White River (British Columbia)

The White River is a major headwaters tributary of the Kootenay River in southeastern British Columbia, Canada. The river is 65 km long and drains an isolated area of the Canadian Rockies east of the village of Canal Flats.

It rises at Sylvan Pass, in a precipitous glacial basin in Height of the Rockies Provincial Park. It flows southwards through a deep valley along the Park Ranges, then swings southwest to receive the North Fork from the right. The river then makes a broad northwestward curve around the south flank of Flett Peak, passing Whiteswan Lake Provincial Park. It then flows generally north-northwest, emptying into the Kootenay on the left bank.

The White is a large, steep, fast flowing glacial river and can be up to 60 m wide as it nears the mouth. The river's drainage basin of some 987 km2 consists almost entirely of virgin forest. There are no bridges, diversions or dams.