Connecticut River - wikipedia Connecticut River Connecticut River ( Kwenitegok ) Looking north from the French King Bridge at the Erving - Gill town line in western Massachusetts Country United States States Connecticut, Massachusetts, Vermont, New Hampshire Tributaries - left Chicopee River - right White River Cities Springfield, Massachusetts, Hartford, Connecticut Source Fourth Connecticut Lake - elevation 2,660 ft ( 811 m ) - coordinates 45 ° 14 ′ 53 '' N 71 ° 12 ′ 51 '' W ﻿ / ﻿ 45.24806 ° N 71.21417 ° W ﻿ / 45.24806 ; - 71.21417 Mouth Long Island Sound - location Old Saybrook and Old Lyme, Connecticut - coordinates 41 ° 16 ′ 20 '' N 72 ° 20 ′ 03 '' W ﻿ / ﻿ 41.27222 ° N 72.33417 ° W ﻿ / 41.27222 ; - 72.33417 Coordinates : 41 ° 16 ′ 20 '' N 72 ° 20 ′ 03 '' W ﻿ / ﻿ 41.27222 ° N 72.33417 ° W ﻿ / 41.27222 ; - 72.33417 Length 410 mi ( 660 km ) Basin 11,250 sq mi ( 29,137 km ) Discharge for Thompsonville, Connecticut - average 17,070 cu ft / s ( 483 m / s ) - max 282,000 cu ft / s ( 7,985 m / s ) - min 968 cu ft / s ( 27 m / s ) Discharge elsewhere ( average ) - West Lebanon, New Hampshire 6,600 cu ft / s ( 187 m / s ) River map, with major tributaries and selected dams. Connecticut River Legend Fourth Connecticut Lake Third Connecticut Lake Moose Falls Dam US 3 Second Connecticut Lake First Connecticut Lake Murphy Dam NH 145 Pittsburg Covered bridge Indian Stream US 3 becomes VT - NH border Halls Stream Stewartstown Lower Canaan Dam VT 114 Canaan NH 26 Colebrook Columbia VT 105 North Stratford St. Lawrence & Atlantic RR Nulhegan River Janice Peaslee Bridge Upper Ammonoosuc River US 2 Lancaster Israel River Mount Orne Covered Bridge Maine Central RR Gilman Dam Gilman Moore Dam NH 18 Littleton I - 93 Waterford Comerford Reservoir Passumpsic River Barnet Monroe McIndoes Reservoir Ryegate Dam Ammonoosuc River Wells River Bridge US 302 Woodsville NH 25 Bradford VT 25A Fairlee VT 113 East Thetford Ompompanoosuc River NH 10A Hanover Wilder Dam US 4 West Lebanon White River Boston & Maine Mascoma River I ‐ 89 White River Junction Ottauquechee River Covered bridge New England Central RR NH 12 Claremont Sugar River VT 11 Springfield Bellows Falls Bellows Falls Dam New England Central RR Vermont Railway NH 123 Walpole VT 9 Brattleboro VT 119 Hinsdale West River Vernon Dam Ashuelot River enters Massachusetts Amtrak Route 10 Northfield Route 2 Gill Millers River Turner Falls Dam Gill -- Montague Bridge Turners Falls Road Bridge General Pierce Bridge Deerfield River Canalside Rail Trail Bridge Pan Am Railways Route 116 Sunderland Norwottuck Rail Trail Bridge Route 9 Northampton US 202 Holyoke Holyoke Dam Route 116 Holyoke Pan Am Railways Route 141 Holyoke I ‐ 391 I ‐ 90 Chicopee Chicopee River I ‐ 91 US 20 Springfield CSX RR Route 147 Springfield Westfield River US 5 Agawam enters Connecticut Route 190 Enfield Enfield Falls Canal Amtrak Route 140 Windsor Locks I - 91 Dexter Coffin Bridge Farmington River I - 291 Windsor Connecticut Southern RR I - 84 Hartford Route 2 Founders Bridge Park River US 5 Charter Oak Bridge Route 3 Wethersfield Route 66 Middletown Providence & Worcester RR Salmon River Route 82 East Haddam Eightmile River I - 95 Old Lyme Amtrak Northeast Corridor Long Island Sound The Connecticut River is the longest river in the New England region of the United States, flowing roughly southward for 406 miles ( 653 km ) through four U.S. states. It rises at the U.S. border with Quebec, Canada, and discharges at Long Island Sound. Its watershed encompasses five U.S. states and one Canadian province, 11,260 square miles ( 29,200 km ) via 148 tributaries, 38 of which are major rivers. It produces 70 % of Long Island Sound 's fresh water, discharging at 19,600 cubic feet ( 560 m ) per second. The Connecticut River Valley is home to some of the northeastern United States ' most productive farmland, as well as a metropolitan region of approximately two million people surrounding Springfield, Massachusetts and Connecticut 's capital in Hartford. Contents 1 Etymology 2 History 2.1 Pre-1614 -- 1637 : American Indian populations 2.1. 1 Indians of the Lower Valley 2.1. 2 Indians of the Middle Valley 2.1. 3 Indians of the Upper Valley 2.2 1614 -- 1632 : Dutch exploration and settlement 2.3 1632 -- 1636 : Puritan settlement 2.4 Border disputes 2.4. 1 Springfield allies with the Massachusetts Bay Colony 2.4. 2 New Hampshire, Vermont, and New York border disputes 2.5 The Treaty of Paris and the 19th century 2.6 Log drives and the early 20th century 2.7 The flood of 1936 2.8 1936 -- present : Water supply 3 Course 3.1 The Upper Connecticut River : New Hampshire and Vermont 3.2 The Middle Connecticut River : Massachusetts through central Connecticut 3.3 The Lower Connecticut River : Southern Connecticut to Long Island Sound 3.3. 1 Mouth and tidelands 3.4 Dams 3.5 Tributaries 3.6 Fish 4 Economy 4.1 Boating 4.2 Pollution and cleanup 5 Lists 5.1 Populated places 5.2 Tributaries 5.3 Crossings 6 Sites of interest 7 See also 8 Notes 9 Further reading 10 External links Etymology The word `` Connecticut '' is a French corruption of the Mohegan word quinetucket, which means `` beside the long, tidal river ''. The word came into English during the early 1600s to name the river, which was also called simply `` The Great River ''. History View of Springfield on the Connecticut River, by Alvan Fisher ( Brooklyn Museum ) View of the City of Hartford, Connecticut, by William Havell Pre-1614 -- 1637 : American Indian populations Prior to Dutch exploration beginning in 1614, numerous indigenous tribes lived throughout the fertile Connecticut River valley. Information concerning how these tribes lived and interacted stems mostly from English accounts written during the 1630s. Indians of the Lower Valley The Pequots dominated a territory in the southernmost region of the Connecticut River valley, stretching roughly from the river 's mouth at Old Saybrook northward to just below the Big Bend at Middletown. They warred with and attempted to subjugate neighboring agricultural tribes such as the Western Niantics, while maintaining an uneasy stand - off with their rivals the Mohegans. The Mattabesset ( Tunxis ) tribe takes its name from the place where its sachems ruled at the Connecticut River 's Big Bend at Middletown, in a village sandwiched between the territories of the aggressive Pequots to the south and the more peaceable Mohegans to the north. Indians of the Middle Valley The Mohegans dominated the region due north, where Hartford and its suburbs sit, particularly after allying themselves with the Colonists against the Pequots during the Pequot War of 1637. Their culture was similar to that of the Pequots, as they had split off from the Pequots and become their rivals some time prior to the Europeans ' explorations of the area. The peaceful, agricultural Pocomtuc tribe lived in unfortified villages alongside the Connecticut River north of the Enfield Falls, on the fertile stretch of hills and meadows surrounding Springfield, Massachusetts. The Pocomtuc village of Agawam eventually became Springfield, situated on the Bay Path where the Connecticut River meets the western Westfield River and eastern Chicopee River. The Pocomtuc villagers at Agawam helped Puritan explorers settle this site and remained friendly with them for decades, unlike tribes farther north and south along the Connecticut River. The region stretching from Springfield north to the New Hampshire and Vermont state borders fostered many agricultural Pocomtuc and Nipmuc settlements, with its soil enhanced by sedimentary deposits. Occasionally, these villages endured invasions from more aggressive confederated tribes living in New York, such as the Mohawk, Mahican, and Iroquois tribes. Indians of the Upper Valley The Pennacook tribe mediated many early disagreements between colonists and other Indian tribes, with a territory stretching roughly from the Massachusetts border with Vermont and New Hampshire, northward to the rise of the White Mountains in New Hampshire. The Western Abenaki ( Sokoki ) tribe lived in the Green Mountains region of Vermont but wintered as far south as the Northfield, Massachusetts area. They later merged with members of other Algonquin tribes displaced by wars and famines. 