River/Change of Scenery Kayaking Options
 

Hi lake friends! Heading north with just L'il Buddy this weekend and he's been asking about river kayaking. I think he might be fine with a new/unique kayaking place.

Suggestions for within ~1/2 hour from Moultonborough? Thanks!

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Pemigewasset river just west of route 93 on route 104. No white water but should be nice kayaking south towards the dam in Bristol and very little current going back upriver. Nice boat launch right near the 104 bridge over the Pemi.
Good luck!

If you want a little better flow continue on 104 to Bristol and try the Profile falls area. The Smith river might be a bit low but there’s a nice flow out to the Pemi below the Bristol dam. Once on the Pemi you can paddle as far as you want north and south.
Profile Falls is a few miles south of Bristol off of 3A south. This is a beautiful spot!
I forgot to mention at Profile Falls you can take a left just before the Smith river (once you enter the recreation area) and take the dirt road right out to the much larger but still doable Pemi river.
Either way I think it would be a nice kayaking adventure.

On the southern end of Lake Ossipee on rt25 ( less than a mile off of rt16), there is a boat ramp on the right (when heading east) on a river that gives you access to lake Ossipee. It is very easy to find and has plenty of parking. You can head north towards ossipee lake which is all headway speed for power boater's going to and from Ossipee Lake, or head south to Heath Pond Bog natural area where there will be no power boats. I would think it would be a cool place to kayak, although I have never done it.

....... Winnipesaukee River
 

Directly across from Sawyer's Jewelry in Laconia, and close to Laconia City Hall, with free on street parking right there, the City has a concrete ramp, kayak/canoe/sup launch that slopes down to the Winnipesaukee River for easy launching from a smooth, sandy, shallow bend area in the river just before the river flows under a low road bridge. Is about 40-yards below the Avery Dam, and this time of year the dam outflow is usually zero. Can paddle the Winnipesaukee River through the City of Laconia, past Irwin Ford Toyota, the Laconia Police Station (wave as you paddle by), Belknap Marina and out to huge Lake Winnisquam which has a public sandy beach on the left. Winnipesaukee River continues through and beyond huge Lake Winnisquam, through Belmont, Tilton to Franklin where it joins the Pemigewasset River and becomes the Merrimack River that goes to the atlantic ocean in Newburyport, Mass.

A spot to re-launch or remove is the Fish & Game boat launch behind the Boulia Gourell Lumber in Laconia across the river from Belknap Marina, and Lake Winnisquam ..... plus you can paddle out to big Lake Winnisquam, hit the beach there on the left, then turn around and paddle back to the F & G state boat launch where you left either a car or a bicycle.

Is an urban river here, lots of homes, roads, bridges, old stone wall embankment walls with plenty to see, paddle, fish in extremely clean, slow class-1 water and there's almost no one else out there, on the Winnipesaukee River. Is probably very empty of paddlers and boats while above Lake Winnisquam.

Winnipesaukee River is the single outflow from Lake Winnipesaukee and the outflow in April is big white water, but now in September it is quiet. Fisherman catch either smallies or trout/salmon depending on the water temp.

Why ....... a-way back in 1909 ........ L L Bean himself used to go fly fishing for smallies from a canoe right here on the Winnipesaukee River cause this fishing here was such a hidden hot spot ....... no fool'n!:rolleye2: .... and, it still is today.

Try the Merrymeeting Marsh in Alton/New Durham right off of Rt.11


https://paddling.com/paddle/trips/me...1.1705&zoom=14

Thanks, all!

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two good stretches of the Saco (behind Main st in North Conway and starting at Saco Bound are also nice paddles. Be careful with the rain coming in...all rivers may become much different paddles this coming weekend.

Isn't that known as the Saco River booze cruise ....... so many different issues and problems ..... the police patrol that stretch in a police canoe with an electric motor or something?

So where did you end up going, if at all...?

Hill,
L'il Buddy actually wanted an "easy weekend" after his first full week of school, so we ended up playing cribbage (he's 8!) and war, had some Cider Bellies donuts and other sweets, went for walks and golf cart rides, spent time on a friend's boat (last swim of the year?), sat by fires, and looked up at the night sky. It looks like we missed a bluebird day to hike/kayak, but we also enjoyed each other's company.
The above suggestions are a great resource for the future, along with one a friend gave me for Crescent Lake to Lake Wentworth.

Cheers!