The Nissequogue River is an long

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 ...

flowing from Smithtown, New York 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 ...

. Its average discharge of is the most of any of the freshwater rivers on

Long Island Long Island is a densely populated island in the southeastern region of the U.S. state of New York, part of the New York metropolitan area. With over 8 million people, Long Island is the most populous island in the United States and the 18 ...

. The river, like all other freshwater rivers on the island, is totally derived from

groundwater Groundwater is the water present beneath Earth's surface in rock and Pore space in soil, soil pore spaces and in the fractures of stratum, rock formations. About 30 percent of all readily available freshwater in the world is groundwater. A unit ...

(not from lakes). Its name is derived from one of the Algonquian-speaking Nissequaq tribe in the area.Suffolk County Pre-History to 1683 - rootsweb.com
/ref> The river rises south of NY-454 just east of the Hauppauge County Offices and flows into Blydenburgh Park Pond where other tributaries that come from East Hauppauge and Commack meet and are dammed at Blydenburgh Pond. The river continues in a northeasterly direction, picking up additional tributaries from the north in Caleb Smith Park in Smithtown (where special regulation trout fishing is available). It is dammed once more before becoming an estuary at NY-25 where it then flows to

Kings Park, New York Kings Park is a hamlet and census-designated place (CDP) in the Town of Smithtown, in Suffolk County, on Long Island, in New York, United States. The population was 17,282 as of the 2010 census. Its relative tranquility prompted it to be the si ...

, entering Long Island Sound at

Nissequogue River State Park Nissequogue River State Park is a state park located on the banks and bluffs of the Nissequogue River in Kings Park, New York. The park was opened in 2000, and established on the waterfront portion of the former Kings Park Psychiatric Center. ...

. Since much of the river is an

estuary An estuary is a partially enclosed coastal body of brackish water with one or more rivers or streams flowing into it, and with a free connection to the open sea. Estuaries form a transition zone between river environments and maritime environm ...

canoeists travel in both directions based on the tides. Fish found in the river include Striped Bass, Bluefish, Summer Flounder, Winter Flounder, Porgies, Eels, Brown, Rainbow and Brook Trout, Yellow Perch, Largemouth Bass, Alewives, Herring, Shad, etc.

List of crossings of the Nissequogue River

Northeast Branch

References

External links

FWS profile of riverSunysb profile of river
{{authority control Rivers of Suffolk County, New York Smithtown, New York Rivers of New York (state)