What counts as the world’s shortest river?
If you’ve been a subscriber for a while, you probably know where this one is going. Although you may still be surprised about where I ended up going…
Montana’s Giant Springs State Park, and Lake Sumiainen in Finland, have very short rivers. Finding the shortest in the world, though: that could be trickier.
Sources:
https://www.cntraveler.com/stories/2012-06-18/d-river-lincoln-city-oregon-ken-jennings-maphead and a lot of googling for various folk tales. Also, travelling to Finland.
Here’s the co-ordinates of the Finnish river: 62.6497 N, 26.0484E
Thanks to Wren from Corridor Digital for the LA drone shot! https://twitter.com/sirwrender
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@TomScottGo
October 25, 2025 at 11:58 pm
While I do like the gag of going to Finland for one fifteen-second bit of a video, that'd be a horrifically wasteful joke, and I should be clear: I've been piecing this video together for a while now, when I happened to be in the right places!
@old_guard2431
October 25, 2025 at 11:58 pm
Definitions are almost always local. Here on Long Island (New York) we have “rivers” that in other parts of the country would be “creeks” or “streams”. . .
@Truex007
October 25, 2025 at 11:58 pm
This is the shortest river in the same way Pluto is a planet…
@BBUCK_Fiden
October 25, 2025 at 11:58 pm
Water.
@maxschank6051
October 25, 2025 at 11:58 pm
1:07 The L.A. river is only called a "river" because it used to be a natural body of water until concrete was installed to avoid flooding. I would never consider it an actual river, but it used to be one.
@aldenjeromepolicy
October 25, 2025 at 11:58 pm
As John Green said, most things said to be binary are really spectral.
@kodemasterx
October 25, 2025 at 11:58 pm
The shortest River in the world is Rio Los Patos, Dominican Republic, is a tiny bit shorter than Roe River…
Roe River:
Length: About 201 feet (61 meters)
Río Los Patos – Quick Facts:
Length: About 61 meters (200 feet)
@howlinhobbit
October 25, 2025 at 11:58 pm
you entirely missed the “D River” in Oregon. I tsk at you.
@AredoBertok8
October 25, 2025 at 11:58 pm
That's not the truth. There is a river in Slovenija called Jezernica that is 55m long.
@zyxw2000
October 25, 2025 at 11:58 pm
I love Tom's channel. I know he stopped, but I'm still catching up on his old ones.
@wandidemank0008
October 25, 2025 at 11:58 pm
world's shortest river in the world Tamborasi river…..its about 20 m long…👍👍.
@trevorcook4439
October 25, 2025 at 11:58 pm
Surely a man made “river” is a canal and therefore it should be a natural watercourse?
@wapatocreekrail
October 25, 2025 at 11:58 pm
For what it’s worth, many consider the D river in Oregon to be the world’s shortest. It flows 440 feet between a coastal lake and the Pacific ocean and is completely natural. It held the Guinness title before the Roe River was awarded it.
@drivernjax
October 25, 2025 at 11:58 pm
I've got a place you should visit (assuming you haven't already visited). It's Cross Creek, Florida. It's south of Gainesville, Florida in Alachua County. I don't know if it's true or not but I've been told that Cross Creek's direction of flow can change. It connects Orange Lake with Lake Lochloosa and the direction of flow depends on which lake gets more rain.
@michaeldoherty5415
October 25, 2025 at 11:58 pm
For quite a long time, the D River in Lincoln City, Oregon was in the Guinness Book as the shortest river in the world at 440 feet. Its origin is in the D Lake, a 100% freshwater lake, which flows directly into the Pacific Ocean.
@sanneoi6323
October 25, 2025 at 11:58 pm
Overgrown storm drain has me dying
@jamesduda6017
October 25, 2025 at 11:58 pm
Wrong! D river in Lincoln City, Oregon, is the world's shortest river. It starts in a fresh water lake and empties into the Pacific Ocean.
@newIrons
October 25, 2025 at 11:58 pm
I’ve been there many times.
@jukeboxfandango
October 25, 2025 at 11:58 pm
Go to Finland to look at their tiny river, stay for the Jazz
@Lithilic
October 25, 2025 at 11:58 pm
I like the standard that it's at least big enough to drown in, which does a lot to rule out just some small creek or stream.
@jcole429
October 25, 2025 at 11:58 pm
What about the one in Argentina?
@kimba381
October 25, 2025 at 11:58 pm
It's a bit like "what's a planet" isn't it?
@logophile
October 25, 2025 at 11:58 pm
D River in Lincoln City, Oregon
@matthewanderson2351
October 25, 2025 at 11:58 pm
There's also the argument that the D River in Oregon is the shortest in the world. Everyone will argue what the shortest river is, until the sun explodes.
@Zwei-Rosen
October 25, 2025 at 11:58 pm
Add the difficulty of discerning the definition of a river from a creek and the definition of "the world's shortest river really" gets too complicated to answer.
@garyjones9023
October 25, 2025 at 11:58 pm
For me, a proper "river" has a watershed with more than a few tributaries feeding the river. Otherwise it's just a short channel, either natural or artificial.
@petehart3710
October 25, 2025 at 11:58 pm
There is a creek in my hometown in Western New York that has as much water flow as that river does. And it's a heck of a lot longer with two main branches. I think it would be better to call it the world's shortest creek.
Comments are closed.