river
A river is a natural flowing watercourse, usually freshwater, flowing towards an ocean, sea, lake or another river. In some cases, a river flows into the ground and becomes dry at the end of its course without reaching another body of wate ...
located in eastern
New Hampshire
New Hampshire is a U.S. state, 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 t ...
in the
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 ...
. It is a
tributary
A tributary, or affluent, is a stream or river that flows into a larger stream or 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 drain the surrounding drainage ...
of the
Bearcamp River
The Bearcamp River is a river at the southern edge of the White Mountains in New Hampshire, the United States. It is the largest tributary of Ossipee Lake, part of the Saco River watershed leading to the Atlantic Ocean.
The Bearcamp River ris ...
, part of the
Ossipee Lake
Ossipee Lake is located in Carroll County in eastern New Hampshire, in the communities of Ossipee and Freedom. At , it is the sixth-largest lake located entirely in New Hampshire. The lake is fed by the West Branch (entering from the north), the ...
watershed
Watershed is a hydrological term, which has been adopted in other fields in a more or less figurative sense. It may refer to:
Hydrology
* Drainage divide, the line that separates neighbouring drainage basins
* Drainage basin, called a "watershe ...
leading to the
Atlantic Ocean
The Atlantic Ocean is the second-largest of the world's five oceans, with an area of about . It covers approximately 20% of Earth's surface and about 29% of its water surface area. It is known to separate the " Old World" of Africa, Europe ...
.
The Chocorua River rises on the eastern slopes of
Mount Chocorua
Mount Chocorua () is a mountain in the White Mountains of New Hampshire, the easternmost peak of the Sandwich Range. Although the mountain is not outstanding for its elevation, it is very rugged and has excellent views of the surrounding lakes, ...
, a prominent rocky knob at the southeast margin of the White Mountains. The river flows south into lowlands at the base of the mountain and arrives at
Chocorua Lake
Chocorua Lake is a picturesque lake in northeast New Hampshire with commanding views of the summit of Mount Chocorua. It is approximately long (north-south) with a maximum width of (east-west), covering , and a maximum depth of .
The lake is mos ...
, noted for its outstanding view of Mount Chocorua. Beyond the lake, the river flows south to the village of Chocorua with a picturesque mill dam, then continues into the flat, sandy Ossipee Lake region, reaching the Bearcamp River at West Ossipee.
New Hampshire Route 16 parallels the Chocorua River for most of its length.
Local history
In the early 20th century, innkeepers purchased the granite mill dam at the southern end of Moore's Pond on the river in Chocorua village. In 1912, the owners of the Chocorua Inn converted the mill dam into a hydroelectric operation hoping to supply energy to part of the town. A year or so later the dam was demolished in a flood, never to be reconstructed. As the eastern portion of the dam was breached, the levee broke and released two thirds of the pond in a few hours, causing the water level to drop and allowing former marshlands to thrive again.