The Sakonnet River is a tidal

Tide

Tides are the rise and fall of sea levels caused by the combined effects of the gravitational forces exerted by the moon and the sun and the rotation of the Earth....

 strait

Strait

A strait or straits is a narrow, typically navigable channel of water that connects two larger, navigable bodies of water. It most commonly refers to a channel of water that lies between two land masses, but it may also refer to a navigable channel through a body of water that is otherwise not...

, in the U.S.

United States

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

 state of Rhode Island

Rhode Island

The state of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations, more commonly referred to as Rhode Island , is a state in the New England region of the United States. It is the smallest U.S. state by area...

. It flows approximately 23 km (14 mi) between Mount Hope Bay

Mount Hope Bay

Mount Hope Bay is a tidal estuary located at the mouth of the Taunton River on the Massachusetts and Rhode Island border. It is an arm of Narragansett Bay. The bay is named after Mount Hope, a small hill located on its western shore in what is now Bristol, Rhode Island. It flows into the East...

 and Rhode Island Sound

Rhode Island Sound

Rhode Island Sound is a strait of water, off the coast of the state of Rhode Island at mouth of Narragansett Bay. It forms the eastern extension of Long Island Sound and opens out the Atlantic Ocean between Block Island and Martha's Vineyard....

. It separates Aquidneck Island

Aquidneck Island

Aquidneck Island, located in the state of Rhode Island, is the largest island in Narragansett Bay. The island's official name is Rhode Island, and the common use of name "Aquidneck Island" helps distinguish the island from the state. The total land area is 97.9 km²...

 from the eastern portion of Newport County

Newport County, Rhode Island

-National protected areas:* Sachuest Point National Wildlife Refuge* Touro Synagogue National Historic Site-History:Newport County was constituted on June 22, 1703, as one of the two original counties of the Colony of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations. As originally established, Newport...

.

Course

The river begins in name on the east side of Common Fence Point in Portsmouth

Portsmouth, Rhode Island

Portsmouth is a town in Newport County, Rhode Island, United States. The population was 17,389 at the 2010 U.S. 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. Most of its land area lies on Aquidneck...

 and flows due south between the towns of Portsmouth and Middletown

Middletown, Rhode Island

Middletown is a town in Newport County, Rhode Island, United States. The population was 16,150 at the 2010 census. It lies to the south of Portsmouth and to the north of Newport on Aquidneck Island, hence the name "Middletown."-Geography:...

 to the west and Tiverton and Little Compton

Little Compton, Rhode Island

Little Compton is a town in Newport County, Rhode Island, United States. Its population was 3,492 at the time of the 2010 census. Little Compton is located in southeastern Rhode Island, between the Sakonnet River and the Massachusetts state border...

 to the east. Its mouth is at Sakonnet Point in Little Compton.

Crossings

Below is a list of all crossings over the Sakonnet River. The list begins at the headwaters and goes downstream.

• Sakonnet River rail bridge
  Sakonnet River rail bridge
  The Sakonnet River rail bridge was a swing bridge built in 1899 by the Pennsylvania Steel Co. It was closed in 1980 after it was damaged by an overweight train loaded with military equipment. The swing bridge was left in the open position to allow boat traffic to pass but a barge ran into it in 1988...
  
   (formerly Old Colony and Newport Railway), removed.
• Sakonnet River Bridge
  Sakonnet River Bridge
  The Sakonnet River Bridge is a four-lane truss bridge spanning the Sakonnet River in eastern Rhode Island. The bridge carries RI 24 and RI 138 between the communities of Portsmouth and Tiverton, Rhode Island...
  
   (RI 24
  Route 24 (Rhode Island)
  -Route:Route 24 takes the following route through the State:*Portsmouth: ; Route 114 to Tiverton town line**Fall River Expressway*Tiverton: ; Portsmouth town line to Massachusetts State line at Route 24**Fall River Expressway-Notes:...
  
  /138
  Route 138 (Rhode Island)
  Route 138 is a numbered State Highway running in Rhode Island. It runs from the Connecticut state line to the Massachusetts state line and is the only state-numbered route that traverses the entire state.-Route description:...
  
  )
• Replacement Sakonnet River Bridge; under construction.
• Stone Bridge
  Stone Bridge (Rhode Island)
  The Stone Bridge was a bridge built in 1907 in Rhode Island that carried RI 138 over the Sakonnet River between Portsmouth and Tiverton. It was destroyed by Hurricane Carol in 1954, and replaced in 1956 by the Sakonnet River Bridge, located 0.8 mi to the north.-History:According to the...
  
   (Formerly RI 138, destroyed by a Hurricane Carol
  Hurricane Carol
  Hurricane Carol was among the worst tropical cyclones to affect the New England region of the United States. It developed from a tropical wave near the Bahamas on August 25, 1954, and gradually strengthened as it moved northwestward. On August 27, Carol intensified to reach winds of , but weakened...
  
  in 1954)