Black River (Connecticut River) - Course

Course

The Black River begins in a small body of water called Black Pond, in Plymouth, Vermont. Winding its way toward the town of Ludlow, its narrow flow picks up a variety of small brooks and streams and is cooled by overhanging branches. Passing through Amherst Lake, Echo Lake, Lake Rescue, and Lake Pauline, the Black River picks up more tributaries and winds through the town of Ludlow, the home of Okemo Mountain Ski Resort. Tumbling through impressive Cavendish Gorge, the river widens as it passes under the Downers Covered Bridge and enters Perkinsville.

The North Branch of the Black River, its headwaters in Reading, joins the main stem in Weathersfield at the flood control dam. Built by the Army Corps of Engineers between 1957–60, the dam holds back waters to protect the downstream towns of North Springfield and Springfield from floods.

The Black River pushes on through these final two towns, past small dams and many industrial sites, until its final confluence with the Connecticut River at Hoyt's Landing, across from New Hampshire's Fort at Number 4 in Charlestown.