The Chicopee River is an 18.0mi tributary of the Connecticut River in Metropolitan Springfield, Massachusetts, known for fast-moving water and its extraordinarily large basin: the Connecticut River's largest tributary basin. The Chicopee River originates in a Palmer, Massachusetts village called Three Rivers, and then flows into the Connecticut River after passing through Ludlow, the Indian Orchard neighborhood of Springfield, and then curving sharply northwest before finding its confluence in downtown Chicopee, Massachusetts.Largest Connecticut River tributary basinAlthough the Chicopee River itself is only 18 miles long, its basin is 721mi2—the largest in all of Massachusetts, and the largest tributary area to the Connecticut River. A basin tributary to the Connecticut River represents a geographical area with a stream or other body of water, surface or underground, that contributes water to the Connecticut River. With so many streams and rivers that deliver water to the Connecticut River, the scale of the Chicopee River's Basin is extraordinarily voluminous.Indeed, the Chicopee River Watershed includes all or part of 32 cities and towns.260-foot drop in 18 milesDuring the Industrial Revolution, the Chicopee River became a particularly sought-after destination for hydropower, largely because it drops 260 feet during its 18 mile course to the Connecticut River. By comparison, the meandering Connecticut River drops just 50 feet from Chicopee to Old Saybrook, Connecticut, where it empties into the Long Island Sound. For this reason, numerous mills were built along the Chicopee River; today, many of them can be found in various states of repurposing, with a particularly famous mill in Springfield Indian Orchard serving as artists' space.
