Susquehanna River

Length: 444 miles (715 kilometers)

The Susquehanna River rises in Otsego Lake in central New York and winds southeast and southwest through east central Pennskylvania to Chesapeake Bay near Havre de Grace, Maryland. The bay is the drowned lower course of the river that has resulted from a post-Pleistocene rise in sea level. The West Branch, which rises in the Allegheny Mountains, west Pennsylvania, and follows a roundabout course east to Sunbury, Pennsylvania, is the river’s chief tributary in Pennsylvania. The shallow, swift-flowing river is unsuited for navigation. Several hydroelectric power plants are located on the Susquehanna; the Conowingo plant in Maryland is one of the largest non-Federal power stations in the nation. The Susquehanna and its tributaries have extensive flood-control works.