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
Bistcho Lake Bistcho Lake Bistcho Lake is a large lake in north western Alberta, Canada. Bistcho Lake has a total area of (with islands area and water surface), and lies at an elevation of . It is the third largest lake in Alberta (or fourth if considering Lake Athabasca, which is partly in Saskatchewan). Bistcho Lake is located in the hydrographic basin of the Liard River, to which it is connected by the Petitot River. The waters of the lake drain to the Arctic Ocean through the Petitot, Liard and Mackenzie River. The Jackfish Point and Bistcho Lake indian reserves of the