Connecticut Water Trails Program

Connecticut Rivers

Quinebaug River

The Quinebaug River is a river in south-central Massachusetts and eastern Connecticut, with watershed extending into western Rhode Island.

The river is about 80 miles (129 km) in length. It originates from an unnamed pond near Mashapaug Lake in Union, Connecticut, and ponds northwest of Sturbridge, Massachusetts, flows generally southeast and south through Connecticut (Putnam, Danielson, Plainfield, and Jewett City), joins the Shetucket River northeast of Norwich, and from there flows into the Thames River and drains into the Long Island Sound. It is dammed in its upper reaches at East Brimfield Dam and Westville Dam, both for flood control, and in Plainfield.

The Quinebaug River watershed covers 850 square miles (2,200 km²), and extends into western Rhode Island. It is heavily forested with 29 named streams including five major tributaries (the French and Moosup Rivers, and the Wales, Mill and Cady brooks). The watershed also contains 54 lakes and ponds, 31 of which with an area of 10 acres or more, for a total of about 3,000 acres (12 km²); the largest is East Brimfield Reservoir in Brimfield and Sturbridge (420 acres (1.7 km²)). The watershed is home to fish species including trout, smallmouth bass, largemouth bass, northern pike, and panfish. Elevations range from 1,264 feet above sea level on Mount Pisgah in Wales, Massachusetts, to about 25 ft in Norwich, Connecticut

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