The Little Cold River is a 3.9 mile long (6.3 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...

 in western Maine

Maine

Maine is a state in the New England region of the northeastern United States, bordered by the Atlantic Ocean to the east and south, New Hampshire to the west, and the Canadian provinces of Quebec to the northwest and New Brunswick to the northeast. Maine is both the northernmost and easternmost...

 in the United States

United States

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

, flowing through the foothills of 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...

. It is a tributary of the Cold River, part of the 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...

 watershed

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 begins in Chatham, New Hampshire

Chatham, New Hampshire

Chatham is a town in Carroll County, New Hampshire, United States. The population was 337 at the 2010 census. It is located in the White Mountains, and except for the southeast corner, all of Chatham is in the White Mountain National Forest...

 at the junction of McDonough Brook and Watson Brook, in the easternmost part 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...

 in New Hampshire. Flowing east, the river leaves the national forest and enters Maine after only one-half mile. Turning more southeast, the river passes through the town of Stow

Stow, Maine

Stow is a town in Oxford County, Maine, United States. The population was 288 at the 2000 census.-Geography:According to the United States Census Bureau, the town has a total area of , of which, of it is land and of it is water.-Demographics:...

, reaching the Cold River one mile upstream from the latter river's end at Charles Pond in Fryeburg.