Kennebec River

The Kennebec River is a 170-mile-long river in Maine. It begins at Moosehead Lake in the west-central part of the state, where the East and West Outlets meet at Indian Pond. Harris Station Dam, the largest hydroelectric dam in Maine, was built near that confluence. The Dead River joins the Kennebec at The Forks. From there the river runs south past Madison, Skowhegan, Waterville, Augusta, Hallowell and Gardiner. At Richmond it enters Merrymeeting Bay, a 16-mile-long freshwater tidal bay that also receives the Androscoggin River. It then passes Bath and reaches the Gulf of Maine. The basin covers about 5,869 square miles. The lower river lies below the fall line and has no rapids, so ocean tides reach as far north as Waterville.

Public ramps line the river from Caratunk to Bath. They include a state boat launch at Hallowell, the East Side Boat Landing in Augusta, the Gardiner Launch, the North End Boat Launch in Bath, the Nathan Street Boat Landing in Madison and Cleaver Landing near Skowhegan. Towns, state agencies and hydropower owners operate them, including Brookfield Renewable at Waterville, Fairfield and Caratunk.

The Edwards Dam, built at Augusta in 1837, held a reservoir that reached 17 miles upstream. It was removed in 1999 after federal regulators refused to renew its license. Since then, the lower river has developed the largest river herring run in North America, at more than three million fish a year. Endangered Atlantic sturgeon travel upriver as far as Waterville.