1614 -- 1632 : Dutch exploration and settlement In 1614, Dutch explorer Adriaen Block became the first European explorer to chart the Connecticut River, sailing as far north as Enfield Rapids. He called it the `` Fresh River '' and claimed it for the Netherlands as the northeastern border of the New Netherland colony. In 1623, Dutch traders constructed a fortified trading post at the site of Hartford, Connecticut called the Fort Huys de Hoop ( `` Fort House of Hope '' ). 1632 -- 1636 : Puritan settlement Four separate Puritan - led groups settled the fertile Connecticut River Valley, and they founded the two large cities that continue to dominate the Valley today : Hartford ( est. 1635 ) and Springfield ( est. 1636 ). The first group of pioneers left the Plymouth Colony in 1632, and ultimately founded the village of Matianuck several miles north of the Dutch fort at modern Hartford which became Windsor, Connecticut. In 1633, a group left the Massachusetts Bay Colony from Watertown, seeking a site where they could practice their religion more freely. With this in mind, they founded Wethersfield, Connecticut in 1633, several miles south of the Dutch fort at Hartford. View from Mount Holyoke, Northampton, Massachusetts, after a Thunderstorm -- The Oxbow, 1836, by Thomas Cole In 1635, Reverend Thomas Hooker led settlers from the Massachusetts Bay Colony settlement at Cambridge, Massachusetts, where he had feuded with Reverend John Cotton, to the site in Connecticut of the Dutch Fort House of Hope, where he founded Newtowne ( Hartford ). Shortly after Hooker 's arrival, Newtowne annexed Matianuck based on laws articulated in Connecticut 's settlement charter, the Warwick Patent of 1631. The patent, however, had been physically lost, and the annexation was almost certainly illegal. The fourth English settlement along the Connecticut River came out of a 1635 scouting party commissioned by William Pynchon to find the most advantageous site on the Connecticut River for conducting commerce and agriculture, hoping to found a city there. His scouts located the Pocumtuc village of Agawam, where the Bay Path trade route crossed the Connecticut River at two of its major tributaries, the Chicopee River to the east and Westfield River to the west, and located just north of Enfield Falls, the river 's first unnavigable waterfall. Pynchon correctly surmised that traders utilizing any of these major roads or waterways would have to dock and change ships at his site, thereby granting the settlement a commercial advantage. The settlement was initially named Agawam Plantation and was allied with the southern settlements that became the state of Connecticut. They switched allegiances in 1641 and renamed it Springfield in honor of Pynchon 's native town in England. Of these settlements, Hartford and Springfield quickly emerged as powers. In 1641, Springfield splintered off from the Hartford - based Connecticut Colony, instead allying itself with the Boston - based Massachusetts Bay Colony. For decades, Springfield remained the Massachusetts Bay Colony 's westernmost settlement, on the northern border of the Connecticut Colony. By 1654 however, the success of these English settlements rendered the Dutch position on the Connecticut untenable. A treaty relocated the boundary between the Connecticut Colony and New Netherland Colony westward, near present - day Greenwich. The treaty allowed the Dutch to maintain their trading post at Foot Huys de Hoop, which they did until the 1664 British takeover of New Netherland. Border disputes The Connecticut River Valley 's central location, fertile soil, and abundant natural resources made it the target of centuries of border disputes, beginning with Springfield 's defection from the Connecticut Colony in 1641, which brought the Massachusetts Bay Colony to the river. Conflicting royal treaties of 1764 sparked the river 's east - siders to unite with Ethan Allen and the west - siders against New York and the British. The 1783 Treaty of Paris created a disputed border with Canada from the Connecticut 's `` northernmost headwaters ''. A 1933 U.S. Supreme Court decision settled a contentious boundary dispute between Vermont and New Hampshire. The Connecticut River 's history is characterized by both political intrigue and technological innovation. Springfield allies with the Massachusetts Bay Colony During 1640 and 1641, two controversies took place that altered the political boundaries of the Lower Connecticut River region, preventing it from administration by a single political body. The Connecticut Colony administered Springfield during the 1630s, in addition to Hartford, Wethersfield, and Windsor ; however, by 1640, Springfield 's advantageous geography enabled it to become the Connecticut Colony 's most commercially prosperous settlement. The Colony endured a crippling grain shortage during the spring of 1640 which caused many cattle to die of starvation. The grain shortage became a matter of survival for the Colony but not for Springfield, due to its prosperity. The Memorial Bridge across the Connecticut River at Springfield, Massachusetts, the river 's largest city In response to the shortage, leading citizens of Wethersfield and Hartford gave power to Pynchon, Springfield 's founder, to purchase corn for all of the Connecticut Colony 's settlements from the Pocumtuc. Colony leaders authorized him to offer large sums of money to the Indians, far above market prices ; however, the Indians refused to sell at even `` reasonable '' prices, and thus he refused to buy the corn altogether. Pynchon argued that it was best not to broadcast the Connecticut Colonists ' weaknesses to the Indians, who he believed might capitalize on it ; likewise, he aimed to keep market values and trade with the Indians steady in the future. Hartford 's leading citizens were furious with Pynchon 's willingness to further imperil the starving settlements. With Windsor 's and Wethersfield 's consent, they commissioned Captain John Mason who had fought in the Pequot War to travel to Springfield with `` money in one hand and a sword in the other '' to make a deal with the Indians, and also to rebuke Pynchon. On reaching Springfield, Mason threatened the Indians with war if they did not sell their corn at reasonable prices. The Indians capitulated and ultimately sold the corn to the Colonists. However, Mason 's violent approach aroused distrust among the Pocumtuc tribe. Mason also upbraided Pynchon in public. This incident arose partly from differences of opinion regarding how to interact with the Indian tribes. Pynchon had achieved mutual benefits by trading with the Pocumtucs, whereas Mason had used force. Nevertheless, it caused Springfield 's settlers to rally around the humiliated Pynchon, and led to the settlement severing ties with the Connecticut Colony. As this controversy was heating up, the Massachusetts Bay Colony saw an opportunity to gain a foothold along the fertile Connecticut River Valley. In 1640, Boston asserted a claim to jurisdiction over lands surrounding the river ; however, Springfield remained politically independent until tensions with the Connecticut Colony were exacerbated by a final confrontation later that year. Hartford kept a fort at the mouth of the Connecticut River at Old Saybrook for protection against the Pequots, Wampanoags, Mohegans, and