Cagayan River, often called the Cagayan de Oro River, is one of the

river A river is a natural flowing watercourse, usually freshwater, flowing towards an ocean, sea, lake or another river. In some cases, a river flows into the ground and becomes dry at the end of its course without reaching another body of w ...

s draining the northern central part of the

island An island (or isle) is an isolated piece of habitat that is surrounded by a dramatically different habitat, such as water. Very small islands such as emergent land features on atolls can be called islets, skerries, cays or keys. An island ...

Mindanao Mindanao ( ) ( Jawi: مينداناو) is the second-largest island in the Philippines, after Luzon, and seventh-most populous island in the world. Located in the southern region of the archipelago, the island is part of an island group of ...

in the

Philippines The Philippines (; fil, Pilipinas, links=no), officially the Republic of the Philippines ( fil, Republika ng Pilipinas, links=no), * bik, Republika kan Filipinas * ceb, Republika sa Pilipinas * cbk, República de Filipinas * hil, Republ ...

. The river has its

headwaters The headwaters of a river or stream is the farthest place in that river or stream from its estuary or downstream confluence with another river, as measured along the course of the river. It is also known as a river's source. Definition The ...

in the

Kalatungan Mountain Range Kalatungan Mountain Range is a mountain range in the central portion of the province of Bukidnon, the Philippines. It is one of the few areas in the province covered with old growth forest, old growth or mossy forests. It covers an area of approxi ...

and

Kitanglad Mountain Range Kitanglad Mountain Range is a mountain range that dominates the northern central portion of the province of Bukidnon. It occupies portions of eight of the municipalities and cities in the province such as Talakag, Baungon, Libona, Manolo Fortic ...

found in the central part of the province of

Bukidnon Bukidnon(), officially the Province of Bukidnon ( ceb, Lalawigan sa Bukidnon; fil, Lalawigan ng Bukidnon; hil, Kapuroan sang Bukidnon; Binukid and Higaonon: ''Probinsya ta Bukidnon''), is a landlocked province in the Philippines located in the ...

. It traverses the

municipalities A municipality is usually a single administrative division having corporate status and powers of self-government or jurisdiction as granted by national and regional laws to which it is subordinate. The term ''municipality'' may also mean the go ...

of Talakag, Baungon and Libona, connecting tributaries along the way. It finally empties into the Macajalar Bay at Cagayan de Oro in the

province A province is almost always an administrative division within a country or state. The term derives from the ancient Roman '' provincia'', which was the major territorial and administrative unit of the Roman Empire's territorial possessions ou ...

of Misamis Oriental. The river serves as the natural boundary between the province of Bukidnon and

Iligan Iligan, officially the City of Iligan ( ceb, Dakbayan sa Iligan; fil, Lungsod ng Iligan; Maranao: ''Inged a Iligan''), is a 1st class highly urbanized city in the region of Northern Mindanao, Philippines. According to the 2020 census, it ha ...

and between Bukidnon and Cagayan de Oro, based on the administrative order issued by the defunct

Department of Mindanao and Sulu The Department of Mindanao and Sulu was an agency of the United States colonial administration in the Philippine Islands task to administer all Muslim-dominated areas in the territory. It was established on July 23, 1914, pursuant to Act No. 2 ...

during the American occupation of the Philippines. In Cagayan de Oro, it is the dividing line between its two Congressional districts. The Cagayan River is a very popular site for

whitewater rafting Rafting and whitewater rafting are recreational outdoor activities which use an inflatable raft to navigate a river or other body of water. This is often done on whitewater or different degrees of rough water. Dealing with risk is often a ...

in the Philippines and has been promoted by the Department of Tourism as the main tourist attraction of Cagayan de Oro.

Etymology

The original name of the river is ''Kalambaguasasahan River'', because of the presence of ''Lambago'' trees (''

Hibiscus tiliaceus ''Hibiscus tiliaceus'', commonly known as the sea hibiscus or coast cottonwood, is a species of flowering tree in the mallow family, Malvaceae, with a pantropical distribution along coastlines. It has also been introduced to Florida and New Zea ...

'', a member of the ''

Malvaceae Malvaceae, or the mallows, is a family of flowering plants estimated to contain 244 genera with 4225 known species. Well-known members of economic importance include okra, cotton, cacao and durian. There are also some genera containing familiar ...

'' tree family that only thrives in low altitude areas like seashores, riverbanks and other areas reached by tidal streams) along the river banks. During the arrival of the

Spaniards Spaniards, or Spanish people, are a Romance ethnic group native to Spain. Within Spain, there are a number of national and regional ethnic identities that reflect the country's complex history, including a number of different languages, both in ...

in Cagayan de Oro, the name was changed to Cagayan River. The name of the river ''Cagayan'' comes from the

Malayo-Polynesian The Malayo-Polynesian languages are a subgroup of the Austronesian languages, with approximately 385.5 million speakers. The Malayo-Polynesian languages are spoken by the Austronesian peoples outside of Taiwan, in the island nations of Southeas ...

word ''"Ag"'', which means water. ''"Kagay"'' means river and ''"Kagayan"'' is place with a river.

Geography

Course

The river's headwaters is found in the

, in the central portion of the province of

. It flows northward towards Cagayan de Oro for about "Principal River Basins of the Philippines", Published by the National Water Resources Board, October 1976 (p. 12) before emptying into the Macajalar Bay.

