[7] At the Iñupiat village of Umiat it turns north to flow across the Arctic plain, entering the western Beaufort Sea in a broad delta near Nuiqsut,[7] approximately 120 mi (190 km) west of Prudhoe Bay.

The Colville runs through the range of the Lake Teshekpuk and Central Arctic caribou herds, making it a landmark and obstacle in one of the world's largest animal migrations.

[12][13] In 1961, Shell Oil geologist Robert Liscomb discovered dinosaur fossils at multiple locations while surveying the Colville River.

However, his discoveries were met with incredulity and suspicion in the paleontology community due to the site's extreme northern location, and Liscolm died the following year in a rock slide while continuing his surveying of the Colville.

[14] Today, the Colville River bluffs are widely recognized as one of the fossil-rich regions in the Arctic, with enormous quantities of Cretaceous dinosaur fossils.

[16] Illegally removing fossils from the Colville River, or other public lands, can expose a violator to steep fines or jail time.

[17] As of March 2023, the Department of Interior permitted ConocoPhillips to build a new ice road from the existing Kuparuk road system at Kuparuk River Oil Field drill site and use a partially grounded ice bridge across the Colville River near Ocean Point "to transport sealift modules" to its Willow project oil drilling area.