The Bella Coola River is actually only a short stretch of a much larger stream which changes names at various points during its length; it is primarily the Atnarko River, but a few miles upstream from the town of Bella Coola, at the confluence of Burnt Bridge Creek and the Talchako River with the Atnarko, the name officially changes to the Bella Coola River. This river is the northern boundary of the subgroup of the Coast Mountains known as the Pacific Ranges; the large volcanic-shield and plateau Rainbow Range is immediately north and east of the Atnarko, while beyond it and the Dean River are the Kitimat Ranges, which correspond to the Pacific Ranges in scope.