Charles River

River in eastern Massachusetts; length 100 km/60 mi. It is the main river in the city of Boston, through which it flows to its mouth at Boston Harbor. The Charles is a major recreational waterway, particularly in the Charles River Basin, north of Boston's Back Bay (which was, until the mid-19th century, a tidal inlet connected with the river). It is navigable for 16 km/10 mi, to Watertown, and a riverboat company offers excursions along the river.

The Charles River rises in the southwest of Norfolk County and follows a meandering course past Newton and Watertown. Further downstream, it separates Cambridge (to the north) from Boston (to the south). It enters Boston Harbor through locks at the Charles River Dam. The river and its surrounding banks have been subject to extensive restoration works since the 1970s, and from the dams at Boston and Cambridge to the Newton Upper Falls, parks (reservations) stretch along both banks.

The Indian name for the river was Quinobequin, or ‘meandering river’.