The Contoocook River is a 71-mile-long (114 km) river in New Hampshire. It flows from Contoocook Lake on the Jaffrey/Rindge border to Penacook, where it empties into the Merrimack River. It is one of only a few rivers in New Hampshire that flow in a predominantly northward direction. Four covered bridges span the river, one in the town of Henniker, one on the Hancock-Greenfield line, and two in the town of Hopkinton, New Hampshire with one being in the village of Contoocook, and the other in the populated place of West Hopkinton. Residents and tourists have made the Contoocook popular for fishing and whitewater boating.

Hancock is a town in Hillsborough County, New Hampshire, United States. The population was 1,731 at the 2020 census. Hancock is home to the Welch Family Farm Forest.