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

New Hampshire New Hampshire is a state in the New England region of the northeastern United States. It is bordered by Massachusetts to the south, Vermont to the west, Maine and the Gulf of Maine to the east, and the Canadian province of Quebec to the nor ...

. It flows from Contoocook Lake 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 Mass ...

. 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 Greenfield or Greenfields may refer to: Engineering and Business * Greenfield agreement, an employment agreement for a new organisation * Greenfield investment, the investment in a structure in an area where no previous facilities exist * Greenf ...

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 to ...

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

populated place Population typically refers to the number of people in a single area, whether it be a city or town, region, country, continent, or the world. Governments typically quantify the size of the resident population within their jurisdiction using a ...

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

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

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 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 ...

meaning "nut trees river" or

Natick language The Massachusett language is an Algonquian language of the Algic language family, formerly spoken by several peoples of eastern coastal and southeastern Massachusetts. In its revived form, it is spoken in four communities of Wampanoag people ...

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 in Merrimack County, New Hampshire, United States. The population was 1,427 at the 2020 census. Contoocook is well known for its growth of small businesses, ...

, a

census-designated place A census-designated place (CDP) is a 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 counterparts of incorporated places, su ...

(CDP) within the town of Hopkinton.

Principal tributaries

From south to north: * Nubanusit Brook begins at

Nubanusit Lake Nubanusit Lake is a lake located on the border between Cheshire and Hillsborough counties in southwestern New Hampshire, United States, in the towns of Nelson and Hancock. The outlet of the lake is Nubanusit Brook, a tributary of the Contoocook ...

in Nelson and joins the Contoocook in

Peterborough Peterborough () is a cathedral city in Cambridgeshire, east of England. It is the largest part of the City of Peterborough unitary authority district (which covers a larger area than Peterborough itself). It was part of Northamptonshire until ...

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

Hillsborough Hillsborough may refer to: Australia *Hillsborough, New South Wales, a suburb of Lake Macquarie Canada *Hillsborough, New Brunswick *Hillsborough Parish, New Brunswick * Hillsborough, Nova Scotia, in Inverness County *Hillsborough (electoral d ...

. *The Warner River starts in Bradford and joins the Contoocook in Hopkinton. *The

Blackwater River A blackwater river is a type of river with a slow-moving channel flowing through forested swamps or wetlands. As vegetation decays, tannins leach into the water, making a transparent, acidic water that is darkly stained, resembling black tea. ...

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

References

External links

NH Department of Environmental Services
The Contoocook and North Branch Rivers
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