. The Tintina Trench, which the majority of the river's waters flow in, is the northernmost extension of the Rocky Mountain Trench
, which stretches well south to British Columbia
. The river is navigable by small and medium-sized craft for over 320 kilometres (198.8 mi), from its mouth to Hoole Rapids, except for a shallow stretch of the river in Bradens Canyon. The Yukon communities of Ross River, Faro and Pelly Crossing are all on the Pelly River. There are bridges across the Pelly in Pelly Crossing (where it crosses the Klondike Highway) and in Faro, as well as a cable ferry
at Ross River on the Canol Road
.
The river's average discharge
is about 700 m3/s and it drains about 49000 square kilometre of land. Because the river is fed primarily by glacier
melt, the highest average flow is reached around June or July at up to 1600 m3/s, and the lowest is in December or January as low as 35 m3/s.
es near the Pelly River, such as Volcano Mountain
, may have once partly blocked or at least altered the Pelly River. Any future activity in this area could disrupt the course of the river and could have a serious impact on people living or working downstream.
Canada
Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
, and is a headstream of the Yukon River
Yukon River
The Yukon River is a major watercourse of northwestern North America. The source of the river is located in British Columbia, Canada. The next portion lies in, and gives its name to Yukon Territory. The lower half of the river lies in the U.S. state of Alaska. The river is long and empties into...
. The river originates west of the Mackenzie Mountains
Mackenzie Mountains
The Mackenzie Mountains are a mountain range forming part of the Yukon-Northwest Territories boundary between the Liard and Peel rivers. The range is named in honour of Canada's second Prime Minister Alexander Mackenzie. Nahanni National Park Reserve is in the Mackenzie Mountains.The Mackenzie...
and flows 530 km (329 mi) long through the south central Yukon
Yukon
Yukon is the westernmost and smallest of Canada's three federal territories. It was named after the Yukon River. The word Yukon means "Great River" in Gwich’in....
. The Pelly has two main tributaries
Tributary
A tributary or affluent is a stream or river that flows into a main stem river or a lake. A tributary does not flow directly into a sea or ocean...
, the Ross
Ross River (Yukon)
The Ross River in the Yukon, Canada is one of the main tributaries of the Pelly River. It rises in the Mackenzie Mountains and the community of Ross River can be found where it joins the Pelly.-External links:* at the Atlas of Canada...
and Macmillan
Macmillan River
The Macmillan River is a tributary, approximately long, of the Pelly River in the Yukon Territory of northwestern Canada. It originates in the Mackenzie Mountains and flows in a generally westward direction. The river's watershed extends over and its average discharge is about ....
rivers.
The river was named by Robert Campbell
Robert Campbell (fur trader)
Robert Campbell was a Hudson's Bay Company fur trader and explorer. He explored a large part of the southern Yukon and established Fort Frances, Yukon on Frances Lake in the Liard River basin and Fort Selkirk, Yukon at the juncture of the Yukon River and the Pelly River. He was for a time in...
in honour of Sir John Henry Pelly
Sir John Pelly, 1st Baronet
Sir John Henry Pelly, 1st Baronet, DL was an English businessman. During most of his career, he was an employee of the Hudson's Bay Company , serving as Governor of the HBC for three decades. He held other noteworthy offices, including Governor of the Bank of England...
, governor of the Hudson's Bay Company
Hudson's Bay Company
The Hudson's Bay Company , abbreviated HBC, or "The Bay" is the oldest commercial corporation in North America and one of the oldest in the world. A fur trading business for much of its existence, today Hudson's Bay Company owns and operates retail stores throughout Canada...
. The restored Hudson's Bay Company trading post of Fort Selkirk
Fort Selkirk, Yukon
Fort Selkirk is a former trading post on the Yukon River at the confluence of the Pelly River in Canada's Yukon. For many years it was home to the Selkirk First Nation ....
is at the juncture of the Pelly and Yukon Rivers.
Course
The Pelly rises in glacierGlacier
A glacier is a large persistent body of ice that forms where the accumulation of snow exceeds its ablation over many years, often centuries. At least 0.1 km² in area and 50 m thick, but often much larger, a glacier slowly deforms and flows due to stresses induced by its weight...
s on the western slopes of the Selwyn Mountains
Selwyn Mountains
The Selwyn Mountains are a mountain range in northern Canada, forming part of the border between the Yukon Territory and the Northwest Territories, and which are part of the Eastern System of the Canadian Cordillera . They are neighboured on the east by the Mackenzie Mountains and on their...
above 1400 metres (4,593.2 ft) in elevation, close to the Yukon-Northwest Territories
Northwest Territories
The Northwest Territories is a federal territory of Canada.Located in northern Canada, the territory borders Canada's two other territories, Yukon to the west and Nunavut to the east, and three provinces: British Columbia to the southwest, and Alberta and Saskatchewan to the south...
boundary. It flows south and west through a wide valley, receiving many small tributaries from the east. It passes the Pelly Lakes, out of which flows the Woodside River, and there it turns to the west. The Pelly then assumes a northwesterly course through the Tintina Trench
Tintina Trench
The Tintina Trench is a large valley extending through Yukon, Canada. It is the northern extension of the Northern Rocky Mountain Trench in British Columbia and it has its origin from the Tintina Fault. Much of the valley serves as the path through which flows the Pelly River, a tributary of the...
