Sacandaga River facts for kids
Quick facts for kids Sacandaga River |
|
|---|---|
The Sacandaga River when it flows into the Hudson River
|
|
 
|
|
| Native name | Sa-chen-da'-ga |
| Country | United States |
| State | New York |
| Physical characteristics | |
| Main source | Lake Pleasant 1,726 ft (526 m) 43°28′34″N 74°22′56″W / 43.47611°N 74.38222°W |
| River mouth | Hudson River 545 ft (166 m) 43°18′50″N 73°50′34″W / 43.31389°N 73.84278°W |
| Basin features | |
| Tributaries | |
The Sacandaga River is a 64-mile-long (103 km) river in the northern part of New York in the United States. Its name comes from the Native American Sa-chen-da'-ga, meaning "overflowed lands".
The Sacandaga River is a tributary of the Hudson River, flowing into it across from Lake Luzerne, at the border of Saratoga County and Warren County.
River course
The Sacandaga River's headwaters north of Great Sacandaga Lake begin in the town of Lake Pleasant. From Lake Pleasant, the river follows a short moving course or path known as the Sacandaga Outlet (under New York Route 8) into Lake Pleasant. The Sacandaga River drains Lake Pleasant at a location next to the public beach in the village of Speculator. The river then follows a winding path through some wetlands and various ecosystems through the county. In Speculator, the Sacandaga River Community Park was built by local volunteers and has a number of boardwalks and pathways that follow the course of the river.
Near the town boundary between Wells and Lake Pleasant, the river flows into a series of ponds. The Sacandaga River course takes a steep path flowing over a series of waterfalls including Christine Falls and Auger Falls.
The East Branch joins the trunk stream in the town of Wells. After flowing through Wells, the river enters Lake Algonquin, a manmade impoundment constructed in the 1920s to stimulate the community's tourism industry. The East Branch goes through Johnsburg in Warren County and flows parallel to, in part, NY Route 8, passing the communities of Oregon in Johnsburg and Griffin in the town of Wells.
The Sacandaga flows out of Lake Algonquin into a hydro-electric plant and follows a course of rapids to Great Sacandaga Lake through the towns of Hope and Benson. In that area, it connects with Groff Creek. Then it enters the Great Sacandaga Lake in the village of Northville, which it flows through the lake to the Conklingville Dam. Which then it enters the town of Hadley, where it ends at the Hudson River. Downstream of Stewart's Dam in Hadley, NY, recreational releases are held by Brookfield Energy, creating a two-mile Class II whitewater run to the Hudson River for local paddlers.
Hydrology
The United States Geological Survey (USGS) maintains a few stream gauges along Sacandaga River. The one station located 4.5 miles (7.2 km) upstream from Hope, had a maximum discharge of 32,000 cubic feet (910 m3) per second on March 27, 1913, and a minimum discharge of 16 cubic feet (0.45 m3) per second on September 30, 1913. Another station located 1.4 miles (2.3 km) upstream from the mouth in operation since 1907, had a maximum discharge of 35,500 cubic feet (1,010 m3) per second on March 28, 1913, and a minimum discharge of 4.2 cubic feet (0.12 m3) per second on May 4, 1985, March 30–31, and many days in April 1992. Since the construction of Great Sacandaga Lake in 1930, the maximum discharge was 16,500 cubic feet (470 m3) on May 2, 2011.
Tributaries
Right
Johnson Vly Stream
Shanty Brook
Dunning Creek
West Branch Sacandaga River
Groff Creek
Petes Creek
West Stony Creek
Cloutler Creek
Batcheller Creek
Gordons Creek
Daly Creek
Breen Brook
Left
Kunjamuk River
Fly Creek
Robbs Creek
Macomber Creek
East Branch Sacandaga River
Mill Creek
Coulombe Creek
Doig Creek
East Stony Creek
Beecher Creek
Sand Creek
Glasshouse Creek
Paul Creek
Allentown Creek
Bell Brook
Mink Brook
Man Shanty Brook
Dam and reservoir
The Conklingville Dam, finished in 1930, located by the west town line of Hadley, greatly expanded the width of the river, creating Great Sacandaga Lake, formerly called the Great Sacandaga Reservoir.
Images for kids
-
Austin Falls in June 2021
