Saco River
Mouth of the Saco River at the Atlantic Ocean
The Saco River is a river in northeastern New Hampshire and southwestern Maine in the United States. It drains a rural area of 1,703 square miles of forests and farmlands west and southwest of Portland, emptying into the Atlantic Ocean at Saco Bay, 136 miles from its source.
The river rises at Saco Lake in Crawford Notch in the White Mountains and flows generally south-southeast through Bartlett and Conway in Carroll County, New Hampshire before crossing into Oxford County, Maine.
Shortly after entering Fryeburg, Maine, the river branches into the "Old Course" Saco River and the more commonly used "Canal River". Constructed in the 1800s to be more convenient for farmers, the 6-mile long canal is 15 miles shorter than the old course and is now considered to be the official course for the river, as the upstream end of the old course is largely silted over. The two channels merge again near Lovell, Maine.
After running through six hydropower stations operated by NextEra Energy Resources (including Skelton Dam and Bonny Eagle Dam), the river enters York County, passes between Saco and Biddeford, and enters Saco Bay on the Atlantic with Camp Ellis in Saco on the north shore and Hills Beach in Biddeford on the south shore.
Bridges[]
Several historic wooden covered bridges cross the Saco River in the rural New Hampshire woods close to its source. Additionally, several truss bridges cross (or once crossed) the Saco River in Maine, although many of these bridges have either been destroyed by flooding or demolished following severe flooding damage. The truss bridge across the river built on top of the Bonny Eagle Dam remains intact and significant. The Saco River Bridge in York County carries the Maine Turnpike (Interstate 95) over the river.