The Clearwater River is located in the Canadian provinces of Saskatchewan and Alberta. It rises in the northern forest region of north-western Saskatchewan and joins the Athabasca River in north-eastern Alberta. It was part of an important trade route during the fur trade era and has been designated as a Canadian Heritage River.
Course
The Clearwater River has a total length of . It flows south-eastward from its headwaters at Broach Lake and turns to the south-west from Careen Lake to the Alberta / Saskatchewan border. From there it flows westward for a distance of to join the Athabasca River at Fort McMurray. The section of the river in Fort McMurray is referred to as the Chant.
From Broach Lake at an elevation of above sea level, the Clearwater drops about to the confluence at Fort McMurray. Its waters eventually reach the Arctic Ocean via the Athabasca and Mackenzie Rivers. There it is flanked by outcrops of the Devonian limestones, dolomite, and shales of the La Loche, Contact Rapids, Keg River, and Waterways Formations, as well as the Cretaceous oil sands of the McMurray Formation.
The Clearwater River is an underfit stream; that is, its present flow is insufficient to have carved its broad, steep-sided valley. Instead, its morphology may be the result of catastrophic paleoflooding that originated from Glacial Lake Agassiz during late Pleistocene time and flowed through the Clearwater and Athabasca river valleys on its way to the Arctic Ocean. The channel cut by that flood is known as the Clearwater Spillway.
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<center><small>Clearwater River in the Athabasca Watershed</small></center>
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History
thumb|285px|right|A section of [[John Franklin|John Franklin's 1819-20 expedition map showing the Clearwater River fur trade route from Methye Portage to Fort McMurray]]
thumb|right|285px|The Clearwater River valley from [[Methye Portage by George Back in 1825]]
Rock-paintings along the upper portion of the river, shapes and symbols on rock surfaces, suggest that the area was already inhabited 5,000 years ago. Before the European colonisation, native groups of Beaver, Chipewyan, and Cree people lived in the Clearwater River area.
Canadian Heritage Rivers System
The Saskatchewan section was granted Canadian Heritage River status because of its "unspoiled, clear-water river in a pristine" isolated "wilderness setting of spectacular beauty".
Regional Aquatics Monitoring Program (RAMP)
The Regional Aquatics Monitoring Program (RAMP) uses the Clearwater River as a "baseline river system" to provide "information on the variability and characteristics of natural systems". Although natural outcrops of McMurray Formation oil sands are present along the river, the "lack of significant oil sands developments" within its watershed allows it to be used as a baseline.