the New Netherland Colony. After Springfield broke ties with the Colony, the remaining Connecticut settlements demanded that Springfield 's ships pay tolls when passing the mouth of the river. The ships refused to pay this tax without representation at Connecticut 's fort, but Hartford refused to grant it. In response, the Massachusetts Bay Colony solidified its friendship with Springfield by levying a toll on Connecticut Colony ships entering Boston Harbor. Connecticut was largely dependent on sea trade with Boston and therefore permanently dropped its tax on Springfield, but Springfield allied with Boston nonetheless, drawing the first state border across the Connecticut River. New Hampshire, Vermont, and New York border disputes The Fort at Number 4 in Charlestown, New Hampshire was the northernmost English settlement on the Connecticut River until the end of the French and Indian War in 1763. Abenaki Indians resisted British attempts at colonization, but Colonists began settling north of Brattleboro, Vermont following the war. Settlement of the Upper Connecticut River Valley increased quickly, with population assessments of 36,000 by 1790. The area that is now Vermont was claimed by both New Hampshire and New York, and was settled primarily through the issuance of land grants by New Hampshire Governor Benning Wentworth beginning in the 1740s. New York protested these grants, and King George III decided in 1764 that the border between the provinces should be the western bank of the Connecticut River. Ethan Allen, the Green Mountain Boys, and other residents of the disputed area resisted attempts by New York to exercise authority over the area, which resulted in the establishment of the independent Vermont Republic in 1777 and its eventual accession to the United States in 1791 as the fourteenth state. Boundary disputes between Vermont and New Hampshire lasted for nearly 150 years and were finally settled in 1933, when the U.S. Supreme Court reaffirmed King George 's boundary as the ordinary low - water mark on the Vermont shore. In some places, the state line is now inundated by the impoundments of dams built after this time. The treaty of Paris and the 19th century The Treaty of Paris ( 1783 ) that ended the American Revolutionary War created a new international border between New Hampshire and the Province of Canada at `` northwesternmost headwaters of the Connecticut ''. Several streams fit this description, and thus a boundary dispute led to the short - lived Indian Stream Republic, which existed from 1832 to 1835. The Windsor Locks Canal Company at Enfield Falls, the Connecticut River 's first major barrier to navigation The broad, fertile Connecticut River Valley attracted agricultural settlers and colonial traders to Hartford, Springfield, and the surrounding region. The high volume and numerous falls of the river led to the rise of industry along its banks during the Industrial Revolution. The cities of Springfield and Hartford in particular became centers of innovation and `` intense and concentrated prosperity. '' The Enfield Falls Canal was opened in 1829 to circumvent shallows around Enfield Falls, and the locks built for this canal gave their name to the town of Windsor Locks, Connecticut. The Connecticut River Valley functioned as America 's hub of technical innovation into the 20th century, particularly the cities of Springfield and Hartford, and thus attracted numerous railroad lines. The proliferation of the railroads in Springfield and Hartford greatly decreased the economic importance of the Connecticut River. From the late 1800s until today, it has functioned largely as a center of wildlife and recreation. Log drives and the early 20th century The Oxbow, Connecticut River, circa 1910 Starting about 1865, the river was used for massive logging drives from Third Connecticut Lake to initially water powered sawmills near Enfield Falls. Trees cut adjacent to tributary streams including Perry Stream and Indian Stream in Pittsburg, New Hampshire, Halls Stream on the Quebec -- New Hampshire border, Simms Stream, the Mohawk River, and the Nulhegan River basin in Essex County, Vermont, would be flushed into the main river by the release of water impounded behind splash dams. Several log drivers died trying to move logs through Perry Falls in Pittsburg. Teams of men would wait at Canaan, Vermont, to protect the bridges from log jams. Men guided logs through a 400 - foot ( 120 m ) drop along the length of Fifteen - Mile Falls ( now submerged under Moore and Comerford reservoirs ), and through Logan 's Rips at Fitzdale, Mulligan 's Lower Pitch, and Seven Islands. The White River from Vermont and Ammonoosuc River from New Hampshire brought more logs into the Connecticut. A log boom was built between Wells River, Vermont, and Woodsville, New Hampshire, to hold the logs briefly and release them gradually to avoid jams in the Ox Bow. Men detailed to this work utilized Woodsville 's saloons and red - light district. Some of the logs were destined for mills in Wilder and Bellows Falls, Vermont, while others were sluiced over the Bellows Falls dam. North Walpole, New Hampshire, contained twelve to eighteen saloons, patronized by the log drivers. Mount Tom was the landmark the log drivers used to gauge the distance to the final mills near Holyoke, Massachusetts. These spring drives were stopped after 1915, when pleasure boat owners complained about the hazards to navigation. The final drive included 500 workers controlling 65 million feet of logs. A final pulp drive consisted of 100,000 cords of four - foot logs in 1918. This was to take advantage of the wartime demand. The flood of 1936 In March 1936, due to a winter with heavy snowfall, an early spring thaw and torrential rains, the Connecticut River flooded, overflowing its banks, destroying numerous bridges and isolating hundreds of people who had to be rescued by boat. The dam at Vernon, Vermont, was topped by 19 feet ( 5.8 m ). Sandbagging by the National Guard and local volunteers helped prevent the dam 's powerhouse from being overwhelmed, despite blocks of ice breaking through the upstream walls. In Northampton, Massachusetts, looting during the flood became a problem, causing the mayor of the city to deputize citizen patrols to protect flooded areas. Over 3,000 refugees from the area were housed in Amherst College and the Massachusetts State Agricultural College ( now UMass Amherst ). Unprecedented accumulated ice jams compounded the problems created by the flood, diverting water into unusual channels and damming the river, raising water levels even further. When the jam at Hadley, Massachusetts, gave way, the water crest overflowed the dam at Holyoke, overwhelming the sandbagging there. The village of South Hadley Falls was essentially destroyed, and the southern parts of Holyoke were severely damaged, with 500 refugees. Downtown Hartford, Connecticut, during the 1936 flood In Springfield, Massachusetts, 5 sq mi ( 13 km ), and 18 miles ( 29 km ) of streets, were flooded, and 20,000 people lost their homes. The city lost power, and nighttime looting caused the police to issue a `` shoot on sight '' edict ; 800 National Guard troops were brought in to help maintain order. Rescue efforts using a flotilla of boats saved people trapped in upper stories of buildings, bringing them to local fraternal lodges, schools, churches and monasteries for lodging, medical care, and food. The American Red Cross and local, state and Federal agencies, including the WPA and the CCC, contributed aid and manpower to the effort. Flooding of roads isolated the city for a time. When the water receded, it left behind silt - caused mud which in places was 3 feet ( 1 m ) thick ; the recovery effort in Springfield, at the height of the American Great Depression, took approximately a decade. Overall, the flood caused 171 deaths and US $ 500 million ( US $8,800,000,000 with inflation ) in damages. Across the northeast, over 430,000 people were made homeless or destitute by flooding that year. The Connecticut River Flood Control Compact between the states of Connecticut, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, and Vermont was established in 1953 to help prevent serious flooding. 