Charles River Quinobequin | |
---|---|
Location | |
Country | United States |
State | Massachusetts |
Cities | Hopkinton, Cambridge, Boston |
Physical characteristics | |
Source | Echo Lake |
• location | Hopkinton, Massachusetts, United States |
• coordinates | 42°11′34″N 71°30′43″W / 42.19278°N 71.51194°W |
• elevation | 350 ft (110 m) |
Mouth | Boston Harbor |
• location | Boston, Massachusetts, United States |
• coordinates | 42°22′14″N 71°3′13″W / 42.37056°N 71.05361°W |
• elevation | 0 ft (0 m) |
Length | 80 mi (130 km) |
Basin size | 308 sq mi (800 km2) |
Discharge | |
• average | 302 cu ft/s (8.6 m3/s) |
• minimum | 0.1 cu ft/s (0.0028 m3/s) |
• maximum | 4,150 cu ft/s (118 m3/s) |
The Charles River (Massachusett: Quinobequin), sometimes called the River Charles or simply the Charles, is an 80-mile-long (129 km) river in eastern Massachusetts. It flows northeast from Hopkinton to Boston along a highly meandering route, that doubles back on itself several times and travels through 23 cities and towns before reaching the Atlantic Ocean.[1] The indigenous Massachusett named it Quinobequin, meaning "meandering" or "meandering still water".[2]