The Fond du Lac River is one of the upper branches of the Mackenzie River

Mackenzie River

The Mackenzie River is the largest river system in Canada. It flows through a vast, isolated region of forest and tundra entirely within the country's Northwest Territories, although its many tributaries reach into four other Canadian provinces and territories...

 system, draining into the Arctic Ocean

Arctic Ocean

The Arctic Ocean, located in the Northern Hemisphere and mostly in the Arctic north polar region, is the smallest and shallowest of the world's five major oceanic divisions...

, located in northern Saskatchewan

Saskatchewan

Saskatchewan is a prairie province in Canada, which has an area of . Saskatchewan is bordered on the west by Alberta, on the north by the Northwest Territories, on the east by Manitoba, and on the south by the U.S. states of Montana and North Dakota....

, Canada

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...

. The river is 277 kilometres (172 mi) long, has a watershed of 66800 square kilometres (25,792 sq mi), and its mean discharge is 300 cubic metres (392 cu yd) per second.

Hydrology

The river begins at an elevation of 395 metres (1,296 ft) at Cunning Bay on Wollaston Lake

Wollaston Lake

Wollaston Lake is located in northeastern Saskatchewan, Canada. With a surface area of 2286 km² , it is the largest lake in the world that drains naturally in two directions...

. It flows north to Hatchet Lake at an elevation of 393 metres (1,289 ft) and continues to Waterfound Bay at an elevation of 376 metres (1,234 ft), where the tributary Waterfound River enters from the left. The river continues north to Kosdaw Lake at an elevation of 364 metres (1,194 ft), over the Redbank Falls to Otter Lake, the Manitou Falls, the Brink Rapids and the Brassy Rapids, before the Hawkrock River enters from the left. It continues over the Hawkrock Rapids and the North Rapids and takes in the Perch River from the right. The Fond du Lac River flows further over the Perch Rapids, takes in the Porcupine River from the right, travels over the Burr Falls, and enters Black Lake

Black Lake (Fond du Lac River, Saskatchewan)

Black Lake is a lake in the Mackenzie River drainage basin in northern Saskatchewan, Canada. It is about long, wide, has an area of , and lies at an elevation of...

 at an elevation of 276 metres (906 ft).

Several tributaries enter at Black Lake: from the right, the Chipman River and the Souter River; and from the left, the Cree River.

The river leaves the lake on the northwest side near the community of Black Lake

Black Lake, Saskatchewan

Black Lake is a small First Nations community in north-eastern Saskatchewan, Canada, located on the northwest shore of Black Lake, at a point where the Fond du Lac River leaves the lake to flow to Lake Athabasca. The population is about 1450. It is home to the Black Lake Denesuline Nation, with...

, travels over the Elizabeth Falls and the Woodcock Rapids, flows past the community of Stony Rapids

Stony Rapids, Saskatchewan

Stony Rapids is a northern hamlet in Northern Saskatchewan, Canada, with a total population of 360 residents. Located south of the border to the Northwest Territories, the community is astride the Fond du Lac River...

, and reaches its mouth at Lake Athabasca

Lake Athabasca

Lake Athabasca is located in the northwest corner of Saskatchewan and the northeast corner of Alberta between 58° and 60° N.-History:The name in the Dene language originally referred only to the large delta formed by the confluence the Athabasca River at the southwest corner of the lake...

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Fish species

The river also supports a number of fish

Fish

Fish are a paraphyletic group of organisms that consist of all gill-bearing aquatic vertebrate animals that lack limbs with digits. Included in this definition are the living hagfish, lampreys, and cartilaginous and bony fish, as well as various extinct related groups...

 species. These include walleye

Walleye

Walleye is a freshwater perciform fish native to most of Canada and to the northern United States. It is a North American close relative of the European pikeperch...

, yellow perch

Yellow perch

The yellow perch is a species of perch found in the United States and Canada, where it is often referred to by the shortform perch. Yellow perch look similar to the European perch, but are paler and more yellowish, with less red in the fins. They have six to eight dark, vertical bars on their sides...

, northern pike

Northern Pike

The northern pike , is a species of carnivorous fish of the genus Esox...

, lake trout

Lake trout

Lake trout is a freshwater char living mainly in lakes in northern North America. Other names for it include mackinaw, lake char , touladi, togue, and grey trout. In Lake Superior, they can also be variously known as siscowet, paperbellies and leans...

, arctic grayling

Arctic grayling

Arctic grayling is a species of freshwater fish in the salmon family of order Salmoniformes. It comprises five subspecies native to the Nearctic and Palearctic ecozones. T. a. arcticus is widespread throughout the Arctic and Pacific drainages in Canada, Alaska, and Siberia, as well as the upper...

, lake whitefish

Lake whitefish

The lake whitefish , also called the Sault whitefish or gizzard fish, is a species of freshwater whitefish from North America. Lake whitefish are found throughout much of Canada and parts of the northern United States, including all of the Great Lakes. A valuable commercial fish, they are also...

, cisco

Cisco (fish)

The ciscoes are salmonid fish of the genus Coregonus that differ from other members of the genus in having upper and lower jaws of approximately equal length and high gillraker counts...

, white sucker

White Sucker

The White Sucker is a bottom-feeding freshwater fish inhabiting North America from Labrador in the north to Georgia and New Mexico in the south. It is a long, round-bodied fish with a dark green, grey, copper, brown, or black back and sides and a light underbelly. When fullgrown, it is between 12...

, longnose sucker

Longnose sucker

The longnose sucker, Catostomus catostomus, is a freshwater species of fish inhabiting cold, clear waters in North America from northern USA to the top of the continent. In addition, it is one of two species of sucker to inhabit Asia, specifically the rivers of eastern Siberia...

 and burbot

Burbot

The burbot is the only gadiform fish inhabiting freshwaters. It is also known as mariah, the lawyer, and eelpout. It is closely related to the marine common ling and the cusk...

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