1936 -- present : water supply The creation of the Quabbin Reservoir in the 1930s diverted the Swift River, which feeds the Chicopee River, a tributary of the Connecticut. This resulted in an unsuccessful lawsuit by the state of Connecticut against the diversion of its riparian waters. Demand for drinking water in eastern Massachusetts passed the sustainable supply from the existing system in 1969. Diverting water from the Connecticut River was considered several times, but in 1986 the Massachusetts Water Resources Authority instead undertook a campaign of water conservation. Demand was reduced to sustainable levels by 1989, reaching approximately a 25 % margin of safety by 2009. Course By far the largest river ecosystem in New England, the Connecticut River watershed spans five of the six New England states -- New Hampshire, Vermont, Massachusetts, Connecticut, as well as small portions of Maine and the Canadian province of Quebec. The Upper Connecticut River : New Hampshire and Vermont The Connecticut Lakes, the source of the Connecticut River, near the border of New Hampshire and Quebec Great Falls ( Bellows Falls ) at high flow under the Vilas Bridge, taken from the end of Bridge St on the Vermont side, looking upriver. The Connecticut River rises from the Fourth Connecticut Lake, a small pond that sits 300 yards ( 270 m ) south of the U.S. national border with Chartierville, Quebec, Canada, in the town of Pittsburg, New Hampshire, United States. Beginning at an elevation of 2,670 feet ( 810 m ) above sea level, the Connecticut River flows through the remaining Connecticut Lakes and Lake Francis -- for 14 - mile ( 23 km ), all within the town of Pittsburg -- and then widens as it delineates 255 - mile ( 410 km ) of the border between New Hampshire and Vermont. The Connecticut drops more than 2,480 feet ( 760 m ) in elevation as it winds south to the border of Massachusetts, at which point it sits 190 feet ( 58 m ) above sea level. The region along the river upstream and downstream from Lebanon, New Hampshire and White River Junction, Vermont, is known locally as the `` Upper Valley ''. The exact definition of the region varies, but it generally is considered to extend south to Windsor, Vermont, and Cornish, New Hampshire, and north to Bradford, Vermont, and Piermont, New Hampshire. The Middle Connecticut River : Massachusetts through central Connecticut Following the most recent ice age, the Middle Connecticut River Valley sat at the bottom of Lake Hitchcock. Its lush greenery and rich, almost rockless soil comes from the ancient lake 's sedimentary deposits. In the Middle Connecticut region, the river reaches its maximum depth -- 130 feet ( 40 m ) -- at Gill, Massachusetts, around the French King Bridge, and its maximum width -- 2,100 feet ( 640 m ) -- at Longmeadow, directly across from the Six Flags New England amusement park. The Connecticut 's largest falls -- South Hadley Falls -- features a vertical drop of 58 feet ( 18 m ). Lush green forests and agricultural hamlets dot this middle portion of the Connecticut River ; however, the region is best known for its numerous college towns, such as Northampton, South Hadley, and Amherst, as well as the river 's most populous city, Springfield. The city sits atop bluffs beside the Connecticut 's confluence with two major tributaries, the Chicopee River to the east and Westfield River to the west. The Connecticut River is influenced by the tides as far north as Enfield Rapids in Windsor Locks, Connecticut, approximately 58 miles ( 93 km ) north of the river 's mouth. Two million residents live in the densely populated Hartford - Springfield region, which stretches roughly between the college towns of Amherst, Massachusetts, and Middletown, Connecticut. Hartford, the Connecticut River 's second largest city and only state capital, is located at the southern end of this region on an ancient floodplain that stretches to Middletown. The Lower Connecticut River : southern Connecticut to Long Island Sound 15 miles ( 24 km ) south of Hartford, at Middletown, the Lower Connecticut River section begins with a narrowing of the river, and then a sharp turn southeast. Throughout southern Connecticut, the Connecticut passes through a thinly populated, hilly, wooded region before again widening and discharging into Long Island Sound between Old Saybrook and Old Lyme. Due to the presence of large, shifting sandbars at its mouth, the Connecticut is the only major river in the Northeastern United States without a port at its mouth. Mouth and tidelands The Connecticut River carries a heavy amount of silt, especially during the spring snow melt, from as far north as Quebec. This heavy silt concentration manifests in a large sandbar near the Connecticut 's mouth, which has, historically, provided a formidable obstacle to navigation. Due to the difficulty it presents to ships, the Connecticut is one of the few major rivers in the United States without a major city at its mouth. The Connecticut 's major cities -- Hartford and Springfield -- lie 45 and 69 miles ( 70 and 110 km ) upriver, respectively. Satellite image of the Connecticut River depositing silt into Long Island Sound The Nature Conservancy named the Connecticut River 's tidelands one of the Western Hemisphere 's `` 40 Last Great Places '', while the Ramsar Convention on Wetlands listed its estuary and tidal wetlands complex as one of 1,759 wetlands of international importance. In 1997, the Connecticut River was designated one of only 14 American Heritage Rivers, which recognized its `` distinctive natural, economic, agricultural, scenic, historic, cultural and recreational qualities. '' In May 2012, the Connecticut River was designated America 's first National Blueway, in recognition of the restoration and preservation efforts on the river. Dams The Connecticut River 's flow is slowed by main stem dams, which create a series of slow - flowing basins from Lake Francis Dam in Pittsburg, New Hampshire, to the Holyoke Dam at South Hadley Falls in Massachusetts. Among the most extensively dammed rivers in the United States, the Connecticut may soon flow at a more natural pace, according to scientists at the University of Massachusetts at Amherst, who have devised a computer that -- `` in an effort to balance human and natural needs '' -- coordinates the holding and releasing of water between the river 's 54 largest dams. Tributaries The Connecticut River watershed encompasses 11,260 square miles ( 29,200 km ), connecting 148 tributaries, including 38 major rivers and numerous lakes and ponds. Major tributaries include ( from north to south ) the Passumpsic, Ammonoosuc, White, Black, West, Ashuelot, Millers, Deerfield, Chicopee, Westfield, and Farmington rivers. The Swift River, a tributary of the Chicopee, has been dammed and largely replaced by the Quabbin Reservoir which provides water to the Massachusetts Water Resources Authority district in eastern Massachusetts, including Boston and its metropolitan area. Fish Drift boat fishing guide working the river near Colebrook, New Hampshire There are several species of anadromous and catadromous fish, including brook trout, winter flounder, blueback herring, alewife, rainbow trout, large brown trout, American shad ( Alosa sapidissima ), hickory shad, smallmouth bass, Atlantic sturgeon, striped bass ( Morone