Penobscot River

The Penobscot River is a 109-mile river in Maine. It begins at Medway, where the West Branch and East Branch meet, and flows south past Bangor to Penobscot Bay. Counting the West Branch and South Branch, the system is 264 miles long. That makes it the second-longest river system in Maine and the longest that lies entirely within the state. It drains 8,610 square miles. The river is tidal for about 25 miles, from just below the former Veazie Dam site to its mouth near Bucksport, and the water is brackish up to Hampden. The average high tide at Bangor is 13 feet. Mills grew up along the river at Howland, Veazie, Orono, Old Town, Milford, Passadumkeag, West Enfield and Lincoln. Under the Penobscot River Restoration Project, demolition of the Great Works Dam began in 2012 and of the Veazie Dam in 2013. A fish ladder was added at Milford Dam and a fish bypass at Howland Dam.

Public launches run from Medway and Lincoln down through Howland, Passadumkeag, Greenbush, Milford, Orono, Eddington, Brewer, Bangor and Hampden to the Verona Island Boat Landing near the mouth. The Bureau of Parks and Lands, Inland Fisheries and Wildlife, the towns, and PPL-Maine (at the Eddington Boat Launch) manage them. On inland waters, Maine requires every motorized boat to display a lake and river protection sticker. Boats on tidal waters do not need one.

Resident fish include smallmouth bass, brook trout and landlocked salmon. Sea-run species include Atlantic salmon, striped bass, alewives and American shad. The river's Atlantic salmon run is the largest left in the United States. The stretch near Greenbush is known for smallmouth bass fishing, and bass clubs hold tournaments there.