The Cold River is an 11.9 mile long (19.2 km) river

River

A river is a natural watercourse, usually freshwater, flowing towards an ocean, a lake, a sea, or another river. In a few cases, a river simply flows into the ground or dries up completely before reaching another body of water. Small rivers may also be called by several other names, including...

 located in the White Mountains

White Mountains (New Hampshire)

The White Mountains are a mountain range covering about a quarter of the state of New Hampshire and a small portion of western Maine in the United States. Part of the Appalachian Mountains, they are considered the most rugged mountains in New England...

 of New Hampshire

New Hampshire

New Hampshire is a state in the New England region of the northeastern United States of America. The state was named after the southern English county of Hampshire. It is bordered by Massachusetts to the south, Vermont to the west, Maine and the Atlantic Ocean to the east, and the Canadian...

 in the United States

United States

The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

. It is a tributary

Tributary

A tributary or affluent is a stream or river that flows into a main stem river or a lake. A tributary does not flow directly into a sea or ocean...

 of the Bearcamp River

Bearcamp River

The Bearcamp River is a 26.3 mile long river at the southern edge of the White Mountains in New Hampshire, the United States. It is the largest tributary of Ossipee Lake, part of the Saco River watershed leading to the Atlantic Ocean....

, part of the Ossipee River

Ossipee River

The Ossipee River is an river in eastern New Hampshire and western Maine in the United States. It is a tributary of the Saco River, which flows southeast to the Atlantic Ocean at Saco, Maine....

 and Saco River

Saco River

The Saco River is a river in northeastern New Hampshire and southwestern Maine in the United States. It drains a rural area of of forests and farmlands west and southwest of Portland, emptying into the Atlantic Ocean at Saco Bay, from its source. It supplies drinking water to roughly 250,000...

 watersheds

Drainage basin

A drainage basin is an extent or an area of land where surface water from rain and melting snow or ice converges to a single point, usually the exit of the basin, where the waters join another waterbody, such as a river, lake, reservoir, estuary, wetland, sea, or ocean...

. The river lies entirely in the town of Sandwich

Sandwich, New Hampshire

Sandwich is a town in Carroll County, New Hampshire, United States. The population was 1,326 at the 2010 census. Sandwich includes the villages of Center Sandwich and North Sandwich...

.

The Cold River begins on the southern slopes of Sandwich Mountain

Sandwich Mountain

Sandwich Mountain is a mountain located on the border between Carroll and Grafton counties, New Hampshire. The mountain is part of the Sandwich Range of the White Mountains....

, within the Sandwich Wilderness of the White Mountain National Forest

White Mountain National Forest

The White Mountain National Forest is a federally-managed forest contained within the White Mountains in the northeastern United States. It was established in 1918 as a result of the Weeks Act of 1911; federal acquisition of land had already begun in 1914. It has a total area of...

. The river flows generally east and then southeast, leaving the National Forest, passing New Hampshire Route 113A in the village of Whiteface, and reaching the Bearcamp River close to the Sandwich/Tamworth

Tamworth, New Hampshire

Tamworth is a town in Carroll County, New Hampshire, United States. The population was 2,856 at the 2010 census. Tamworth includes the villages of Chocorua, South Tamworth, Wonalancet, and Whittier. The White Mountain National Forest is to the north...

town line.