Drainage Area

The river drains an area of approximately . About 80% of the drainage basin is located in the Province of

and the rest is in

and Cagayan de Oro.

Tributaries

The main tributaries of the Cagayan de Oro River are the following: * Kalawaig River * Tagite River * Bubunaoan River * Tumalaong River

Mouth

The river's mouth is located in Cagayan de Oro. After a course from the mountains of

, the river finally discharges its load to the Macajalar Bay.

Tourism

Whitewater rafting and kayaking

Whitewater rafting Rafting and whitewater rafting are recreational outdoor activities which use an inflatable raft to navigate a river or other body of water. This is often done on whitewater or different degrees of rough water. Dealing with risk is often a ...

, kayaking and river trekking has been one of the tourism activities being promoted in the river. The city administration and the Department of Tourism made it as the banner tourism activity in Cagayan de Oro.Cagayan de Oro Tourism Website
/ref> The jump-off point of the river,

is at Barangay Mambuaya, a 30-40 minute ride from the city proper. Recently, whitewater rafting in the Cagayan River is gaining popularity through the years after President

Gloria Macapagal Arroyo Maria Gloria Macaraeg Macapagal Arroyo (, born April 5, 1947), often referred to by her initials GMA, is a Filipino academic and politician serving as one of the House Deputy Speakers since 2022, and previously from 2016 to 2017. She previously ...

and other famous personalities in the country have tried the challenging

in the river.

Fishery

The stream is an important seasonal freshwater artisanal fishery producing an annual catch, as of 2016, of about US$500,000 from an average weekly catch of by each fisherman. In the lower reaches of the stream, this low catch of smaller immature fish is evidence of lack of management of the fishery. Less than 1% to as much as 10% of the local population may be engaged at least part-time as fishermen, most are men. Full-time fishermen earn about US$1,000 to 2,000 per year, which is below the poverty line.

Gill net Gillnetting is a fishing method that uses gillnets: vertical panels of netting that hang from a line with regularly spaced floaters that hold the line on the surface of the water. The floats are sometimes called "corks" and the line with corks is ...

cast net A casting net, also called a throw net, is a net used for fishing. It is a circular net with small weights distributed around its edge. The net is cast or thrown by hand in such a manner that it spreads out while it's in the air before it sinks ...

s, long lines,

fish hook A fish hook or fishhook, formerly also called angle (from Old English ''angol'' and Proto-Germanic ''*angulaz''), is a hook used to catch fish either by piercing and embedding onto the inside of the fish mouth (angling) or, more rarely, by impal ...

s and line sets, spears, traps and

traditional fishing boat Traditionally, many different kinds of boats have been used as fishing boats to catch fish in the sea, or on a lake or river. Even today, many traditional fishing boats are still in use. According to the United Nations Food and Agriculture Org ...

s are used. The catch includes Snapper (Aha-an), Flagtail (Aligaman), Crab (Alimango), Red-tailed goby (Anga), Squaretail mullet (Balanak),

Goby Goby is a common name for many species of small to medium sized ray-finned fish, normally with large heads and tapered bodies, which are found in marine, brackish and freshwater environments. Traditionally most of the species called gobies have b ...

(Batinga), Silver perch (Bugaong), Otomebora Mullet (Bunak),

Indo-Pacific Tarpon The Indo-Pacific tarpon (''Megalops cyprinoides''), also known as the oxeye herring or simply herring due to its superficial resemblance to the true herrings, of which it is not a member, is the smaller of the two species of tarpon and lives in ...

(Buwan-buwan), Loach goby (Dalapakan), Mountain bass (Damagan), Indian pellona (Ibis),

Flathead grey mullet The flathead grey mullet (''Mugil cephalus'') is an important food fish species in the mullet family Mugilidae. It is found in coastal tropical and subtropical waters worldwide. Its length is typically . It is known with numerous English names ...

(Gisaw),

Gourami Gouramis, or gouramies , are a group of freshwater anabantiform fishes that comprise the family Osphronemidae. The fish are native to Asia—from the Indian Subcontinent to Southeast Asia and northeasterly towards Korea. The name "gourami", of ...

(Gurami), Mudfish (Halu-an), Shrimp (Hipon,

(Iswil), Carp (Karpa), Eel (Kasili), Spotted Scat (Kikilo), Mullet (Muli), Cyprinidae (Pait),

Catfish Catfish (or catfishes; order Siluriformes or Nematognathi) are a diverse group of ray-finned fish. Named for their prominent barbels, which resemble a cat's whiskers, catfish range in size and behavior from the three largest species alive ...

(Pantat), Rock goby (Pigok),

Mangrove red snapper The mangrove red snapper (''Lutjanus argentimaculatus''), also known as mangrove jack, grey snapper, creek red bream, Stuart evader, dog bream, purple sea perch, red bream, red perch, red reef bream, river roman, or rock barramundi, is a species ...

(Tadlungan),

Tilapia Tilapia ( ) is the common name for nearly a hundred species of cichlid fish from the coelotilapine, coptodonine, heterotilapine, oreochromine, pelmatolapiine, and tilapiine tribes (formerly all were "Tilapiini"), with the economically most ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Cagayan River (Cagayan de Oro) Rivers of the Philippines Landforms of Misamis Oriental Landforms of Bukidnon Tourist attractions in Cagayan de Oro