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 ...
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 ...
in the
United States
The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...
. It is a
tributary
A tributary, or an ''affluent'', is a stream or river that flows into a larger stream (''main stem'' or ''"parent"''), river, or a lake. A tributary does not flow directly into a sea or ocean. Tributaries, and the main stem river into which they ...
of the
Saco River
The Saco River ( , Abenaki: ''Sαkóhki'') is a river in northeastern New Hampshire and southwestern Maine in the United States. It drains a rural area of of forests and farmlands west and southwest of Portland, emptying into the Atlantic O ...
, which flows to the
Atlantic Ocean
The Atlantic Ocean is the second largest of the world's five borders of the oceans, oceanic divisions, with an area of about . It covers approximately 17% of Earth#Surface, Earth's surface and about 24% of its water surface area. During the ...
in
Maine
Maine ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the New England region of the United States, and the northeasternmost state in the Contiguous United States. It borders New Hampshire to the west, the Gulf of Maine to the southeast, and the Provinces and ...
.
The Sawyer River rises in the unincorporated township of
Livermore, New Hampshire
Livermore is an unincorporated civil township and ghost town in Grafton County, New Hampshire, United States. It was briefly inhabited as a logging town in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. The site of the former village is approximately ...
, on the eastern side of Hancock Notch, a pass in the
Pemigewasset Wilderness
The Pemigewasset Wilderness is a federally designated Wilderness Area in the heart of New Hampshire's White Mountains. It is a part of the White Mountain National Forest. It is New Hampshire's largest wilderness area.
The Wilderness Area cons ...
between Mount Hancock to the north and Mount Huntington to the south. The river flows east, paralleled by the Hancock Notch Trail, into a broad valley with
Mount Carrigain
Mount Carrigain is a mountain located in Grafton County, New Hampshire. The mountain is named after Phillip Carrigain, NH Secretary of State (1805–10), and is on the south side of the Pemigewasset Wilderness, the source of the East Branch ...
to the north and the smaller summit known as Greens Cliff to the south.
The river turns northeast, with Carrigain Brook joining from the north and the outlet of Sawyer Pond joining from the south, and enters a deeper, narrower mountain valley as it descends to
Crawford Notch
Crawford Notch is a major pass through the White Mountains of New Hampshire, located in Hart's Location. Roughly half of that town is contained in Crawford Notch State Park. The high point of the notch, at approximately above sea level, is a ...
. The river is paralleled in this lower section by the Sawyer River Road, a gravel Forest Service access road open to the public May–October. The Sawyer River enters the town of Hart's Location and ends at the Saco River near its great bend to the east as it leaves Crawford Notch.
See also
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List of rivers of New Hampshire
This is a list of rivers and significant streams in the U.S. state of New Hampshire.
All watercourses named "River" (freshwater or tidal) are listed here, as well as other streams which are either subject to thNew Hampshire Comprehensive Shorelan ...
*
Sawyer River Railroad
The Sawyer River Railroad was a lumber railroad that operated along the Sawyer River in Livermore, New Hampshire from 1877 until 1928, when all rail traffic ceased.
By comparison with other logging roads of the day in the White Mountains (New Hamp ...