Liard

River flowing through the southeastern Yukon Territory, northern British Columbia, and the southwestern Northwest Territories, Canada; length 920 km/570 mi. It rises in the Yukon's Pelly Mountains and joins the Mackenzie River at Fort Simpson.

The Liard has carved out a gap through the Rocky Mountains, near its headwaters, and was used as a 19th-century fur trade route and an approach to the Klondike during the 1890s gold rush.

Course From its source the river flows generally southeast to Nelson Forks, British Columbia, where it is joined by the Fort Nelson River from the east. It then turns generally north-northeast into the Northwest Territories, passing Fort Liard, to Fort Simpson. The Alaska Highway follows the Liard's course for over 160 km/100 mi in northern British Columbia.