
Saranac River ( moh, Tsi ietsénhtha) is an
river
A river is a natural flowing watercourse, usually freshwater
Fresh water or freshwater is any naturally occurring liquid or frozen water containing low concentrations of dissolved salts and other total dissolved solids. Although the ...
in the U.S. state of
New York
New York most commonly refers to:
* New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York
* New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States
New York may also refer to:
Film and television
* '' ...
. 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 a rapid context, in particular, when a river's gradient changes enough to generate so much turbulence that air is trapped within the water. This forms an unstable current that froths, making the water appear opaque and ...
kayak
A kayak is a small, narrow watercraft which is typically propelled by means of a double-bladed paddle. The word kayak originates from the Greenlandic word '' qajaq'' ().
The traditional kayak has a covered deck and one or more cockpits, each ...
ing and
canoeing
Canoeing is an activity which involves paddling a canoe with a single-bladed paddle. Common meanings of the term are limited to when the canoeing is the central purpose of the activity. Broader meanings include when it is combined with other ac ...
.
The Saranac River empties into
Lake Champlain
, native_name_lang =
, image = Champlainmap.svg
, caption = Lake Champlain-River Richelieu watershed
, image_bathymetry =
, caption_bathymetry =
, location = New York/Vermont in the United States; and Quebec in Canada
, coords =
, type =
, ...
at the
City of Plattsburgh in
Clinton County, New York
Clinton County is a county in the north-easternmost corner of the state of New York, in the United States and bordered by the Canadian province of Quebec. As of the 2020 United States Census, the population was 79,843. Its county seat is the ci ...
. The river flows in a northeasterly direction from the
Adirondack Mountains
The Adirondack Mountains (; a-də-RÄN-dak) form a massif in northeastern New York with boundaries that correspond roughly to those of Adirondack Park. They cover about 5,000 square miles (13,000 km2). The mountains form a roughly circular ...
.
The river encompasses
Upper
Upper may refer to:
* Shoe upper or ''vamp'', the part of a shoe on the top of the foot
* Stimulant, drugs which induce temporary improvements in either mental or physical function or both
* ''Upper'', the original film title for the 2013 found fo ...
,
Middle
Middle or The Middle may refer to:
* Centre (geometry), the point equally distant from the outer limits.
Places
* Middle (sheading), a subdivision of the Isle of Man
* Middle Bay (disambiguation)
* Middle Brook (disambiguation)
* Middle Creek (d ...
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 p ...
s, as well as
Oseetah Lake,
Lake Flower,
Franklin Falls Pond and
Union Falls Pond, and flows through the village of
Saranac Lake Saranac Lake may refer to:
* Saranac Lake, New York, a village in the northern Adirondacks
*One of the three nearby Saranac Lakes, part of the Saranac River:
**Upper Saranac Lake
**Middle Saranac Lake
**Lower Saranac Lake
Note: There is no lake nam ...
; there are
locks 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.
The Saranac River has a fairly diverse fishery, including
northern pike
The northern pike (''Esox lucius'') is a species of carnivorous fish of the genus ''Esox'' (the pikes). They are typical of brackish water, brackish and fresh waters of the Northern Hemisphere (''i.e.'' holarctic in distribution). They are kno ...
,
largemouth bass
The largemouth bass (''Micropterus salmoides'') is a carnivorous freshwater gamefish in the Centrarchidae ( sunfish) family, a species of black bass native to the eastern and central United States, southeastern Canada and northern Mexico, b ...
,
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 creature is a species of freshwater fish in the sunfish fam ...
,
pumpkinseed
The pumpkinseed (''Lepomis gibbosus''), also referred to as pond perch, common sunfish, punkie, sunfish, sunny, and kivver, is a small/medium-sized North American freshwater fish of the genus '' Lepomis'' (true sunfishes), from family Centrar ...
,
fallfish,
brown bullhead
The brown bullhead (''Ameiurus nebulosus'') is a fish of the family Ictaluridae that is widely distributed in North America. It is a species of bullhead catfish and is similar to the black bullhead (''Ameiurus melas'') and yellow bullhead (''Am ...
,
brown trout
The brown trout (''Salmo trutta'') is a European species of salmonid fish that has been widely introduced into suitable environments globally. It includes purely freshwater populations, referred to as the riverine ecotype, ''Salmo trutta'' morp ...
, and landlocked
atlantic salmon.

The river is also part of the 740-mile
Northern Forest Canoe Trail, which begins in
Old Forge, NY
Old Forge is a hamlet (and census-designated place) on New York State Route 28 in the town of Webb in Herkimer County, New York, United States. The population was 756 at the 2010 census. Old Forge was formerly a village but dissolved its i ...
and ends in
Fort Kent, ME.
Origin of Name
The name of the river is from the
Abenaki
The Abenaki ( Abenaki: ''Wαpánahki'') are an Indigenous peoples 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 pre ...
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
In linguistics, a noun class is a particular category of nouns. A noun may belong to a given class because of the characteristic features of its referent, such as gender, animacy, shape, but such designations are often clearly conventional. Some ...
; 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.
Image:Franklin Falls New York.jpg, Franklin Falls in the Spring
Image:Middle Saranac Lake - Stony Creek Mtn.jpg, A small island in Middle Saranac Lake, Stony Creek Mountain
Stony Creek Mountain is a mountain located west of the Hamlet of Coreys in Franklin County in the northeastern Adirondacks, in New York. It is named after the nearby Stony Creek Ponds and Stony Creek, which are located to the west. Ampersand ...
behind
Image:Saranac Lake - Saranac River bridge.jpg, The river passes through Saranac Lake Saranac Lake may refer to:
* Saranac Lake, New York, a village in the northern Adirondacks
*One of the three nearby Saranac Lakes, part of the Saranac River:
**Upper Saranac Lake
**Middle Saranac Lake
**Lower Saranac Lake
Note: There is no lake nam ...
See also
*
List of New York rivers
A ''list'' is any set of items in a row. List or lists may also refer to:
People
* List (surname)
Organizations
* List College, an undergraduate division of the Jewish Theological Seminary of America
* SC Germania List, German rugby uni ...
References
Jamieson, Paul and Morris, Donald, ''Adirondack Canoe Waters, North Flow'', Lake George, NY: Adirondack Mountain Club, 1987. .
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. .
References
{{authority control
Adirondacks
Rivers of New York (state)
Rivers of Essex County, New York
Rivers of Clinton County, New York
Rivers of Franklin County, New York
Tributaries of Lake Champlain
Northern Forest Canoe Trail