saxatilis ), carp, catfish, American eel, sea lamprey, and endangered shortnose sturgeon and dwarf wedgemussels. Additionally, the United States Fish and Wildlife Service has repopulated the river with another species of migratory fish, the Atlantic salmon, which for more than 200 years had been extinct from the river due to damming. Several fish ladders and fish elevators have been built to allow fish to resume their natural migration upriver each spring. Much of the beginning of the river 's course in the town of Pittsburg is occupied by the Connecticut Lakes, which contain lake trout and landlocked salmon. Landlocked salmon make their way into the river during spring spawning runs of bait fish and during their fall spawn. The river has fly - fishing - only regulations on 5 miles ( 8 km ) of river. Most of the river from Lake Francis south is open to lure and bait as well. Two tail - water dams provide cold river water for miles downstream, making for bountiful summer fishing on the Connecticut. After the first major dam was built near Turners Falls, Massachusetts, thirteen additional dams have ended the Connecticut River 's great anadromous fish runs. Fish ladders constructed since the first fish passage in 1980 at Turners Falls, have enabled migrating fish to return to some of their former spawning grounds. In addition to dams, warm water discharges between 1978 and 1992 from Vermont Yankee Nuclear Power Plant in Vernon, Vermont released water up to 105 ° F ( 41 ° C ) degrees and the thermal plume reached 55 miles ( 89 km ) downstream to Holyoke. This thermal pollution appears to be associated with an 80 % decline in American shad fish numbers from 1992 to 2005 at Holyoke dam. This decline may have been exacerbated by over-fishing in the mid-Atlantic and predation from resurging striped bass populations. The nuclear plant was closed at the end of 2014 but the 2015 shad run at Vernon numbered only 42,000 shad. There are 12 species of freshwater mussels. Of those, 11 occur in the mainstem of the Connecticut, all but the brook floater, which is found only in small streams and rivers. Species diversity is higher in the southern part of the watershed ( Connecticut and Massachusetts ) than in the northern part ( Vermont and New Hampshire ), largely due to differences in stream gradient and substrate. Eight of the 12 species in the watershed are listed as endangered, threatened, or of Special Concern in one or more of the states in the watershed. Economy Boating The mouth of the river up to Essex is thought to be one of the busiest stretches of waterway in Connecticut. Some local police departments and the state Environmental Conservation Police patrol the area a few times a week. Some towns keep boats available if needed. In Massachusetts, the most active stretch of the Connecticut River is centered on the Oxbow, 14 miles ( 23 km ) north of Springfield in the college town of Northampton. Primitive camping is available along much of the river, for non-motorized boats, via the Connecticut River Paddlers ' Trail. The Paddlers ' Trail currently includes campsites on over 300 miles ( 480 km ) of the river. Pollution and Cleanup Riverbank restoration project in Fairlee, Vermont The Water Quality Act of 1965 had a major impact on controlling water pollution in the Connecticut River and its tributaries. Since then, the river has been restored from Class D to Class B ( fishable and swimmable ). Many towns along the Lower Connecticut River have enacted a cap on further development along the banks, so that no buildings may be constructed except on existing foundations. Currently, a website provides water quality reports twice a week, indicating whether various portions of the river are safe for swimming, boating and fishing. Lists Populated places Main article : List of populated places on the Connecticut River Tributaries Near First Connecticut Lake Near Colebrook, New Hampshire The river near its mouth Founders Bridge in Hartford, with a view of the Bulkeley Bridge upstream Mist upstream of the Bissell Bridge between Windsor and South Windsor, CT Listed from south to north by location of mouth : Black Hall River ( Old Lyme, CT ) Falls River ( Essex, CT ) Eightmile River ( Hamburg, CT ) Deep River ( Deep River, CT ) Salmon River ( Moodus, CT ) Mattabesset River ( Middletown, CT ) Hockanum River ( East Hartford and Hartford, CT ) Park River ( Hartford, CT ) Farmington River ( Windsor, CT ) Scantic River ( South Windsor, CT ) Westfield River ( West Springfield and Springfield, MA ) Mill River ( Springfield, MA ) Chicopee River ( Chicopee and Springfield, MA ) Manhan River ( The Oxbow of Northampton, MA ) Mill River ( Northampton, MA ) Fort River ( Hadley, MA ) Mill River ( Hatfield, MA ) Mill River ( Amherst, MA ) Sawmill River ( Montague, MA ) Deerfield River ( Deerfield and Greenfield, MA ) Fall River ( Greenfield and Gill, MA ) Millers River ( Millers Falls, MA ) Ashuelot River ( Hinsdale, NH ) Whetstone Brook ( Brattleboro, VT ) West River ( Brattleboro, VT ) Partridge Brook ( Westmoreland, NH ) Cold River ( Walpole, NH ) Saxtons River ( Westminster, VT ) Williams River ( Rockingham, VT ) Black River ( Springfield, VT ) Little Sugar River ( Charlestown, NH ) Sugar River ( Claremont, NH ) Blow - me - down Brook ( Cornish, NH ) Ottauquechee River ( Hartland, VT ) Mascoma River ( West Lebanon, NH ) White River ( White River Junction, VT ) Mink Brook ( Hanover, NH ) Ompompanoosuc River ( Norwich, VT ) Waits River ( Bradford, VT ) Oliverian Brook ( Haverhill, NH ) Wells River ( Wells River, VT ) Ammonoosuc River ( Woodsville, NH ) Stevens River ( Barnet, VT ) Passumpsic River ( Barnet, VT ) Johns River ( Dalton, NH ) Israel River ( Lancaster, NH ) Upper Ammonoosuc River ( Northumberland, NH ) Paul Stream ( Brunswick, VT ) Nulhegan River ( Bloomfield, VT ) Simms Stream ( Columbia, NH ) Mohawk River ( Colebrook, NH ) Halls Stream ( Beecher Falls, VT ) Indian Stream ( Pittsburg, NH ) Perry Stream ( Pittsburg, NH ) Crossings Main article : List of crossings of the Connecticut River The Connecticut River is a barrier to travel between western and eastern New England. Several major transportation corridors cross the river including Amtrak 's Northeast Corridor, Interstate 95 ( Connecticut Turnpike ), Interstate 90 ( Massachusetts Turnpike ), Interstate 89, Interstate 93, and Interstate 84. In addition, Interstate 91, whose route largely follows the river north - south, crosses it twice -- once in Connecticut and once in Massachusetts. Sites of interest Connecticut River Museum in Essex, Connecticut Lyman and Merrie Wood Museum of Springfield History in Springfield, Massachusetts See also Equivalent Lands The Great Attack, the burning of American ships on the Connecticut River at Essex in 1814 History of Connecticut Lake Connecticut, post-glacial predecessor to Lake Hitchcock Lake Hitchcock, post-glacial predecessor to the Connecticut River List of rivers of Connecticut List of rivers of Massachusetts List of rivers of New Hampshire List of rivers of Vermont Notes ^ Jump up to : Michael J. Caduto ( November 30, 2015 ). `` With Cooler Water, Better Prospects for Shad Migration ? ''. Northern Woodlands Magazine. Retrieved August 9, 2016. Jump up ^ U.S. Geological Survey Geographic Names Information System : Connecticut River Jump up ^ Linda Brughelli ( October 28, 2014 ). `` Essex - Connecticut ''. BBC Local : Essex. Retrieved August 9, 2016. ^ Jump up to : `` Watershed Facts ''. Connecticut River Watershed Council. Retrieved August 9, 2016. Jump up ^ `` Event : Source To Sea Cleanup To Benefit 410 Miles of Connecticut River -- Courant.com -- CT Environmental Headlines ''. Environmentalheadlines.com. Retrieved 25 November 2014. ^ Jump up to : `` About the River ''. Connecticutriver.us. Retrieved August 9, 2016. Jump