Thelon River
River in the Northwest Territories and Nunavut, Canada
title: "Thelon River" type: doc version: 1 created: 2026-02-28 author: "Wikipedia contributors" status: active scope: public tags: ["rivers-of-the-kivalliq-region", "rivers-of-the-northwest-territories", "canadian-heritage-rivers", "tributaries-of-hudson-bay"] description: "River in the Northwest Territories and Nunavut, Canada" topic_path: "geography/canada" source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thelon_River" license: "CC BY-SA 4.0" wikipedia_page_id: 0 wikipedia_revision_id: 0
::summary River in the Northwest Territories and Nunavut, Canada ::
::data[format=table title="Infobox river"]
| Field | Value |
|---|---|
| name | Thelon River |
| native_name | iu |
| name_etymology | "on the other side" in Inuktitut |
| image | Thelon river oasis.jpg |
| image_size | 300 |
| image_caption | An oasis-like section of the Thelon, below Warden's Grove |
| map | Thelon River basin map.svg |
| map_size | 300 |
| map_caption | Drainage basin of the Thelon River |
| pushpin_map | Canada |
| pushpin_map_size | 300 |
| pushpin_map_caption | Thelon River mouth location |
| subdivision_type1 | Country |
| subdivision_name1 | Canada |
| subdivision_type2 | Territories |
| subdivision_name2 | |
| length | 900 km |
| source1 | Whitefish Lake |
| source1_location | North Slave Region, Northwest Territories |
| source1_coordinates | |
| source1_elevation | 371 m |
| mouth | Chesterfield Inlet |
| mouth_location | Baker Lake, Nunavut |
| mouth_coordinates | |
| mouth_elevation | 0 m |
| basin_size | 142400 km2 |
| tributaries_left | Dubawnt River, Kazan River |
| :: |
| name = Thelon River | native_name =iu | name_other = | name_etymology = "on the other side" in Inuktitut | image = Thelon river oasis.jpg | image_size = 300 | image_caption = An oasis-like section of the Thelon, below Warden's Grove | map = Thelon River basin map.svg | map_size = 300 | map_caption = Drainage basin of the Thelon River | pushpin_map = Canada | pushpin_map_size = 300 | pushpin_map_caption= Thelon River mouth location | subdivision_type1 = Country | subdivision_name1 = Canada | subdivision_type2 = Territories | subdivision_name2 = | subdivision_type3 = | subdivision_name3 = | subdivision_type4 = | subdivision_name4 = | subdivision_type5 = | subdivision_name5 = | length = 900 km | width_min = | width_avg = | width_max = | depth_min = | depth_avg = | depth_max = | discharge1_location= | discharge1_min = | discharge1_avg = | discharge1_max = | source1 = Whitefish Lake | source1_location = North Slave Region, Northwest Territories | source1_coordinates= | source1_elevation = 371 m | mouth = Chesterfield Inlet | mouth_location = Baker Lake, Nunavut | mouth_coordinates = | mouth_elevation = 0 m | progression = | river_system = | basin_size = 142400 km2 | tributaries_left = Dubawnt River, Kazan River | tributaries_right = | custom_label = | custom_data = | extra = The Thelon River (**, lit. "on the other side") stretches 900 km across northern Canada. Its source is Whitefish Lake in the Northwest Territories, and it flows east to Baker Lake in Nunavut. The Thelon ultimately drains into Hudson Bay at Chesterfield Inlet.
Geography
::figure[src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/e/ee/Thelon_river_from_halfway_hills.jpg" caption="The lower section of the Thelon River from the "Half-Way Hills" (midway between Schultz Lake and Baker Lake)"] ::
::figure[src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/1/1a/Caribou_Thelon_River_1978.jpg" caption="Barren-ground caribou above the Hanbury River junction near the Thelon River in 1978"] ::
The drainage basin of the Thelon River encompasses some 142400 km2. Located far from almost all human development, the Thelon and its surroundings are entirely pristine wilderness. It has been described as Canada's remotest river.
The river has a width of up to a kilometre (0.6 mi) along much of its lower section, widening into Beverly, Aberdeen, and Schultz Lakes about 100 km upstream from its mouth at Baker Lake.
Fauna
Approximately 100 moose and more than 2,000 muskoxen forage on the land around the Thelon. 300,000 migrating Barren-ground Caribou cross the river every fall and spring.
History
Inuit – including Caribou Inuit and Copper Inuit – have long occupied the sparsely populated lands around the Thelon. Artifacts of Inuit hunting and travel (including inukshuk guide stones) are readily observed near the river.
In 1770–71 English explorer Samuel Hearne crossed the Thelon while exploring Canada's northern interior. James William Tyrrell led an expedition through the area in 1900.
Over the winter of 1926–27 John Hornby starved to death on the Thelon along with two other men. They had planned to hunt migrating caribou, but failed to find the herd. Nevertheless, on the basis of Hornby's earlier explorations with James Charles Critchell Bullock in 1923, the Thelon Game Sanctuary was established in 1927, renamed the Thelon Wildlife Sanctuary in 1956.
In 1927(?) the Norwegian explorer and writer Helge Ingstad went by dog sled to the headwaters of the Thelon (Lynx Lake) together with native peoples from the east end of Great Slave Lake. This he detailed in his book The Land of Feast and Famine.
Tourism
In 1990 the lower 545 km of the Thelon were designated a Canadian Heritage River. Although there is no road access to the river, a number of wilderness campers and canoeists visit the Thelon every summer.
Cultural references
The basin of the Thelon is mentioned in the 1979 sci-fi novel Beetle in the Anthill by Boris and Arkady Strugatsky as the location of the embassy of Golovans: intelligent canoid (dog-like) race evolved at Saraksh planet.
References
References
- Clarke, Charles Henry Douglas. (1940). "A Biological Investigation of the Thelon Game Sanctuary". J. O. Patenaude, printer.
- (1983). "The Musk-ox". Institute for Northern Studies, University of Saskatchewan.
- {{cite cgndb. OAUJW. Thelon River. 2010-11-24
- (1919). "The Stefansson-Anderson Arctic Expedition of the American Museum: Preliminary Ethnological Report". American Museum of Natural History.
- (1985). "Canada Drainage Basins". [[Natural Resources Canada]].
- (January 2017). "A Barrenlands Oasis: Travelling to Canada's Most Remote River, The Thelon". [[Up Here (magazine).
- Pelly, David F.. (July–August 2006). "Summer on the Barrenlands". above & beyond.
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