The drainage water from the Kander Neve (glacier) in the middle of the Bernese Alps at an altitude of 2,301 m (7,549 ft) flows through the Gasteretal westward.

Initially the river in an easterly direction, until it turns sharply north just south of the village of Kandersteg.

At the beginning of the 18th Century, the engineer Samuel Bodmer created plans involving a cutting through the Strättlighügel ridge that separated the river and lake.

In the spring of 1713 work restarted under the direction of Bern's city architect Samuel Jenner, but with a tunnel instead of the unfinished cutting.

Work was finished by the end of the year, but in 1714, the river started to enlarge the channel, causing the tunnel to collapse and creating today's Kanderschlucht or Kander canyon.

[3] The Kander correction was the first piece of major water course re-engineering in Switzerland and lack of experience subsequently led to problems.

In 2008, a Swiss Army rafting party's inflatable boats capsized during an attempt to navigate the river; five soldiers were killed.