The Spatsizi River is a tributary of the Stikine River, rising near Mount Gunanoot in the southeastern Spatsizi Plateau, British Columbia.

Etymology

"Spatsizi" is a phrase from the Sekani language meaning "red goat", a reference to the habit of mountain goats in the region of rolling in the red dust of a particular mountain, making their coat-hair red.

Geography

The Spatsizi River emerges near the foot of Mount Gunanoot in the Skeena Mountains of north-central British Columbia. It then flows downslope and enters Spatsizi Headwaters Provincial Park from the south. The river continues north, leaving the park to enter a broad valley in the heart of the Spatsizi Plateau. The flat-bottomed topography of the valley allows the river to meander considerably along much of its northwestward flow until it reaches the Stikine River in Stikine River Provincial Park.