Maine / Saco River /

Skelton Dam Boat Ramp - Below Dam

Skelton Dam Boat Ramp - Below Dam is a public kayak and canoe launch on the Saco River near Dayton, Maine.

The Saco River in Buxton
Saco River, the water this launch is on. The Saco River in Buxton Photo: Bawana90210 · CC BY-SA 3.0 · via Wikimedia Commons

Status not reported No closure has been posted for this launch, but its agency does not publish open or closed status. Check with the managing agency before you tow.

At the launch

Type
Carry-in (canoe and kayak)
Coordinates
43.56804, -70.55318

Directions (Google) Apple Maps

Conditions

On Saco River

The Saco River rises at Saco Lake in Crawford Notch in New Hampshire's White Mountains. It flows 136 miles to the Atlantic Ocean at Saco Bay and drains 1,703 square miles of forest and farmland west and southwest of Portland. The river passes through Bartlett and Conway, New Hampshire, and enters Maine at Fryeburg. There it splits into the 'Old Course' and the 6-mile Canal River, a channel dug in the 1800s that is now treated as the official course. Downstream it runs through a chain of hydropower stations, including Skelton Dam and Bonny Eagle Dam, then flows between Saco and Biddeford and reaches the sea between Camp Ellis and Hills Beach. The river supplies drinking water to roughly 250,000 people. The Saco River Corridor Commission regulates land use within 500 feet of the Saco, Ossipee and Little Ossipee rivers, a corridor covering 130 river miles and twenty municipalities. More about Saco River.

Boating rules on Saco River

  • A valid parking pass is required for all vehicles left at the Swan's Falls, Canal Bridge and Brownfield Bridge access points source
  • A fire permit is required for campfires on river beaches (available by donation) source
  • Pack out all trash; bury human waste at least six inches into soil source

Community

Where people who use Saco River talk about it.

Nearby launches

Sources

Why it is listed as public: lowimpacthydro.org: a portage trail with a put-in on the western shore downstream of the tailrace. Recreational facilities are available free of charge.. Something wrong, or is this launch private? Send a correction; it goes to a person.