[1] White pines were common in the surrounding region and the nearby upper Connecticut River valley.

The toponym "Coaticook River" was officialized on December 5, 1968, at the Commission de toponymie du Québec.

[2] The source of the Coaticook River is Norton Pond (length 4.1 kilometers (2.5 mi), altitude 407 meters (1,335 ft)), in Essex County, Vermont, south of the Canada–US border.

The Coaticook River flows northward 6.8 kilometers (4.2 mi) on American territory, crossing a forested and agricultural valley.

After crossing the international border, the river enters the municipality of Coaticook and flows generally north through: North of Waterville the Coaticook joins the Massawippi River from the south, 5.9 kilometres (3.7 mi) upstream from the confluence of the Rivière aux Saumons and 8.8 kilometres (5.5 mi) upstream from the mouth of the Massawippi at the Saint-François River at Lennoxville, southeast of the center of Sherbrooke.