Athabasca River is marked by rapids, impeding navigation southwest of Fort McMurray. The Athabasca River travels before draining into the Peace-Athabasca Delta near Lake Athabasca south of Fort Chipewyan. From there, its waters flow north as Rivière des Rochers, then joining the Peace River to form the Slave River that empties into Great Slave Lake and discharges through the Mackenzie River system into the Arctic Ocean. The cumulative drainage area is . Numerous communities are located on the banks of the Athabasca River, including Jasper, Brule, Entrance, Hinton, Whitecourt, Fort Assiniboine, Smith, Athabasca, Fort McMurray, and Fort McKay. An independent study has
Redknife River upstream from Jean Marie River. Redknife River The Redknife River is a river in the Northwest Territories of Canada. It is a major tributary of the Mackenzie River. The Redknife Formation, a stratigraphical unit of the Western Canadian Sedimentary Basin was named for the river. The Redknife river originates in the "Redknife Hills", at an elevation of . It flows east down the slopes of the hill, then turns north, draws water from a lake system, then turns north-east. It is crossed by the Mackenzie Highway, then turns north and flows into the Mackenzie River at an elevation of ,