Lamprey River

The Lamprey River is a 50.2-mile river in southeastern New Hampshire. It starts at Meadow Lake in Northwood and flows south, then mostly east, through Raymond, Epping, Lee and Durham to Newmarket. There it meets Great Bay, a tidal inlet of the Atlantic Ocean connected to the sea by the Piscataqua River. Three large dams and parts of breached dams remained on the lower river as of 2020. The tallest is the Macallen Dam in downtown Newmarket. The Wiswall Dam in Durham holds back a drinking-water reservoir for Durham and the University of New Hampshire. In 1996, 11.5 miles of the river in Lee, Durham and Newmarket were designated a 'recreational' National Wild and Scenic River, and 12 more miles in Epping were added in 2000. In 2011 the state added the full main stem and five tributaries to the New Hampshire Rivers Management and Protection Program.

Public paddling access is listed in Epping at Mary Blair Park and at the Tilton Conservation Area, where Route 87 crosses the river. The Epping Conservation Commission owns Tilton, and it is the finish of the annual Lamprey River Canoe Race in late April. Further access points are at a town landing on Route 152 near Wadleigh Falls in Lee and at Schoppmeyer Memorial Park and Schanda Park in Newmarket. Schanda Park is on the tidal river and gives saltwater access to Great Bay. Downed trees block the full width of the river in several places between Route 87 and Wadleigh Falls. Some impounded sections in lower Newmarket are deep enough for power boats, and the maximum headway speed there is 6 mph.

New Hampshire Fish and Game stocks brook, brown and rainbow trout in Lee and Durham and runs a river herring restoration program. The Macallen Dam has had a fish ladder since 1972, and the Wiswall Dam got one in 2012.