Recently, when discussing the beauty of the Maine lakes region with a colleague, he presented me with a curious question: Is it possible to navigate by boat from Sebago Lake to the Atlantic Ocean? I was embarrassed to admit that I didn’t have an answer. Despite spending lots of time on boats on Sebago Lake, Brady Pond and Long Lake, I hadn’t ever attempted to link those bodies of water to Casco Bay.

Some research revealed that in Maine’s past, the water linking Portland to Sebago Lake was a vital transportation corridor. The Presumpscot River, which snakes from Sebago’s eastern shores to open ocean, was an early transportation route from the busy harbor to Maine’s interior. It was so important, in fact, that some of the first settlements in Maine’s interior were developed along the Presumpscot. This vitality led to the construction of the Cumberland and Oxford Canal in 1832, a series of 27 locks navigated by canal boats that connected Maine’s second-largest lake with the ocean. The route was in service until the late 1800s, when a railroad line replaced the canal for cargo service.

The canal stayed in service for another half-century after the arrival of the railroad, relegated to use by pleasure boats. Steamboats navigated the waterway until 1932, when the pleasure cruises reached an inglorious end; the Goodrich, the last steamboat running the route, caught fire and burned at its Naples dock.

But that was then and this is now. So is the Presumpscot still navigable by boat, particularly one as small as a canoe or kayak?

Kind of. That is to say it’s possible, but it takes some planning and some short portages. The route, which spans 25 miles (and drops only 270 feet in that length), is an exciting mix of urban and rural kayaking, flat water and rapids, ponds and rivers, and can be tackled either in pieces or on one long trip.

Until recently, access to the Presumpscot required starting at the Raymond Public Landing, unless you were lucky enough to know someone with parking close to the Head Dam (at the head of the Presumpscot). You can still put in here if you’d like, but it adds a few miles of lake paddling to the start of your journey. Sebago being as large as it is, you’ll want to stick close to shore and aim for a day when winds are calm. You’ll cross under Whites Bridge Road to enter Sebago Lake Basin, and from there it’s about a mile to the dam.

A parking area just west of Route 302 on Route 35 allows paddlers to start on the Presumpscot (this is also where you’ll portage to, if you put in on Sebago). From here the route is relatively calm, with a couple runs of I and II rapids. The rapids end in falls near the Eel Weir powerhouse, where you can pull out again and portage to North Gorham Pond.

From here it’s a mile of pond paddling before another portage, which takes paddlers along North Gorham Road from North Gorham Pond to Dundee Pond. It’s a mile and a half across the pond to the Dundee Dam and yet another portage. A few hundred yards will carry you across the dam access road to the Presumpscot, where the water changes from ponds to a more rapidly flowing river.

After three miles, the river hits another dam (the Gambo), and another portage to the right. This is followed by two miles of easy paddling that end at the Little Falls Dam in South Windham, and the longest portage (about a mile) before rejoining the river.

From here to the Atlantic, the route gets a bit more straightforward. As you paddle from Windham into Westbrook, you’ll hit the Saccarappa Dam and then the Cumberland Mills Dam, which require portages to the left and right, respectively. From here it’s a relatively straight shot from Westbrook to Portland, passing under 302 and the Maine Turnpike. You’ll want to pay close attention after passing the Piscataqua River and under the Falmouth spur of I-95 – the significant drop of the Presumpscot Falls come about a mile after the Piscataqua. There’s a portage marked on the right, where you can take out and follow the Presumpscot River Preserve trail and put back in above Walton Park.

It’s probably easiest to coordinate your ride home at the beautiful Walton Park, where there’s easy access and plenty of parking. If you want to make it all the way to the bay, it’s half a mile farther. With the transition from river to tidal waters, be wary of the tides – you don’t want to get stuck in the mud.

While it’s not exactly smooth sailing or paddling, it was nice to find that the route from Sebago to the sea is still navigable. Contrary to the popular Maine adage, you can get there from here (or in this case, here from there). I would also be remiss if I didn’t pass some strong praise along to the most recent edition of the Maine River Guide, published by the AMC and edited by John Fiske. Researching and navigating this route would be borderline impossible without the book’s guidance. If this short description piqued your interest, I insist you pick up the book for a much more thorough description of the mileages, portages and other specifics of the Presumpscot. Also of help is a detailed map and guide put together by the Presumpscot River Watershed Coalition, which is available for free on their website.

Josh Christie is a freelance writer and lifetime outdoors enthusiast. He shares column space in Outdoors with his brother, Jake. Josh can be contacted at:

joshua.j.christie@gmail.com