Slave River

a river in NE Alberta and the Northwest Territories, in Canada: flowing from Lake Athabaska NW to Great Slave Lake. 258 mi. (415 km) long.

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River, northern Alberta and southern Northwest Territories, Canada.

Forming an integral part of the Mackenzie River waterway, the river flows northward 258 mi (415 km) from Lake Athabasca before emptying into Great Slave Lake near Fort Resolution. The Peace River and several small streams enter it along its course.

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▪ river, Canada

      river in northern Alberta and southern Northwest Territories, Canada, forming an integral part of the Mackenzie River waterway. Explored by Samuel Hearne (Hearne, Samuel) in 1771–72, the river was named after the Slave people who inhabited its banks. From the confluence of the Peace River and several small streams draining Lake Athabasca, the Slave flows northward for 258 miles (415 km) through northeastern Alberta and southern Northwest Territories before emptying into Great Slave Lake near Fort Resolution. A portage road joins the two most important settlements, Fort Fitzgerald (Alberta) and Fort Smith (Northwest Territories), bypassing a 16-mile- (26-kilometre-) stretch of rapids. For the first half of its course the river forms the eastern boundary of Wood Buffalo National Park.

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