The Saranac River is an

river A river is a natural stream of fresh water that flows on land or inside Subterranean river, caves towards another body of water at a lower elevation, such as an ocean, lake, or another river. A river may run dry before reaching the end of ...

in the U.S. state of New York.

Geography

In its upper reaches is a region of mostly flat water and lakes. The river has more than three dozen source lakes and ponds north of Upper Saranac Lake; the highest is Mountain Pond on Long Pond Mountain. In the last third of its length it drops two-thirds of its total drop, and is known for having navigable rapids, which make it a popular site for

whitewater Whitewater forms in the context of rapids, in particular, when a river's Stream gradient, gradient changes enough to generate so much turbulence that air is trapped within the water. This forms an unstable current that foam, froths, making t ...

kayaking and

canoeing Canoeing is an activity which involves paddling a canoe with a single-bladed paddle. In some parts of Europe, canoeing refers to both canoeing and kayaking, with a canoe being called an 'open canoe' or Canadian. A few of the recreational ...

. The Saranac River empties into

Lake Champlain Lake Champlain ( ; , ) is a natural freshwater lake in North America. It mostly lies between the U.S. states of New York (state), New York and Vermont, but also extends north into the Canadian province of Quebec. The cities of Burlington, Ve ...

at the City of Plattsburgh in Clinton County, New York. The river flows in a northeasterly direction from the Adirondack Mountains.Day, Gordon M. "Abenaki Place Names in the Champlain Valley." In Foster, Michael K. and Cowan, William, eds., ''In Search of New England's Native Past: Selected Essays by Gordon M. Day'', pp. 229–262, Amherst, MA: University of Massachusetts Press, 1998. . The river encompasses Upper, Middle and

Lower Saranac Lake Lower Saranac Lake is one of three connected lakes, part of the Saranac River, near the village of Saranac Lake, New York, Saranac Lake in the Adirondacks in northern New York (state), New York. With Middle Saranac Lake and Upper Saranac Lake, a ...

s, as well as Oseetah Lake,

Lake Flower Lake Flower is a lake in Franklin County, New York, Franklin County and Essex County, New York, Essex County in the Adirondack Mountains of Upstate New York in the United States. The lake was created by damming the Saranac River in 1827. It was ...

, Franklin Falls Pond and Union Falls Pond, and flows through the village of Saranac Lake; there are

lock Lock(s) or Locked may refer to: Common meanings *Lock and key, a mechanical device used to secure items of importance *Lock (water navigation), a device for boats to transit between different levels of water, as in a canal Arts and entertainme ...

s between Middle and Lower Saranac Lakes and between Lower Saranac and Oseetah, although the drop is only a few feet. Thirty-three miles further northeast, the river flows through the Town of Saranac, before winding through Plattsburgh, reaching Lake Champlain after a further 23 miles.

Origin of name

The name of the river is from the Abenaki word ''zalônák:tégw'', composed of the free noun root ''zalôn'', meaning " staghorn sumac cone"; ''-ak'', the Abenaki plural suffix for nouns of the animate noun class; and the bound noun root (i.e., suffix) ''-tégw'', meaning "river."Day, pp. 248-249. Other names for the river are Riviere Saint Amant, Riviere Saint Arnont, Riviere Salasanac, Sal-a-sa-nac and Salasance.

Fishery

The Saranac River has a fairly diverse fishery, including northern pike, largemouth bass, smallmouth bass,

rock bass The rock bass (''Ambloplites rupestris''), also known as the rock perch, goggle-eye, red eye, and black perch, is a freshwater fish native to east-central North America. This red-eyed fish is a species of freshwater fish in the sunfish family (bi ...

, pumpkinseed, fallfish, brown bullhead, brown trout, and landlocked

atlantic salmon The Atlantic salmon (''Salmo salar'') is a species of ray-finned fish in the family Salmonidae. It is the third largest of the Salmonidae, behind Hucho taimen, Siberian taimen and Pacific Chinook salmon, growing up to a meter in length. Atlan ...

Tourist attractions

The river is also part of the 740-mile Northern Forest Canoe Trail, which begins in Old Forge, NY and ends in Fort Kent, ME.

Gallery

References