Hackensack River

Hackensack River
A view of the Hackensack River taken from the shore in Teaneck at low tide
Country	United States
States	New Jersey, New York
Counties	Hudson, NJ, Bergen, NJ, Rockland, NY
City	Hackensack, NJ
Source
- location	West Haverstraw, Rockland County, New York, USA
- elevation	120 ft (37 m)
- coordinates	41°11′00″N 73°59′24″W / 41.18333°N 73.99000°W / 41.18333; -73.99000
Mouth	Newark Bay
- elevation	0 ft (0 m)
- coordinates	40°42′55″N 74°06′42″W / 40.71528°N 74.11167°W / 40.71528; -74.11167Coordinates: 40°42′55″N 74°06′42″W / 40.71528°N 74.11167°W / 40.71528; -74.11167
Length	54 mi (87 km)
Discharge	for New Milford, NJ
- average	173 cu ft/s (5 m3/s)
- max	880 cu ft/s (25 m3/s)
- min	0 cu ft/s (0 m3/s)
Discharge elsewhere (average)
- West Nyack, NY	58 cu ft/s (2 m3/s)
The Passaic and Hackensack watersheds

The Hackensack River is a river, approximately 45 miles (72 km) long, in the U.S. states of New York and New Jersey, emptying into Newark Bay, a back chamber of New York Harbor. The watershed of the river includes part of the suburban area outside New York City just west of the lower Hudson River, which it roughly parallels, separated from it by the New Jersey Palisades. It also flows through and drains the New Jersey Meadowlands. The lower river, which is navigable as far as the city of Hackensack, is heavily industrialized and forms a commercial extension of Newark Bay. Once believed to be among the most polluted water courses in the United States, it had staged a modest revival by the late 2000s.

The Hackensack River rises in southeastern New York, in Rockland County, in the Sweet Swamp, just west of the Hudson River and approximately 1 mi (1.6 km) south of West Haverstraw. It flows briefly southeast, into the Lake DeForest reservoir, separated from the Hudson by less than 3 mi (5 km). South of the dam, it then flows south, diverging from the Hudson. Just across the New Jersey state line, in northern Bergen County, it is impounded to form the reservoir Lake Tappan near River Vale.

South of Lake Tappan, it flows in a meandering course southward through the suburban communities of New Jersey. Near Oradell, it is impounded to form Oradell Reservoir, where it is joined by several streams, including the Dwars Kill, the Cherry Brook and Pascack Brook. Van Buskirk Island, a man-made island and site of the New Milford Plant of the Hackensack Water Company, lies in this area. South of the reservoir, it flows past River Edge, Hackensack, Teaneck, Bogota, and Ridgefield Park, once again approaching within 3 mi (5 km) of the Hudson, and separated from it by the ridge of the Palisades.