Canoeing ME Sebago/Saco

[BenK]

I remember when I was 13 or 14 canoeing from panther pond, across sebago lake and down to the saco for 3 days. This would have been 28 years ago! I have been using google maps to try to find any possible route that I took. Is it no longer possible? Am I crazy?

[peakbagger]

The Saco is a different Watershed to the west so unless you did a long portage (several miles over to Hiram) you must be confusing the Saco with the Presumpscot River. The Presumpscot can be paddled and was quite rural but its mostly impoundments upstream above numerous dams. Once it hits downtown Westbrook there is/was a tall dam and then there is a short paddle stretch and then it goes under the Sappi Papermill and cannot be paddled. The next put in is RT 302 and that takes you to the ocean. There was a dam in Falmouth 20 years ago but it has been removed. The dam in Downtown Westbrook is in the process of being removed. Given you started on Panther Pond you probably started at Camp Hinds the boy scout camp?. The Tenny river connects Panther with Thompson Lake and at one point the camp did run a canoe trip up into Thompson lake. The Crooked River that runs into the north end of Sebago is also a good paddle with a couple of portages. Sebago has a lot of big boats and traffic these days and when the wind blows it can get white caps and is not canoe friendly.

[One Half]

I used to live walking distance to the Saco. Was never allowed to swim in it. One of my brother's lost a very good friend to drowning in the Saco the summer before their senior year.

[BenK]

Camp Hawthorne. On plummer rd... a lot of great experiences in the woods and on the rivers... Maybe the paddle out of panther pond was practice for the saco... too long ago to remember clearly... lol... I do remember a short portage. a few hundred feet though. I remember camping on the saco's sandy beaches. There were random outhouses, but no facilities. It was not nearly as crowded as the videos on youtube show, and although there were spots where the water was deep and calm, there were also spots where you had to keep your head up and paddle....

[peakbagger]

The Saco is a very popular river for long canoe trips. It has been a major party spot for 50 years. The lower Saco is and was far less popular.

[BenK]

The Saco is a very popular river for long canoe trips. It has been a major party spot for 50 years. The lower Saco is and was far less popular.

All the stuff on youtube shows people putting in near Fryeburg, what would you consider "lower" Saco?... any recommendations on a resource for planning a trip?

[peakbagger]

Its been awhile but the majority of outfitters start at or near Westons Bridge in Fryeburg and offer a one day trip to the dam at Swans Falls or Canal Bridge (RT 5). They have overnights that end at Swans Falls or Walker Bridge at RT 302. The really sandy bottoms and many sandbars are upstream of the dam. As you head south it runs through bogs and get less use with fewer sandbars. There is dam in Hiram that I have not portaged around but I think its long one.

I found this website for the upper saco which includes Westons Bridge to Bronwfield https://www.sacorivercouncil.org/pla...ps-and-mileage

AMC has map of the river https://www.outdoors.org/articles/am...the-saco-river. The lower Saco is mostly impoundments behind dams

[BenK]

thank you for the links.