Quinebaug River (Massachusetts + Connecticut) map

View of Quinebaug from Butts Bridge, Canterbury, CT

The Quinebaug River is a river in south-central

Massachusetts Massachusetts (Massachusett language, Massachusett: ''Muhsachuweesut assachusett writing systems, məhswatʃəwiːsət'' English: , ), officially the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, is the most populous U.S. state, state in the New England ...

and eastern

Connecticut Connecticut () is the southernmost state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It is bordered by Rhode Island to the east, Massachusetts to the north, New York to the west, and Long Island Sound to the south. Its cap ...

, with watershed extending into western

Rhode Island Rhode Island (, like ''road'') is a U.S. state, state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It is the List of U.S. states by area, smallest U.S. state by area and the List of states and territories of the United States ...

. The name "Quinebaug" comes from the southern

New England New England is a region comprising six states in the Northeastern United States: Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Rhode Island, and Vermont. It is bordered by the state of New York to the west and by the Canadian provinces ...

Native American term, spelled variously , , etc., meaning "long pond", from , "long", and , "pond". The river is one of the namesake rivers in the

Quinebaug and Shetucket Rivers Valley National Heritage Corridor The Last Green Valley National Heritage Corridor is a federally designated National Heritage Corridor in northeastern Connecticut and portions of Massachusetts. It has a rural character with rolling hills, farmland and classic New England scener ...

Course

The river is about in length.U.S. Geological Survey. National Hydrography Dataset high-resolution flowline data
The National Map
, accessed April 1, 2011 It originates from East Brimfield Lake and ponds northwest of

Sturbridge, Massachusetts Sturbridge is a town in Worcester County, Massachusetts, United States. It is home to Old Sturbridge Village living history museum and other sites of historical interest such as Tantiusques. The population was 9,867 at the 2020 census, with mo ...

, flows generally southeast and south through

( Putnam,

Danielson Danielson is an American rock band from Clarksboro, New Jersey, that plays indie pop gospel music. The group consists of frontman Daniel Smith and a number of various artists with whom he collaborates. Smith has also released solo work as Br ...

, Plainfield,

Canterbury Canterbury (, ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, cathedral city and UNESCO World Heritage Site, situated in the heart of the City of Canterbury local government district of Kent, England. It lies on the River Stour, Kent, River Stour. ...

and Jewett City), the river joins Aspinook pond which begins in

and ends in Jewett City. The river then continues to the

Shetucket River The Shetucket River is a tributary of the Thames River, long,U.S. Geological Survey. National Hydrography Dataset high-resolution flowline dataThe National Map accessed April 1, 2011 in eastern Connecticut in the United States. It is formed at ...

northeast of

Norwich Norwich () is a cathedral city and district of Norfolk, England, of which it is the county town. Norwich is by the River Wensum, about north-east of London, north of Ipswich and east of Peterborough. As the seat of the See of Norwich, with ...

. That river flows from there into the

Thames River The River Thames ( ), known alternatively in parts as the River Isis, is a river that flows through southern England including London. At , it is the longest river entirely in England and the second-longest in the United Kingdom, after the R ...

and drains into the

Long Island Sound Long Island Sound is a marine sound and tidal estuary of the Atlantic Ocean. It lies predominantly between the U.S. state of Connecticut to the north and Long Island in New York to the south. From west to east, the sound stretches from the Eas ...

. It is dammed in its upper reaches at East Brimfield Dam, Westville Dam, and West Thompson Lake all for flood control, as well as numerous mill dams which powered mills along the river's course. Some of these still provide hydroelectric power today.

