The Rock River (''French: Rivière de la Roche'') is a tributary of Rock River Bay, an arm of

Missisquoi Bay Missisquoi Bay is a large extension in the northern part of Lake Champlain, at the East of the output of the latter in Richelieu River. It takes the form of a violin head, with the neck extending from the head of the lake and is about in diameter. ...

in the northern part of

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 = , ...

. The river rises in the town of

Franklin Franklin may refer to: People * Franklin (given name) * Franklin (surname) * Franklin (class), a member of a historical English social class Places Australia * Franklin, Tasmania, a township * Division of Franklin, federal electoral d ...

, in

Franklin County, Vermont Franklin County is a county located in the U.S. state of Vermont. As of the 2020 census, the population was 49,946. Its county seat is the city of St. Albans. It borders the Canadian province of Quebec. The county was created in 1792 and organ ...

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

, flows west into the town of Highgate, Vermont, and then north into

Saint-Armand, Quebec Saint-Armand is a municipality in the Canadian province of Quebec, located within the Brome-Missisquoi Regional County Municipality and the Eastern Townships. The population as of the Canada 2011 Census was 1,248. It is located on the Canada� ...

, in the Brome-Missisquoi Regional County Municipality, administrative region of

Montérégie Montérégie () is an administrative region in the southwest part of Quebec. It includes the cities of Boucherville, Brossard, Châteauguay, Longueuil, Saint-Hyacinthe, Saint-Jean-sur-Richelieu, Salaberry-de-Valleyfield and Vaudreuil-Dorion. ...

, in the southwest of the

province A province is almost always an administrative division within a country or sovereign state, state. The term derives from the ancient Roman ''Roman province, provincia'', which was the major territorial and administrative unit of the Roman Empire ...

Quebec Quebec ( ; )According to the Canadian government, ''Québec'' (with the acute accent) is the official name in Canadian French and ''Quebec'' (without the accent) is the province's official name in Canadian English is one of the thirtee ...

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by tot ...

. The river then turns south and re-enters Highgate, flowing into Rock River Bay north of Highgate Springs. Besides the village area of Saint-Armand, agriculture is the main economic activity in the river valley; recreational tourism is a secondary activity near Lake Champlain.Atlas of Canada - Department of Natural Resources Canada - Rivière de la Roche
/ref>% 25A8re_de_la_Roche OpenStreetMap.
/ref> The Rock River valley is crossed the following roads: * Franklin County (upper course): Hanna Road, Beaver Meadow Road, Barnum Road and Browns Corner Road; * Highgate (intermediate course): Bouchard Road, Cassidy Road, Gore Road ( VT 207) Tarte Road, and Rollo Road; * Saint-Armand (in Quebec): chemin Pelletier Sud, chemin de Saint-Armand, chemin Bradley; * Highgate (lower course): Saint Armand Road,

Interstate 89 Interstate 89 (I-89) is an Interstate Highway in the New England region of the United States traveling from Bow, New Hampshire, to the Canadian border between Highgate Springs, Vermont, and Saint-Armand, Quebec. As with all odd-numbered ...

, and Spring Street (

US 7 U.S. Route 7 (US 7) is a north–south United States highway in western New England that runs for through the states of Connecticut, Massachusetts, and Vermont. The highway's southern terminus is at Interstate 95 (I-95) exit 1 ...

). The surface of the Rock River (except the rapids zones) is generally frozen from mid-December to the beginning of March, but the safe circulation on the ice is generally made from the end of December to the end of February. The water level of the river varies with the seasons and the precipitation; the spring flood generally occurs in March.

Geography

Via Lake Champlain and the

Richelieu River The Richelieu River () is a river of Quebec, Canada, and a major right-bank tributary of the St. Lawrence River. It rises at Lake Champlain, from which it flows northward through Quebec and empties into the St. Lawrence. It was formerly kno ...

, it is part of the watershed of the

St. Lawrence River The St. Lawrence River (french: Fleuve Saint-Laurent, ) is a large river in the middle latitudes of North America. Its headwaters begin flowing from Lake Ontario in a (roughly) northeasterly direction, into the Gulf of St. Lawrence, connecting ...

. The Rock River originates from a swamp area in Franklin County, on the edge of the town of Highgate. This source is located between Jones Road and Hanna Road, to the west of

Lake Carmi Lake Carmi is a small and relatively shallow lake located in the town of Franklin, in the northwest corner of Vermont, United States. It is the fourth largest lake located entirely within Vermont, and has a surface area, an average depth of and ...

, Vermont. The river flows over including in Vermont and in Quebec, with a drop of , according to the following segments: * in the upper part (in the town of

in Vermont) entirely in agricultural area: first on northeasterly to the Hanna Road bridge; then west, first forming a hook towards the north, then a large curve towards the south, crossing Browns Corner Road, collecting a stream (coming from the northeast), up to the town boundary between Franklin and Highgate; * in the intermediate part (in the town of Highgate in Vermont) entirely in agricultural area: first on towards the southwest, until a river bend; then north crossing Gore Road ( VT 207), to the Canada-US border; * in the intermediate part (in Saint-Armand, in Quebec): first flowing towards the northwest in the forest and agricultural zone, crossing under Chemin Pelletier Sud, forming a loop to the west, collecting Ruisseau Brandy (coming from the northeast), and crossing Chemin de Saint-Armand, to a river bend; then running towards the southwest, passing by the east side of the village of Saint-Armand, and meandering in an agricultural area to the Canada-US border; * in the lower part (in Vermont): southwest from the Canada-US border, forming a few loops west and east, before heading southwesterly in an agricultural plain passing under the Saint Armand Road bridge, under the Interstate 89 bridge and under the Spring Street bridge (US 7), then flowing into the east side of Rock River Bay in Missisquoi Bay of Lake Champlain. This confluence is located in Highgate Springs, Vermont.

Toponymy

According to the U.S.

Geographic Names Information System The Geographic Names Information System (GNIS) is a database of name and locative information about more than two million physical and cultural features throughout the United States and its territories, Antarctica, and the associated states of ...

, it is also known as "River Rocher" and "Riviere de La Roche". In Quebec, the river appears on the 1732 map of the surveyor Jean-Baptiste Lefebvre, ''dit'' Anger, under the spelling "Rivière du Rocher". Formerly, in the English-speaking community of Quebec, this watercourse was designated "Rock River", as in Vermont. The name is attributable to the presence of a large rock at the mouth of the stream on the east shore of Rock River Bay. In Quebec, the toponym "Rivière de la Roche" was approved on February 2, 1955, by the Geography Commission, later renamed the Commission de toponymie du Québec.Pelletier, J-Roland, Arpenteurs de la Nouvelle-France, S. l., Order of Land Surveyors, 1982, p. 277-281. The toponym "Rivière de la Roche" was formalized on December 5, 1968, at the Commission de toponymie du Québec.Commission de toponymie du Québec - Bank of Place Names - Toponym "Rivière de la Roche".
/ref>

References

{{authority control Rivers of Montérégie Rivers of Vermont Bodies of water of Franklin County, Vermont Tributaries of Lake Champlain International rivers of North America Brome-Missisquoi Regional County Municipality

Geography

Toponymy

See also

References