The Kanas River is the northernmost river of Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region. It starts from the southwestern foot of the Tavan Bogd massif, on the border of the three countries China, Mongolia and Russia, and runs along the foot of the Altai Mountains. It then that flows into the Kanas Lake as the Upper Kanas River, and flows out of the Kanas Lake as the Lower Kanas River.