Watershed

The Quinebaug River watershed covers , and extends into western

. It is heavily forested with 29 named streams including six major tributaries (the French, Moosup and Five Mile Rivers, and the Wales, Mill and Cady brooks). The watershed also contains 54 lakes and ponds, 31 of which with an area of or more, for a total of about ; the largest is East Brimfield Reservoir in Brimfield and Sturbridge, in area. The watershed is home to fish species including

trout Trout are species of freshwater fish belonging to the genera '' Oncorhynchus'', ''Salmo'' and ''Salvelinus'', all of the subfamily Salmoninae of the family Salmonidae. The word ''trout'' is also used as part of the name of some non-salmoni ...

, smallmouth bass,

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, but ...

northern pike The northern pike (''Esox lucius'') is a species of carnivorous fish of the genus '' Esox'' (the pikes). They are typical of brackish and fresh waters of the Northern Hemisphere (''i.e.'' holarctic in distribution). They are known simply as a ...

, and

panfish The word panfish, also spelled pan-fish or pan fish, is an American English term describing any edible freshwater fish that usually do not outgrow the size of an average frying pan. It is also commonly used by recreational anglers to refer to a ...

. Elevations range from above sea level on Mount Pisgah in

Wales, Massachusetts Wales is a town in Hampden County, Massachusetts, United States. The population was 1,838 at the 2020 census. It is part of the Springfield, Massachusetts Metropolitan Statistical Area. History Wales was first settled by Europeans in 1726 an ...

, to about in Norwich, Connecticut.

Crossings

Paddling the river

Three sections of the Quinebaug River have been designated

National Recreation Trail The National Trails System is a series of trails in the United States designated "to promote the preservation of, public access to, travel within, and enjoyment and appreciation of the open-air, outdoor areas and historic resources of the Nati ...

s by the National Park Service, some of the first water trails to receive this designation. The sections are: Holland Pond to East Brimfield Reservoir (in Holland and Brimfield, Massachusetts), Paper Mill Dam in Dudley to West Thompson Lake, and Simonzi Park in Putnam to Aspinook Pond in Canterbury. The

East Coast Greenway The East Coast Greenway is a pedestrian and bicycle route between Maine and Florida along the East Coast of the United States. In 2020, the Greenway received over 50 million visits. The nonprofit East Coast Greenway Alliance was created in 1991. ...

runs along the river in some spots. Canoe/kayak launch sites are located at the following locations: *Pond Bridge Road, Holland *US Route 20 boat ramp, Brimfield *Old Mashapaug Road, Sturbridge *West Dudley Road, Dudley *Fabyan Road, Thompson *West Thompson Lake boat ramp, Thompson *Simonzi Park on Kennedy Drive, Putnam *Route 101, Pomfret *Riverside Park off Day Street, Brooklyn *Town Park off Route 12, Killingly *Quinebaug Trout Hatchery, Plainfield *Robert Manship Park off Route 14, Canterbury *Butts Bridge Road, Canterbury

Gallery

File:USACE Brimfield Lake and Dam.jpg, Brimfield Lake and Dam on the Quinebaug River in Hampden County, Massachusetts File:USACE Westville Lake and Dam.jpg, Westville Lake and Dam on the Quinebaug River in Worcester County, Massachusetts

References

External links

Quinebaug Watershed Profile
from the

Environmental Protection Agency A biophysical environment is a biotic and abiotic surrounding of an organism or population, and consequently includes the factors that have an influence in their survival, development, and evolution. A biophysical environment can vary in scale f ...

French and Quinebaug Rivers Watershed
- profile and documents from the

Massachusetts Department of Environmental Protection The Massachusetts Department of Environmental Protection is an agency in the Executive Office of Energy and Environmental Affairs of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, responsible for protecting the environment in the state. Its areas of resp ...

{{authority control Rivers of Hampden County, Massachusetts Rivers of Worcester County, Massachusetts Rivers of New London County, Connecticut Rivers of Windham County, Connecticut Rivers of Tolland County, Connecticut Rivers of Massachusetts Rivers of Connecticut Connecticut placenames of Native American origin Massachusetts placenames of Native American origin Tributaries of the Thames River (Connecticut)