The Rocky Branch is a

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 w ...

in the White Mountains of

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 ...

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 territori ...

. 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 drai ...

of the

Saco River The Saco River (Abenaki: ''Sαkóhki'') is a river in northeastern New Hampshire and southwestern Maine in the United States. It drains a rural area of of forests and farmlands west and southwest of Portland, emptying into the Atlantic Ocean ...

, which flows 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 ...

Maine Maine () is a state in the New England and Northeastern regions of the United States. It borders New Hampshire to the west, the Gulf of Maine to the southeast, and the Canadian provinces of New Brunswick and Quebec to the northeast and ...

. The Rocky Branch rises in the Presidential Range Dry River Wilderness Area of the

White Mountain National Forest The White Mountain National Forest (WMNF) is a federally managed forest contained within the White Mountains in the northeastern United States. It was established in 1918 as a result of the Weeks Act of 1911; federal acquisition of land had alre ...

on the southernmost slopes of

Mount Washington Mount Washington is the highest peak in the Northeastern United States at and the most topographically prominent mountain east of the Mississippi River. The mountain is notorious for its erratic weather. On the afternoon of April 12, 1934 ...

. The river drops rapidly to the south through a valley between Montalban Ridge (with the peaks of Mount Isolation and Stairs Mountain) to the west and the lower Rocky Branch Ridge to the east. Turning more to the southeast, the river leaves the national forest and enters the town of

Bartlett, New Hampshire Bartlett is a town in Carroll County, New Hampshire, United States. The population was 3,200 at the 2020 census, up from 2,788 at the 2010 census. Bartlett includes the unincorporated community of Glen as well as portions of the communities of ...

, where it joins the Saco River after passing under U.S. Route 302. The Rocky Branch Railroad supported a logging operation in the valley from 1908 to 1913. The rails were removed in 1914 after the area was ravaged by wildfires.

References

Rivers of New Hampshire Saco River Rivers of Coös County, New Hampshire Rivers of Carroll County, New Hampshire {{NewHampshire-river-stub

See also

References