up ^ `` Connecticut State Name Origin ''. Statesymbolsusa.org. Retrieved 25 November 2014. Jump up ^ Alberta Eiseman ( August 30, 1998 ). `` THEATER ; The Industrialization of the Great River, New England 's Longest ''. The New York Times. Retrieved August 9, 2016. Jump up ^ `` Pequot History ''. Dickshovel.com. July 15, 1997. Retrieved August 9, 2016. Jump up ^ `` 1637 -- The Pequot War ''. The Society of Colonial Wars in the State of Connecticut. Retrieved August 9, 2016. Jump up ^ `` Mattabesic History ''. Dickshovel.com. November 15, 1997. Retrieved August 9, 2016. ^ Jump up to : `` Mohegan History ''. Dickshovel.com. July 14, 1997. Retrieved August 9, 2016. Jump up ^ Meaning `` landing place '' or `` place for unloading canoes. '' Jump up ^ `` Full text of `` Indian place names of New England '' ``. Archive.org. Retrieved 25 November 2014. ^ Jump up to : `` We Have A New Lodge ! ! ! ! ! ''. Pocumtuc Lodge -- Western Massachusetts Council, Boy Scouts of America. October 9, 2008. Retrieved August 9, 2016. ^ Jump up to : `` Pocumtuc History ''. Dickshovel.com. Retrieved August 9, 2016. Jump up ^ `` Pennacook History ''. Dickshovel.com. Retrieved August 9, 2016. Jump up ^ `` Abenaki ''. Dickshovel.com. Retrieved 25 November 2014. Jump up ^ Al Braden ( March 1, 2010 ). The Connecticut River : A Photographic Journey Into the Heart of New England. Wesleyan University Press. Retrieved August 9, 2016. ^ Jump up to : `` House of Hope ''. A Tour of New England : Connecticut. New Netherland Institute. Retrieved August 9, 2016. Jump up ^ `` The Warwick Patent ''. Colonial Records & Topics. CT State Library. Retrieved August 9, 2016. ^ Jump up to : Barrows, Charles Henry ( 1911 ). The history of Springfield in Massachusetts for the young : being also in some part the history of other towns and cities in the county of Hampden. The Connecticut Valley Historical Society. pp. 46 -- 48. US 13459.5. 7. Jump up ^ State of Vermont v. State of New Hampshire https://www.law.cornell.edu/supremecourt/text/289/593 Jump up ^ `` No border dispute here : Vt., NH reaffirm boundary ''. The Big Story. March 14, 2012. Retrieved August 9, 2016. ^ Jump up to : `` Why did settlers come to New Hampshire and Vermont, and where did they come from ? ''. Teaching Early Settlement. Flowofhistory.org ( Southeast Vermont Community Learning Collaborative ). Retrieved August 9, 2016. Jump up ^ Wardner, p. 13. Jump up ^ Wardner, p. 41 Jump up ^ Wardner, p. 443 Jump up ^ Van de Water, Frederic. The Reluctant Republic, New York : John Day, 1941. p. 337 ^ Jump up to : `` Fast Facts ''. Connecticut River Joint Commissions. Retrieved August 9, 2016. Jump up ^ ( 1 ) Archived December 3, 2008, at the Wayback Machine. Jump up ^ ( 2 ) Archived September 26, 2006, at the Wayback Machine. Jump up ^ `` Environment & Geography : Written in the Rocks and Sand ''. Connecticut River Byway Council. Retrieved August 9, 2016. ^ Jump up to : Pike, Helen ( April 2013 ). `` Spring Log Drives Through Fifteen - Mile Falls ''. Vermont 's Northland Journal. 12 ( 1 ) : 20 -- 21. Jump up ^ Holbrook p. 68 Jump up ^ Holbrook p. 70 Jump up ^ Holbrook, Stewart H. ( 1961 ). Yankee Loggers. International Paper Company. pp. 63 -- 70. Jump up ^ Wheeler, Scott ( September 2002 ). The History of Logging in Vermont 's Northeast Kingdom. The Kingdom Historical. Jump up ^ Klekowski, Ed ; ilda, Elizabeth ; Klekowski, Libby ( 2003 ). The Great Flood of 1936 : The Connecticut River Story ( DVD ). Springfield, Massachusetts : WGBY. Event occurs at 02 : 10. OCLC 58055715. Archived from the original on 2011 - 09 - 30. Retrieved 16 November 2011. Jump up ^ Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis Community Development Project. `` Consumer Price Index ( estimate ) 1800 -- ''. Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis. Retrieved January 2, 2018. Jump up ^ Klelowski, Ed. The Great Flood of 1936 : The Connecticut River Valley Story WGBY ( 2003 ) Jump up ^ `` Connecticut River Flood Control Compact '' ( PDF ). US Government Printing Office. June 6, 1953. Retrieved August 9, 2016. Jump up ^ U.S. Supreme Court, Connecticut v. Massachusetts, 282 U.S. 660 ( 1931 ) Jump up ^ `` CRWC History ''. Connecticut River Watershed Council. Retrieved August 9, 2016. Jump up ^ `` MWRA Water System Demand, 1985 -- 2009 ''. Massachusetts Water Resources Authority. Retrieved August 9, 2016. ^ Jump up to : `` Designated Rivers : The Connecticut River ''. New Hampshire Department of Environmental Services. Retrieved August 9, 2016. Jump up ^ `` State officials to perambulate the border between N.H. and Vermont ( symbolically, that is ) ''. The Telegraph. May 10, 2012. Retrieved August 9, 2016. Jump up ^ `` Upper Valley Bi-State Regional Chamber of Commerce ''. Upper Valley Chamber of Commerce. Retrieved July 15, 2014. Jump up ^ Richard D. Little. `` Geological History of the Connecticut River Valley ''. Earth View LLC. Retrieved August 9, 2016. Jump up ^ Klekowski, Ed ( June 2 -- 4, 2000 ). `` Stop 1 - 7B : Abyssal Depths in Turner 's Falls Area, French King Bridge '' ( PDF ). North Eastern Friends of the Pleistocene Field Conference. Retrieved August 9, 2016. Jump up ^ Susan McGowan. `` The Landscape in the Colonial Period ''. Americancenturies.mass.edu. Retrieved 25 November 2014. Jump up ^ `` Type 6 Conservation Site -- Connecticut River Estuary '' ( PDF ). Oldsaybrookct.org. Retrieved 25 November 2014. Jump up ^ `` Connecticut River Tidelands ''. Yankee Magazine. Retrieved 25 November 2014. Jump up ^ Sam Wotipka ( October 10, 2013 ). `` Connecticut River May Soon Flow Freely Again ''. Scope. MIT Graduate Program in Science Writing. Retrieved August 9, 2016. ^ Jump up to : Northeast Region Web Development Group. `` Fisheries Program - Northeast Region -- U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service ''. Fws.gov. Retrieved 25 November 2014. ^ Jump up to : Nedeau, Ethan Jay ( 2008 ). `` Freshwater Mussels and the Connecticut River Watershed '' ( PDF ). Connecticut River Watershed Council, Greenfield, MA. Retrieved August 9, 2016. Jump up ^ Kaplan, Thomas ( August 30, 2007 ). `` River Watchers, Tackling Speeders and Thin Budgets ''. The New York Times. Retrieved August 9, 2016. Jump up ^ `` Welcome ''. Oxbow Marina. Retrieved August 9, 2016. Jump up ^ `` Connecticut River Paddlers ' Trail ''. connecticutriverpaddlerstrail.org. Retrieved August 9, 2016. Jump up ^ `` News and Information from Northampton, MA by the Daily Hampshire Gazette -- GazetteNet.com ''. Gazettenet.com. Retrieved 25 November 2014. Jump up ^ `` Water Quality Monitoring ''. Tri-State Connecticut River Targeted Watershed Initiative. Center for Educational Software Development -- University of Massachusetts Amherst. Retrieved August 9, 2016. Further reading Bacon, Edwin M. ( 1906 ). The Connecticut River and the Valley of the Connecticut : Three Hundred and Fifty Miles from Mountain to Sea. New York : G.P. Putnam 's Sons. LCC F12. C7 B2. Braden, Al ( 2009 ). The Connecticut River : A Photographic Journey into the Heart of New England. Middletown CT : Wesleyan University Press. ISBN 978 - 0 - 8195 - 6895 - 3. Delany, Edmund Thomas ( 1983 ). The Connecticut River : New England 's Historic Waterway. The Globe Pequot Press. ISBN 978 - 0 - 87106 - 980 - 1. Hard, Walter R. ( 1947 ). The Connecticut ( Rivers of America ). New York, Toronto : Rinehart & Company, Inc. ISBN 0 - 932691 - 27 - 7. LCC F12. C7 H3. Roth, Randolph A. ( 2003 ). The Democratic Dilemma : Religion, Reform, and the Social Order in the Connecticut River Valley of Vermont, 1791 -- 1850. Cambridge Mass. : Cambridge University Press. ISBN 978 - 0 - 521 - 31773 - 3. Wardner, Henry Steele ( 1927 ). The Birthplace of Vermont : A history of Windsor to 1781. New York : Scribner 's. ASIN B00086X8BY. LCCN 27014536. External links Wikimedia Commons has media related to Connecticut River. `` Connecticut River ''. Encyclopædia Britannica. 