A watershed is all the land, streams, lakes, ponds and wetlands that drain into a river, giving it life, in our case the 35+ mile long Black River. The Black River watershed is 202 square miles of land draining into the main stem and north branch. The headwaters of the main stem begin in Black Pond, located in Plymouth VT (hence the river's name). The main stem winds through Tyson and Ludlow (whose various lakes include Amherst, Rescue and Echo). There it proceeds along its path picking up some tributary streams before going through Proctorsville, Cavendish Gorge, Perkinsville, Downers, Weathersfield, North Springfield and then at last Springfield, where it meets the mighty Connecticut River at Hoyt's Landing

The North branch meets up with the main stem at the Army Corps of Engineers flood control project in Weathersfield.