The Ashtabula River is a river located northeast of Cleveland in Ohio. The river flows into Lake Erie at the city of Ashtabula, Ohio. It is 40 miles (64 km) in length and drains 137 square miles (350 km2).

Ashtabula is the largest city in Ashtabula County, Ohio, United States. It lies at the mouth of the Ashtabula River, on Lake Erie, 53 miles (85 km) northeast of Cleveland. At the 2020 census, the city had 17,975 people. Like many other cities in the Rust Belt, it has lost population because of a decline in industrial jobs since the 1960s. It is part of the Cleveland metropolitan area.