6 ( 11th ed. ). 1911. Connecticut River Watershed Council Connecticut River Valley Flood Control Commission Connecticut River Museum Connecticut Riverfest Upper Valley Trails Alliance Connecticut River Joint Commissions Tri-state Connecticut River Watershed Initiative `` Connecticut, a river of the United States ''. Collier 's New Encyclopedia. 1921. American Heritage Rivers Rivers Blackstone & Woonasquatucket Connecticut Cuyahoga Detroit Hanalei Hudson Lower Mississippi Potomac New Rio Grande St. Johns Upper Mississippi Upper Susquehanna & Lackawanna Willamette Ramsar sites in the United States Ramsar Sites Ash Meadows National Wildlife Refuge Bitter Lake National Wildlife Refuge Bolinas Lagoon Cache River National Wildlife Refuge Caddo Lake Cape May National Wildlife Refuge Catahoula Lake Chesapeake Bay Cheyenne Bottoms Congaree National Park Connecticut River Corkscrew Swamp Sanctuary Delaware Bay Dixon Waterfowl Refuge Emiquon National Wildlife Refuge Everglades National Park Edwin B. Forsythe National Wildlife Refuge Francis Beidler Forest Grasslands Wildlife Management Area Heron Pond -- Little Black Slough Nature Preserve Horicon Marsh Humbug Marsh Izembek National Wildlife Refuge Kakagon Sloughs Kawai Nui Marsh Laguna de Santa Rosa Okefenokee National Wildlife Refuge Olentangy River Wetland Research Park Palmyra Atoll Pelican Island National Wildlife Refuge Quivira National Wildlife Refuge San Francisco Bay Sand Lake National Wildlife Refuge Tijuana River National Estuarine Research Reserve Tomales Bay Upper Mississippi River National Wildlife and Fish Refuge White River National Wildlife Refuge Rivers of Connecticut Connecticut River Watershed Blackledge River Coginchaug River Connecticut River Duck River Eightmile River Falls River Farmington River Hockanum River Hubbard River Jeremy River Lieutenant River Mattabesset River Nepaug River Pameacha Creek Park River Pequabuck River Salmon River Scantic River Housatonic River Watershed East Aspetuck River Housatonic River Konkapot River Naugatuck River Pomperaug River Rocky River Schenob Brook Shepaug River Still River Ten Mile River Hudson River Watershed Titicus River Long Island Sound Ash Creek Aspetuck River Black Hall River Byram River Farm River Hammonasset River Mad River Mianus River Mill River Mill River ( Fairfield ) Mystic River Niantic River Noroton River Norwalk River Oyster River Pequonnock River Quinnipiac River Rippowam River Rooster River Saugatuck River Silvermine River West River Pawcatuck River Watershed Ashaway River Green Fall River Pawcatuck River Shunock River Wood River Thames River Watershed Basset Brook Beaver Brook Bigelow Brook Fenton River Fishers Brook Five Mile River French River Hop River Little River Merrick Brook Moosup River Mount Hope River Natchaug River Oxoboxo River Pachaug River Quinebaug River Shetucket River Thames River Willimantic River Yantic River Rivers of Massachusetts Atlantic Ocean Tiasquam River Buzzards Bay Acushnet River Agawam River Back River Copicut River Crooked River Mattapoisett River Nasketucket River Paskamanset River Pocasset River Sippican River Slocums River Wankinco River Westport River Weweantic River Cape Cod Bay Eel River Herring River Jones River Little Pamet River Pamet River Town Brook Connecticut River Watershed Burnshirt River Chapel Brook Chicopee River Connecticut River Cranberry River Deerfield River East Brookfield River Farmington River Fall River Five Mile River Green River Hubbard River Manhan River Mill River ( Northampton ) Mill River ( Springfield ) Millers River Mirey Brook North Branch Millers River North Branch Westfield River North River Otter River Quaboag River Scantic River Seven Mile River Tarbell Brook Ware River Westfield River Gulf of Maine Annisquam River Blackwater River Eagle Hill River Egypt River Ipswich River Roger Island River Rowley River Skug River Housatonic River Watershed Housatonic River Konkapot River Schenob Brook Umpachene River Hudson River Watershed Hoosic River Kinderhook Creek Massachusetts Bay Aberjona River Alewife Brook Canton River Charles River Chelsea Creek Cochato River Fore River Fresh River Indian Head River Malden River Millers River Monatiquot River Mother Brook Muddy River Mystic River Neponset River North River Saugus River Stony Brook ( Boston ) Stony Brook ( Waltham ) Stop River Weir River Weymouth Back River Merrimack River Watershed Artichoke River Assabet River Back River Beaver Brook Cochichewick River Concord River Little River Merrimack River Nashua River Nissitissit River North Nashua River Phillips Brook Powwow River Quinapoxet River Salmon Brook Shawsheen River South Branch Souhegan River South Nashua River Spicket River Squannacook River Stillwater River Sudbury River Trout Brook Vine Brook Whitman River Nantucket Sound Bass River Bumps River Childs River Coonamesset River Mashpee River Mitchell River Oyster Pond River Popponesset Creek Quashnet River Santuit River Narragansett Bay Barrington River Cole River Coles Brook Kickamuit River Lees River Palmer River Runnins River Providence River Watershed Abbott Run Blackstone River Bungay River Chockalog River Mill River Mumford River Peters River Quinsigamond River Sevenmile River Tannery River Ten Mile River Thacher River West River Wilde River Taunton River Watershed Assonet River Canoe River Cedar Swamp River Cocasset River Cotley River Forge River Hockomock River Matfield River Mill River Nemasket River Poor Meadow Brook Quequechan River Rumford River Salisbury Plain River Satucket River Segreganset River Shumatuscacant River Snake River Taunton River Three Mile River Town River Wading River Winnetuxet River Thames River Watershed French River Quinebaug River Rivers of New Hampshire Androscoggin River Watershed Androscoggin River Chickwolnepy Stream Clear Stream Dead Diamond River Dead River East Branch Dead Diamond River Little Dead Diamond River Little Magalloway River Magalloway River Middle Branch Dead Diamond River Middle Branch Little Magalloway River Mollidgewock Brook Moose Brook Moose River Peabody River Rattle River South Branch Little Dead Diamond River Swift Diamond River West Branch Dead Diamond River West Branch Little Dead Diamond River West Branch Little Magalloway River West Branch Magalloway River West Branch Peabody River Wild River Connecticut River Watershed Ammonoosuc River Ashuelot River Blow - me - down Brook The Branch Cold River Connecticut River East Branch Mohawk River Gale River Great Brook Halls Stream Ham Branch Indian River Indian Stream Israel River Johns River Knox River Little River Little Sugar River Mascoma River Millers River Mink Brook Mirey Brook Mohawk River Nash Stream North Branch Gale River North Branch Millers River North Branch Sugar River North Branch Upper Ammonoosuc River Oliverian Brook Otter Brook Partridge Brook Perry Stream Phillips Brook Simms Stream South Branch Ashuelot River South Branch Gale River South Branch Israel River South Branch Sugar River Stocker Brook Sugar River Tarbell Brook Upper Ammonoosuc River West Branch Mohawk River West Branch Upper Ammonoosuc River Wild Ammonoosuc River Zealand River Merrimack River Watershed Baboosic Brook Back River Baker River Bear Brook Beards Brook Beaver Brook Beebe River Big River Black Brook Blackwater River Cockermouth River Cohas Brook Contoocook River East Branch Baker River East Branch Pemigewasset River Fowler River Frazier Brook Gridley River Gunstock River Lane River Little Massabesic Brook - Sucker Brook Little River ( Big River ) Little River ( Merrimack River ) Little Suncook River Lost River Mad River Melvin River Merrimack River Merrymeeting River Middle Branch Piscataquog River Nashua River Newfound River Nissitissit River North Branch