The Contoocook River () is a New Hampshire GRANIT state geographic information system
/ref> river in

New Hampshire New Hampshire ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It borders Massachusetts to the south, Vermont to the west, Maine and the Gulf of Maine to the east, and the Canadian province of Quebec t ...

. It flows from

Contoocook Lake Contoocook Lake () is a water body located in Cheshire County in southwestern New Hampshire, United States, in the towns of Jaffrey and Rindge. The lake, along with Pool Pond, forms the headwaters of the Contoocook River, which flows north to ...

on the Jaffrey/ Rindge border to Penacook (just north of Concord), where it empties into the

Merrimack River The Merrimack River (or Merrimac River, an occasional earlier spelling) is a river in the northeastern United States. It rises at the confluence of the Pemigewasset and Winnipesaukee rivers in Franklin, New Hampshire, flows southward into M ...

. It is one of only a few rivers in New Hampshire that flow in a predominantly northward direction. Four

covered bridge A covered bridge is a timber-truss bridge with a roof, decking, and siding, which in most covered bridges create an almost complete enclosure. The purpose of the covering is to protect the wooden structural members from the weather. Uncovered woo ...

s span the river, one in the town of Henniker, one on the Hancock- Greenfield line, and two in the town of

Hopkinton, New Hampshire Hopkinton is a town in Merrimack County, New Hampshire, United States. The population was 5,914 at the 2020 census. The town has three distinct communities: Hopkinton village, mainly a residential area in the center of the town; Contoocook, the ...

with one being in the village of Contoocook, and the other in the

populated place In geography, statistics and archaeology, a settlement, locality or populated place is a community of people living in a particular place. The complexity of a settlement can range from a minuscule number of dwellings grouped together to t ...

of West Hopkinton. Residents and tourists have made the Contoocook popular for fishing and whitewater boating. The name ''Contoocook'' came from the

Pennacook The Pennacook, also known by the names Penacook and Pennacock, were Algonquian Indigenous people who lived in what is now Massachusetts, New Hampshire, and southern Maine. They were not a united tribe but a network of politically and culturally ...

tribe The term tribe is used in many different contexts to refer to a category of human social group. The predominant worldwide use of the term in English is in the discipline of anthropology. The definition is contested, in part due to conflict ...

of Native Americans and perhaps means "place of the river near pines". Other variations of the name include the

Abenaki The Abenaki ( Abenaki: ''Wαpánahki'') are Indigenous people of the Northeastern Woodlands of Canada and the United States. They are an Algonquian-speaking people and part of the Wabanaki Confederacy. The Eastern Abenaki language was pred ...

meaning "nut trees river" or Natick language meaning "small plantation at the river." The river gives its name to

Contoocook, New Hampshire Contoocook () is a village and census-designated place (CDP) within the town of Hopkinton, New Hampshire, Hopkinton in Merrimack County, New Hampshire, Merrimack County, New Hampshire, United States. The population was 1,427 at the 2020 United Sta ...

, a

census-designated place A census-designated place (CDP) is a Place (United States Census Bureau), concentration of population defined by the United States Census Bureau for statistical purposes only. CDPs have been used in each decennial census since 1980 as the counte ...

(CDP) within the town of Hopkinton.

Principal tributaries

From south to north: * Nubanusit Brook begins at Nubanusit Lake in

Nelson Nelson may refer to: Arts and entertainment * ''Nelson'' (1918 film), a historical film directed by Maurice Elvey * ''Nelson'' (1926 film), a historical film directed by Walter Summers * ''Nelson'' (opera), an opera by Lennox Berkeley to a lib ...

and joins the Contoocook in

Peterborough Peterborough ( ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, cathedral city in the City of Peterborough district in the Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county of Cambridgeshire, England. The city is north of London, on the River Nene. A ...

. *The North Branch of the Contoocook starts in Stoddard and joins the main stem in Hillsborough. *The

Warner River The Warner River is a river located in central New Hampshire in the United States. It is a tributary of the Contoocook River, part of the Merrimack River watershed. The Warner River begins at the outlet of Todd Lake in Bradford, New Hampshire, ...

starts in

Bradford Bradford is a city status in the United Kingdom, city in West Yorkshire, England. It became a municipal borough in 1847, received a city charter in 1897 and, since the Local Government Act 1972, 1974 reform, the city status in the United Kingdo ...

and joins the Contoocook in Hopkinton. *The

Blackwater River A blackwater river is a type of River#Classification, river with a slow-moving channel flowing through forested swamps or wetlands. Most major blackwater rivers are in the Amazon Basin and the Southern United States. The term is used in fluvial ...

begins at Pleasant Lake in New London and joins the Contoocook in Hopkinton.

References

External links

Department of Environmental Services
River Management and Protection
American Whitewater
description of the Freight Train rapids section {{authority control Tributaries of the Merrimack River Rivers of New Hampshire Rivers of Merrimack County, New Hampshire Rivers of Cheshire County, New Hampshire Rivers of Hillsborough County, New Hampshire Hopkinton, New Hampshire New Hampshire placenames of Native American origin

Principal tributaries

See also

References

External links