. It flows northwest to receive the Ross River
Ross River
Ross River may refer to:* Ross River , a triburtary of Todd River near Alice Springs* Ross River , the main river that flows through Townsville, Queensland, Australia...
at the town of Ross River
Ross River, Yukon
Ross River is an unincorporated community in the Yukon, Canada. It lies at the juncture of the Ross River and the Pelly River, along the Canol Road, not far from the Campbell Highway. Primary access to the Campbell Highway is a nine-mile access road of superior alignment, not the six-mile Canol...
. It then merges with the Lapie River from the left and passes the community of Faro
Faro, Yukon
Faro is a small town in the central Yukon, Canada, formerly the home of the largest open pit lead–zinc mine in the world as well as a significant producer of silver and other natural resource ventures. The mine was built by the Ralph M. Parsons Construction Company of the USA with General...
, after which it runs south of Rose Mountain and receives the Glenlyon River from the left.
At the Glenlyon River confluence, the valley narrows and the walls grow higher and steeper, and a short distance later, receives the swift-flowing Tay River from the right. Several kilometers after, it turns north and receives the Earn River, also from the right. The river soon exits out of the canyon and winds across a plain, where it receives the Tummel River from the left. It then receives the Macmillan River
Macmillan River
The Macmillan River is a tributary, approximately long, of the Pelly River in the Yukon Territory of northwestern Canada. It originates in the Mackenzie Mountains and flows in a generally westward direction. The river's watershed extends over and its average discharge is about ....
, its largest tributary, from the right, then turns west, looping around the town of Pelly Crossing and crossing under the Klondike Highway
Klondike Highway
The Klondike Highway links the Alaskan coastal town of Skagway to Yukon's Dawson City and its route somewhat parallels that used by prospectors in the 1898 Klondike Gold Rush....
, one of only two bridges on its course (the other is in Faro). The river continues west for about 25 kilometres (15.5 mi) to merge with the Yukon River near old Fort Selkirk.
Watershed
One of two major headwaters of the Yukon River (the other is the Stewart RiverStewart River
The Stewart River is a long river in the Yukon Territory of Canada. It originates in the Selwyn Mountains, which stand on the border between the Northwest Territories and the Yukon Territory. From there, the Stewart flows west, past the village of Mayo...
), the Pelly River's drainage basin
Drainage basin
A drainage basin is an extent or an area of land where surface water from rain and melting snow or ice converges to a single point, usually the exit of the basin, where the waters join another waterbody, such as a river, lake, reservoir, estuary, wetland, sea, or ocean...
, measured above the town of Pelly Crossing, is 49000 square kilometre in size. It drains a large part of the sparsely-populated Yukon Plateau
Yukon Plateau
The Yukon Plateau is a plateau comprising much of the central and southern Yukon Territory and the far northern part of British Columbia, Canada between Tagish Lake and the Cassiar Mountains and north of the Nakina River....
of the central Yukon Territory west of the Mackenzie Mountains. The Tintina Trench, which the majority of the river's waters flow in, is the northernmost extension of the Rocky Mountain Trench
Rocky Mountain Trench
The Rocky Mountain Trench, or the Trench or The Valley of a Thousand Peaks, is a large valley in the northern part of the Rocky Mountains. It is both visually and cartographically a striking physiographic feature extending approximately from Flathead Lake, Montana, to the Liard River, just south...
, which stretches well south to British Columbia
British Columbia
British Columbia is the westernmost of Canada's provinces and is known for its natural beauty, as reflected in its Latin motto, Splendor sine occasu . Its name was chosen by Queen Victoria in 1858...
. The river is navigable by small and medium-sized craft for over 320 kilometres (198.8 mi), from its mouth to Hoole Rapids, except for a shallow stretch of the river in Bradens Canyon. The Yukon communities of Ross River, Faro and Pelly Crossing are all on the Pelly River. There are bridges across the Pelly in Pelly Crossing (where it crosses the Klondike Highway) and in Faro, as well as a cable ferry
Cable ferry
A cable ferry is guided and in many cases propelled across a river or other larger body of water by cables connected to both shores. They are also called chain ferries, floating bridges, or punts....
at Ross River on the Canol Road
Canol Road
The Canol Road was part of a project to build a pipeline and a road from Norman Wells, Northwest Territories to Whitehorse, Yukon during World War II. The pipeline no longer exists, but the long Yukon portion of the road is maintained by the Yukon Government during summer months...
.
The river's average discharge
Discharge (hydrology)
In hydrology, discharge is the volume rate of water flow, including any suspended solids , dissolved chemical species and/or biologic material , which is transported through a given cross-sectional area...
is about 700 m3/s and it drains about 49000 square kilometre of land. Because the river is fed primarily by glacier
Glacier
A glacier is a large persistent body of ice that forms where the accumulation of snow exceeds its ablation over many years, often centuries. At least 0.1 km² in area and 50 m thick, but often much larger, a glacier slowly deforms and flows due to stresses induced by its weight...
melt, the highest average flow is reached around June or July at up to 1600 m3/s, and the lowest is in December or January as low as 35 m3/s.
Hazards
VolcanoVolcano
2. Bedrock3. Conduit 4. Base5. Sill6. Dike7. Layers of ash emitted by the volcano8. Flank| 9. Layers of lava emitted by the volcano10. Throat11. Parasitic cone12. Lava flow13. Vent14. Crater15...
es near the Pelly River, such as Volcano Mountain
Volcano Mountain
Volcano Mountain is an active cinder cone in central Yukon Territory, Canada, located a short distance north of Fort Selkirk, near the confluence of the Pelly and Yukon Rivers...
, may have once partly blocked or at least altered the Pelly River. Any future activity in this area could disrupt the course of the river and could have a serious impact on people living or working downstream.