There is no shortage of inspiring spots to go paddling this colorful time of year from the New Hampshire border to the wilds of the St. John River Valley in northern Maine. We decided to check out an option close to home one recent sunny Saturday morning; the Salmon Falls River in South Berwick. It is an easy drive down the “Pike” to Kittery, and north up Route 236 through Eliot to the William A. Bray Memorial Park boat launch on Route 101 in South Berwick adjacent to the bridge leading over the river into New Hampshire. Consult the Delorme Maine Atlas and Gazetteer (map #1) for help in getting there.
Granted, you can’t see his legs in this photo, but this is a yellowlegs. Photo by Michael Perry
This 6-mile round-trip tidal estuary paddle is best enjoyed between the time of three hours before high tide to three hours after high tide. We paddled at low tide and were able to navigate our way up against the current to the dam on Route 4 by staying in the middle of the shallow channel. The return back to the boat launch later that morning gifted us with 20 yards of midcalf deep mud to stagger through up onto firm ground. We repeat, paddle at higher water.
The river teems with birdlife in October. Herons were around every bend working the shallows for fish. Kingfishers flew along each side of the river chattering away. Cormorants sat perched on downed trees along the river drying their wings. Yellowlegs walked along the shoreline probing with their long black beaks for anything tasty. A number of egrets dazzled us with their brilliant white feathery outfits. Mallards and black ducks continually lifted off ahead of us. Gulls floated along the reed-lined shoreline watching us glide by.
The grand Hamilton House in South Berwick is among the sights you’ll see as you paddle down the Salmon Falls River.
Fifteen minutes north of the boat launch you will come around a bend and see a large cream-colored Georgian-style mansion up on a bluff on the east side of the river just beyond Vaughan Woods. This is the Hamilton House, built for merchant Jonathan Hamilton in 1785. We stopped below the house and scampered up a grassy lane to enjoy the view down the river and walk around the formal gardens now displaying only a few frost-hearty flowers. This is one of many unique properties in the Northeast preserved by Historic New England, and is a popular summer wedding venue.
Hamilton House was the backdrop for South Berwick author Sarah Orne Jewett’s 1901 historical romantic novel, “The Tory Lover.” A year later she would be involved in a carriage accident that would end her writing career. You may have read her most famous work, “The Country of the Pointed Firs,” while in high school.
As you continue up the river you will encounter a few riverside homes and a dairy farm on the left. It seemed odd to hear the mooing of cows mixing with the shrill chattering of kingfishers. The hydroelectric plant and dam at Route 4 signals the turnaround point. We ran with the ebb tide back to the launch site, surprised to spy under the Route 101 bridge a harbor seal headed upriver, 12 miles from the open ocean.
With no must-do chores waiting at home we paddled a mile south to the mouth of the Cocheco River that flows into the Salmon Falls River a few miles southeast of Dover, New Hampshire. These two rivers merge here to create the Piscataqua River. You will start to see the influence of the sea here, with seaweed beginning to appear on exposed ledges.
We always like to poke around a community after one of our outings and returned back to the interstate via scenic Route 103. We stopped to admire one of the most beautiful public buildings in southern Maine, the William Fogg Library in Eliot. The stonework is striking, and the pine grove setting is idyllic. On 103 you will also pass by the peaceful campus of Green Acre, a nationally significant Baha’i faith school and conference center.
Note: October is duck hunting season in Maine. Be sure to wear hunter orange when you go paddling anywhere in the state.
Michael Perry is the former director of the L.L.Bean Outdoor Discovery Schools and founder of Dreams Unlimited, specializing in inspiring outdoor slide programs for civic groups, businesses and schools. Contact: michaelj_perry@comcast.net.
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