Saco River Trips

Well before the early 1800’s, local citizens and tourists enjoyed the beauty of the Saco River. Starting at Saco Lake in Crawford Notch, NH, the headwaters of the Saco River are fed by water runoff from Mt. Washington and the other surrounding Presidential Mountains. Traveling over varied terrain of farm land and forests, it makes it way to Fryeburg, Maine and carries on over 7 hydroelectric dams until it arrives in Saco, Maine to empty out into Saco Bay in the Atlantic Ocean. Fryeburg was originally founded for its fertile farmland, which was a result of the river flooding every spring and leaving behind nutrient rich sediments in its floodplains. Fryeburg also became a hub for the timber trade in Maine, a place where logs would be driven down the river.

While Fryeburg still has many amazing local farms, the town is better known today for the Fryeburg Fair, the oldest fair in New England, and of course, the recreation along the Saco River.

This watercolor painted in 1867 by Benjamin Champney, famed White Mountain artist. It is called “On the Saco”.

Today, the Saco River remains picturesque as shown in this photo taken on the Saco River in 2015 by Dacota Griffin.