Blank map of US rivers
The 17 main rivers of the United States, ready to print on A4, Letter, A3 or Tabloid, or to download as PNG and SVG: blank, numbered or labeled. Free, no sign-up.
By the Mapsfera Team
Preview · A4 landscape · Numbered
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The PDF comes out at actual size, with margins so nothing gets cut off. In the print window, choose “Save as PDF”. Letter and Tabloid are US paper sizes; A4 and A3, the rest of the world’s.
License
Free for class and personal use
Print it, copy it and hand it out. If you publish it, credit it like this. For other uses, get in touch.
Mapsfera · data Natural Earth, US Census Bureau, USGS, Wikidata
The rivers
The map shows 17 rivers. The longest is the Missouri, at 2,540 mi / 4,088 km, followed by the Mississippi (2,340 mi / 3,766 km).
The Mississippi has the most tributaries on the map: Missouri, Ohio, and Arkansas.
How the map is made
Rivers come from Natural Earth (public domain). Lengths are from the USGS table of the largest US rivers (Kammerer, 1990), in miles, except the Hudson and the Potomac, which aren’t in it (Wikidata): they vary a lot between sources, depending on where the source is placed and how meanders are measured.
Number key
Numbers follow alphabetical order. Lengths are the USGS figures in miles, with their kilometer equivalent.
| No. | River | Length | Flows into |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Arkansas | 1,469 mi / 2,364 km | the Mississippi |
| 2 | Brazos | 1,280 mi / 2,060 km | the Gulf of Mexico |
| 3 | Colorado | 1,450 mi / 2,334 km | the Gulf of California |
| 4 | Columbia | 1,249 mi / 2,010 km | the Pacific Ocean |
| 5 | Hudson | 492 km / 306 mi | the Upper New York Bay |
| 6 | Mississippi | 2,340 mi / 3,766 km | the Gulf of Mexico |
| 7 | Missouri | 2,540 mi / 4,088 km | the Mississippi |
| 8 | Ohio | 1,310 mi / 2,108 km | the Mississippi |
| 9 | Pecos | 926 mi / 1,490 km | the Rio Grande |
| 10 | Platte | 990 mi / 1,593 km | the Missouri |
| 11 | Potomac | 665 km / 413 mi | the Chesapeake Bay |
| 12 | Red | 1,290 mi / 2,076 km | the Atchafalaya |
| 13 | Rio Grande | 1,900 mi / 3,058 km | the Gulf of Mexico |
| 14 | Snake | 1,040 mi / 1,674 km | the Columbia |
| 15 | Tennessee | 886 mi / 1,426 km | the Ohio |
| 16 | Yellowstone | 692 mi / 1,114 km | the Missouri |
| 17 | Yukon | 1,980 mi / 3,187 km | the Bering Sea |
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Frequently asked questions
What is the longest river in the US?
Of those on this map, the Missouri, at 2,540 mi / 4,088 km (USGS). Next comes the Mississippi, at 2,340 mi / 3,766 km. Figures vary between sources.
Can I use it in class?
Yes, it’s free. Print it, copy it and hand it out as many times as you like. If you post it on a blog or a class website, credit “Mapsfera · data Natural Earth, US Census Bureau, USGS, Wikidata”.
What order are the numbers and letters in?
Alphabetical: rivers get numbers and mountain ranges get letters. The key is in the tables on this page.
Sources
- River courses: Natural Earth, 1:10m, rivers + lake centerlines (public domain)
- Lengths: Kammerer, J. C. (1990), “Largest rivers in the United States”, USGS Open-File Report 87-242 (public domain); the Hudson and the Potomac, Wikidata (CC0)
- States: US Census Bureau via us-atlas (public domain); Canada and Mexico, Natural Earth