Pocantico River

Pocantico River
The Pocantico as it flows through Rockefeller State Park
Map
Location
CountryUnited States
StateNew York
RegionHudson Valley
CountyWestchester
CityNew Castle, Briarcliff Manor, Mount Pleasant,
Sleepy Hollow,
Physical characteristics
SourceEcho Lake
 • locationNew Castle
 • coordinates41°10′48.2″N 73°48′36.2″W / 41.180056°N 73.810056°W / 41.180056; -73.810056[2]
 • elevation325 ft (99 m)[3]
MouthHudson River
 • location
Sleepy Hollow
 • coordinates
41°5′29.5″N 73°52′12.9″W / 41.091528°N 73.870250°W / 41.091528; -73.870250
Length9 mi (14 km)
Discharge 
 • locationRockefeller State Park[1]
 • average37.19 cu ft/s (1.053 m3/s)
 • minimum15 cu ft/s (0.42 m3/s)[1]
 • maximum77.3 cu ft/s (2.19 m3/s)[1]
Basin features
Tributaries 
 • leftRockefeller Brook
 • rightCaney Brook, Gory Brook

The Pocantico River is a nine-mile-long (14 km) tributary of the Hudson River in western central Westchester County, New York, United States. It rises from Echo Lake, in the town of New Castle south of the hamlet of Millwood, and flows generally southwest past Briarcliff Manor to its outlet at Sleepy Hollow. Portions of the towns of Mount Pleasant and Ossining are within its 16-square-mile (41 km2) watershed.

Writer Washington Irving, who lived in the area for most of his life, was inspired by the undeveloped area above the river's mouth to write his classic "The Legend of Sleepy Hollow". Later in the 19th century much of the land was purchased by the Rockefeller family as part of their Kykuit estate; today much of that land has become Rockefeller State Park Preserve. A former reservoir used by the city of New Rochelle has likewise been converted into county-run Pocantico Lake Park. While the river runs predominantly through those parks and suburban land,[4] it is still one of the most polluted tributaries of the Hudson.[5]

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