The Athabasca River originates in Jasper National Park at the toe of the Athabasca Glacier, between Mount Columbia, Snow Dome, and the Sir Winston Churchill Range, at an altitude of approximately 1,600 metres (5,200 ft).

Athabasca River in Jasper National Park

The river flows along icefields and through gorges, offering wildlife habitat on its shores and adjacent marshes. Throughout its course, it flows through or adjacent to numerous national and provincial parks, including Jasper National Park, Fort Assiniboine Sandhills Wildland Provincial Park, Hubert Lake Wildland Provincial Park,La Biche River Wildland Provincial Park, Grand Rapids Wildland Provincial Park,Richardson River Dunes Wildland Provincial Park, and Wood Buffalo National Park. Its course is marked by rapids, impeding navigation southwest of Fort McMurray.^[5]

The Athabasca River travels 1,231 km (765 mi) before draining into the Peace-Athabasca Delta near Lake Athabasca south of Fort Chipewyan. From there, its waters flow north as Rivière des Rochers, then joining the Peace River to form the Slave Riverthat empties into Great Slave Lake and discharges through the Mackenzie Riversystem into the Arctic Ocean. The cumulative drainage area is 95,300 km² (36,800 sq mi).^[6]