Mattagami River facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Mattagami River
Mattagami River at Smooth Rock Falls
Location of the mouth of the Mattagami River in Ontario
Other name(s)	Rivière Mattagami
Country	Canada
Province	Ontario
Region	Northeastern Ontario
Districts	Cochrane Timiskaming Sudbury
Physical characteristics
Main source	Mattagami Lake Gouin Township, Sudbury District 330 m (1,080 ft) 48°00′46″N 81°33′28″W / 48.01278°N 81.55778°W / 48.01278; -81.55778
River mouth	Moose River Gardiner Township, Cochrane District 48 m (157 ft) 50°43′42″N 81°29′14″W / 50.72833°N 81.48722°W / 50.72833; -81.48722
Length	443 km (275 mi)
Basin features
River system	James Bay drainage basin
Basin size	37,000 km2 (14,000 sq mi)

The Mattagami River is a river in Northern Ontario, Canada.

The Mattagami flows 443 kilometres (275 mi) from its source at Mattagami Lake in geographic Gouin Township in the Unorganized North Part of Sudbury District, on the Canadian Shield southwest of Timmins, to Portage Island in geographic Gardiner Township in the Unorganized North Part of Cochrane District, in the Hudson Bay Lowlands. Here the Mattagami's confluence with the Missinaibi River forms the Moose River, about 100 kilometres (60 mi) from that river's tidewater outlet at James Bay. The Mattagami River flows through the city of Timmins as well as the town of Smooth Rock Falls and its drainage basin encompasses 37,000 square kilometres (14,000 sq mi).

The Mattagami's name comes from the Ojibwe and means either "the start of water" (maadaagami) or "turbulent water" (madaagami), but the local Ojibwe population claim "Mattagami" is a corrupted form of "confluence" (maadawaagami). According to the Mattagami First Nation, Mattagami means "Meeting of the Waters".

Course

Mattagami River near Timmins, early 1990s

The river starts at Mattagami Lake and ends at its confluence with Missinaibi River, serving as a source for Moose River.

Economy

Where the Groundhog and Kapuskasing Rivers flow into the Mattagami, Ontario Power Generation operates the Little Long Generating Station, with a dam just over 5 km in length.

Tributaries

Tributaries include the:

• Kapuskasing River
  • Nemegosenda River
    • Chapleau River
• Groundhog River
  • Ivanhoe River
  • Nat River
• Poplar Rapids River
• Kamiskotia River
• Grassy River
• Tatachikapika River
• Mattagami Lake
  • Minisinakwa River
    • Nabakwasi River
      • Opikinimika River
    • Noble River

See also

In Spanish: Río Mattagami para niños