Abstract A tenet of geomorphology and hydrology holds that rivers are ultimately the products of processes occurring on the landscape. Geology, topography, and climate reflected in rainfall, runoff, and vegetation determine the characteristics of the flow of water in the river channel as well as the quantities and characteristics of clastic and dissolved materials transported by rivers. Where river channels are unimpeded by bedrock and are truly alluvial—capable of adjusting to changes in flow and sediment input, and flowing within materials transported by the river itself—it has been demonstrated that rivers adjust to the flows of water and sediment derived from the watershed. At the same time, geologists recognize that many river reaches reflect history and local influences as well. These essays on the riverscape attempt to capture these diverse hydrologic and other influences determining the look of a river at a given place. The riverscape here means the river itself and its immediate surroundings. The riverscapes described are ones for which good information is available. They demonstrate a variety of influences and conditions under which particular ones dominate the scene. Each, of course, could warrant a book, and these vignettes are not intended to be comprehensive, but rather illustrative. (The editors, not the authors, are responsible for the constrained space.) The rivers chosen have distinct qualities. The Nelson River, for example, is one of the large rivers of the world; it flows northward from proximate sources in Lake Winnipeg, but its sources are also in the Rocky Mountains, draining to the Saskatchewan River.