Connecticut River

The Connecticut River is the longest river in New England. It forms the border between Vermont and New Hampshire, then crosses Massachusetts and Connecticut to reach Long Island Sound. The river rises at Fourth Connecticut Lake in Pittsburg, New Hampshire, and runs about 410 miles. Along the way it marks 255 miles of the New Hampshire–Vermont line and drops more than 2,480 feet before it reaches Massachusetts. Its watershed covers 11,260 square miles in five states and Quebec and is fed by 148 tributaries. In 1934 the state line was fixed at the low-water mark on the Vermont side, before the large hydroelectric dams were built. Because those dams widened the channel, Vermont's border now ranges from the shoreline itself to more than 500 feet out into the river. Moore and Comerford reservoirs flooded Fifteen-Mile Falls, and the Wilder, Bellows Falls and Vernon dams also impound the river along the Vermont shore.

On the Vermont bank, Vermont Fish & Wildlife runs boat accesses at Hoyt's Landing in Springfield, Old Ferry Road in Brattleboro, Putney Landing and the Haverhill Bridge Access in Newbury. Wilgus State Park has a carry-in access for car-top boats. Under New Hampshire law, boats must keep to headway speed within 150 feet of shore at launch sites in New Hampshire's jurisdiction. Speed is limited to 6 mph for 2,500 feet upstream of the Ledyard Bridge in Hanover, and towing is banned in that zone. A headway-speed zone also covers about 1,800 feet of river at Westmoreland. The Connecticut River Paddlers' Trail links access points and more than 50 primitive campsites from the headwaters to Long Island Sound.

In 1997 the river was named an American Heritage River. In 2012 it became the country's first National Blueway.