The Lawa River is a river in East Kalimantan province, Borneo island, Indonesia, about 150 kilometers (93 miles) northwest of Balikpapan.

[1] It is a branch of the Mahakam River in eastern Borneo, which is situated entirely within the Kutai Barat and flows into the Mahakam approximately 200 kilometers (120 mi) upstream from Samarinda.

The indigenous communities of Lotaq and Mejaun (The Dayaks) are situated near its source.

[2] The river flows in the eastern area of Borneo with a predominantly tropical rainforest climate (designated as Af in the Köppen-Geiger climate classification).

The warmest month is October, when the average temperature is around 24 °C (75 °F), and the coldest is February, at 22 °C (72 °F).