Grand Rapids (Athabasca River)

For other uses, see Grand Rapids (disambiguation).

Grand Rapids is found 427.4 kilometres (265.6 mi) from the mouth of the Athabasca River, Alberta, Canada.^[1]

The rapids are found on both sides of an island in the river. In the channel is an island, where the Hudson's Bay Company built a tramway to transport the outfits for all the northern posts.^[2][3] The river drops 100 feet (30 m) over 1 mile (1.6 km) at the rapids.^[4]

"In 1989, the Athabasca River was designated a Canadian Heritage River for its importance to the fur trade and the construction of railways and roads opening up the Canadian West, as well as for its natural heritage."^[5]

Grand Rapids Wildland Provincial Park in the Rapids Reach of the Athabasca River upstream from Ft. McMurray is a critical moose wintering range. Scenic, with "numerous rapids, rock outcrops and slump blocks...the river is deeply incised for the entire length of the park, in places exceeding 150 metres." The historic portage route has been restored.^[6]

An 1893 geological survey was published as a report of the expedition titled Report on the Doobaunt, Kazan and Ferguson Rivers.^[7]

References

1. "Ice Jam Formation and Release Events on the Athabasca River, 2007" (PDF). CGU HS Committee on River Ice Processes and the Environment. 2007-06-19. Retrieved 2020-08-23.^{[permanent dead link‍]}
2. "Peace River and Tributaries" (PDF). Queen's University. Retrieved 2020-08-23. One hundred and sixty-five miles below the Landing, Grand Rapids are reached. This is the rapid of the river, and partakes more of the nature of a cataract than of a rapid. In the middle of the channel there is an island, over which the Hudson's Bay Company have constructed a tramway on which to transport the outfits for all the northern posts.
3. "Hudson's Bay Post 1877 1914".
4. Ted Barris (26 September 2015). Fire Canoe: Prairie Steamboat Days Revisited. Dundurn Press 2015. p. 72. ISBN 9781459732100. Retrieved 2020-08-22.
5. "Historical Review: Athabasca River".
6. "Grand Rapids Wildland Provincial Park".
7. "The Barren Lands Collection: Athabasca River, above Grand Rapids".

External links

• Media related to Grand Rapids, Athabasca River at Wikimedia Commons

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