Contoocook River North Fork East Branch Pemigewasset River Nubanusit Brook Pemigewasset River Pennichuck Brook Piscataquog River Powwow River Purgatory Brook Red Hill River Salmon Brook Shedd Brook Smith River Soucook River Souhegan River South Branch Baker River South Branch Piscataquog River South Branch Souhegan River Spicket River Squam River Stony Brook Suncook River Tioga River Turkey River Warner River West Branch Mad River West Branch Souhegan River West Branch Warner River Winnipesaukee River Piscataqua River / NH Atlantic Coast Watershed Bean River Bellamy River Berrys River Blackwater River Branch River Browns River Bunker Creek Cochecho River Drakes River Ela River Exeter River Fresh River Hampton Falls River Hampton River Isinglass River Jones Brook Lamprey River Little River ( New Hampshire Atlantic coast ) Little River ( Brentwood ) Little River ( Exeter ) Little River ( Lamprey River ) Mad River North Branch River North River Old River Oyster River Pawtuckaway River Piscassic River Piscataqua River Rattlesnake River Salmon Falls River Squamscott River Taylor River Winnicut River Saco River Watershed Bearcamp River Beech River Chocorua River Cold River ( Bearcamp River ) Cold River Cutler River Dan Hole River Deer River Dry River East Branch Saco River East Branch Whiteface River East Fork East Branch Saco River Ellis River Little Cold River Lovell River Mad River Middle Branch Mad River Mill Brook New River Ossipee River Pequawket Brook Pine River Rocky Branch Saco River Sawyer River Shepards River South Branch Mad River South River Swift River ( Bearcamp River ) Swift River ( Saco River ) West Branch Whiteface River Wildcat Brook Wonalancet River Waterbodies of Connecticut Canals, Coves, Estuaries, Harbors, and Rivers Ash Creek Connecticut River Enfield Falls Canal Farm River Farmington Canal Hammonasset River Housatonic River Kidd Harbor Little Narragansett Bay Long Island Sound Mystic River New Haven Harbor Niantic River Oxoboxo River Oyster River Pawcatuck River Quinnipiac River Smith Cove Thames River Wequetequock Cove Wethersfield Cove Ziegler 's Cove more Lakes and Ponds Ashford Lake Bantam Lake Burr Pond Converse Lake Crystal Lake Deer Lake Great Hollow Lake Highland Lake Lake Chaffee Lake Hayward Lake Pocotopaug Lake Quassapaug Lake Saltonstall Lake Waramaug Lake Whitney Mashapaug Lake Millers Pond Pinewood Lake Round Pond Squantz Pond Tuxis Pond Twin Lakes Wetherell Pond Reservoirs Aspetuck Reservoir Candlewood Lake Hop Brook Lake Kohanza Reservoir Lake Beseck Lake Gaillard Lake Lillinonah Lake Zoar Mansfield Hollow Lake Quaddick Reservoir Saugatuck Reservoir Shenipsit Lake Success Lake West Hartford Reservoir West Thompson Lake Connecticut River watershed Tributaries Ammonoosuc River Ashuelot River Black River Black Hall River Blow - me - down Brook Burnshirt River Chapel Brook Chicopee River Cold River Cranberry River Deerfield River East Brookfield River Eightmile River Fall River Farmington River Five Mile River Green River Halls Stream Hockanum River Hubbard River Indian Stream Israel River Johns River Little Sugar River Manhan River Mascoma River Mattabesset River Mill River ( Northampton ) Mill River ( Springfield ) Millers River Mink Brook Mirey Brook Mohawk River North Branch Millers River North Branch Westfield River North River Nulhegan River Oliverian Brook Ompompanoosuc River Ottauquechee River Otter River Park River Partridge Brook Passumpsic River Perry Stream Quaboag River Salmon River Saxtons River Scantic River Seven Mile River Simms Stream Sugar River Tarbell Brook Upper Ammonoosuc River Waits River Ware River Wells River West River Westfield River Whetstone Brook White River Williams River Lakes Ashuelot Pond Back Lake Ball Mountain Lake Barkhamsted Reservoir Lake Beseck Brooks Pond Canaan Street Lake Cedar Pond Christine Lake Comerford Reservoir Connecticut Lakes Crystal Lake Dublin Pond Eastman Pond Echo Lake Lake Francis ( Murphy Dam ) Goose Pond Grafton Pond Granite Lake Harriman Reservoir Harvey Lake Lake Hayward Lakes of the Clouds Little Sunapee Lake Mascoma Lake McIndoes Reservoir Lake Monomonac Moore Reservoir North Hartland Lake Pearly Lake Pocotopaug Lake Quabbin Reservoir Lake Rescue Silver Lake Spofford Lake Lake Sunapee Surry Mountain Lake Lake Tarleton Townshend Lake Lake Wyola Major cities ( > 100k ) Hartford, Connecticut Springfield, Massachusetts Smaller cities and towns ( < 100k ) Agawam Ascutney Barnet Bath Beecher Falls Bellows Falls Bloomfield Bradford Brattleboro Brunswick Canaan Charlestown Chester Chesterfield Chicopee Claremont Clarksville Colebrook Columbia Concord Cornish Cromwell Dalton Deep River Deerfield Dummerston East Haddam East Hampton East Hartford East Hereford East Windsor Easthampton Enfield Essex Fairlee Gill Gilman Glastonbury Greenfield Groveton Guildhall Haddam Hadley Hanover Hartford VT Hartland Hatfield Haverhill Higganum Hinsdale Holyoke Lancaster Lebanon Lemington Littleton Longmeadow Lunenburg Lyme CT Lyme NH Maidstone Middletown Millers Falls Monroe Montague Moodus Newbury Northampton Northfield Northumberland Norwich Old Lyme Old Saybrook Orford Piermont Pittsburg Plainfield Portland Putney Rockingham Rocky Hill Ryegate South Hadley South Windsor Springfield VT Stewartstown Stratford Suffield Sunderland Thetford Thompsonville Turners Falls Vernon Walpole Waterford Weathersfield Wells River West Lebanon West Springfield Westminster Westmoreland Wethersfield Whately White River Junction Wilder Windsor CT Windsor VT Windsor Locks Woodsville Crossings Amtrak Old Saybrook -- Old Lyme Bridge Arch Bridge Bulkeley Bridge Calvin Coolidge Bridge Canalside Rail Trail Bridge Cheshire Bridge Columbia Bridge Cornish -- Windsor Covered Bridge Dexter Coffin Bridge French King Bridge Gill -- Montague Bridge Janice Peaslee Bridge Ledyard Bridge Morey Memorial Bridge Mount Orne Covered Bridge Norwottuck Rail Trail Bridge Piermont Bridge Pittsburg -- Clarksville Covered Bridge Ranger Bridge Raymond E. Baldwin Bridge Sunderland Bridge Wells River Bridge Retrieved from `` https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Connecticut_River&oldid=815385407 '' Categories : Connecticut River American Heritage Rivers Rivers of Connecticut Rivers of Massachusetts Rivers of New Hampshire Rivers of Vermont Geography of New England Long Island Sound Borders of New Hampshire Borders of Vermont Estuaries of Connecticut Ramsar sites in the United States Rivers of Windsor County, Vermont Rivers of Orange County, Vermont Rivers of Grafton County, New Hampshire Rivers of Coos County, New Hampshire Rivers of Franklin County, Massachusetts Rivers of Hampden County, Massachusetts Rivers of Hampshire County, Massachusetts Rivers of Hartford County, Connecticut Rivers of Middlesex County, Connecticut Rivers of New London County, Connecticut Northern Forest Canoe Trail United States interstate compacts Water law in the United States Hidden categories : Webarchive template wayback links Coordinates on Wikidata Geobox usage tracking for river type All articles with unsourced statements Articles with unsourced statements from July 2014 Wikipedia articles incorporating a citation from the 1911 Encyclopaedia Britannica with Wikisource reference Wikipedia articles incorporating a citation from Collier 's Encyclopedia Talk Contents About Wikipedia Wikisource Wikivoyage Беларуская Български Чӑвашла Čeština Cymraeg Dansk Deutsch Ελληνικά Español فارسی Français Frysk Galego 한국어 Italiano עברית Kiswahili Lietuvių मराठी Nederlands 日本 語 Norsk Polski Português Română Русский Simple English Slovenščina Svenska 中文 Edit links This page was last edited on 14 December 2017, at 14 : 43. 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Question: where does the connecticut river begin and end
Answer: rises at the U.S. border with Quebec, Canada