St. George River

By Mike Perry

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Paddle name: St. George River Nearest town: Thomaston Region: Midcoast Water type: River Difficulty: Beginner Length: 5 miles Put-in: Put in at the Maine State Public Boat Access facility in Thomaston, located on Knox Street 0.5 miles south of the traffic light in downtown Thomaston. Maps: Get driving directions from MapQuest. View a topo map from Maptech MapServer.

Paddle with the flow of history on a 5-mile excursion down the tidal portion of the St. George River to the remains of Fort St. Georges in the town of St. George. As you enjoy the solitude of the river it may be hard to imagine that during the 19th century more wooden ships were built in Thomaston than in any other place in the country.

For 100 years, this was the shipbuilding capital of America, and the St. George was an exceptionally busy river. Put in at the Maine State Public Boat Access facility in Thomaston, located on Knox Street 0.5 miles south of the traffic light in downtown Thomaston.

Mayo Park, located on a grassy knoll above the river, provides a fabulous spot for a picnic. Restrooms, picnic tables and charcoal grates are available. If you want someone else to do the culinary work, the Harbor View Tavern (open Wednesday through Saturday) a few yards away offers many tasty choices. Refer to the Delorme Maine Atlas and Gazetteer map No. 8 for help in getting to the boat launch site.

BIRDLIFE, BEAUTY APLENTY

We enjoyed an outing here the first week of October and were dazzled by the beauty of the river and by the variety of birdlife experienced along the way. The rattling calls of kingfishers echoed from shore to shore as they swooped from tree limb to tree limb ahead of us, their white neck stripes flashing brilliantly in the sun. They looked like flying darts as they torpedoed by us in their mad dash to the next perch.

Blue herons patiently stood at rigid attention gazing out over the water as we glided past. As we stopped to observe a flock of black ducks circling out over the water, a bald eagle swooped down out of a large pine tree and passed a few feet over us on its way out to the river. The raucous calls of blue jays and the sweet songs of chickadees found their way out to the water from the canopy of oak, beech and birch trees along the shoreline. The occasional sumac tree provided a glorious splash of crimson at water's edge.

A lobster boat worked the middle of the river. Country music songs drifted our way from the boat, mixing with the distinctive throbs of the diesel engine and the frantic calls of gulls hovering above the transom looking for morsels of fish to gobble down.

BOULDERS REVEAL GLACIAL PAST

Each river we paddle here in Maine has a unique characteristic. The one characteristic of the lower St. George that became more apparent each mile we traveled was the glacial legacy left in the form of huge boulders sitting at river's edge on the western side of the river. Every half-mile we came upon a boulder from 7 to 10 feet tall perched at a precarious angle on a riverside ledge. We counted seven in all on our way down to Fort St. Georges. The fifth boulder in the line had a diagonal crack in it that transformed the rock into a giant head sporting a sly Mona Lisa smile. We got out and took pictures of ourselves dwarfed by the immense head.

As you leave the boat launch area, look far down the river. It will be obvious where the fort is. Look for the narrowest part of the river where a promontory of land juts into the river from the eastern shoreline. This provided the best surveillance and gun coverage out over the river. The fort was built in 1809 in an effort to keep the British from sailing up the river and destroying the shipbuilding capacity of Thomaston.

All that remains today are two shallow depressions choked with weeds and a half circle of 6-foot-high earthworks facing south out over the river. Although state-owned, there is no land access to the fort. You will have the grassy bluff to yourself. There are two picnic tables in a grove of oak trees near the edge of the bluff. The sound of the wind in the oak leaves is soothing, and the southerly sun will have you snoozing in short order on the soft carpet of golden grass.

GREAT PICNIC SPOT WITH VIEWS

This is another superb spot for a picnic lunch. Canoeists can land either on the north or south side of the bluff. Try to get an early-morning start. The open ocean is only 10 miles downriver from Thomaston, and stiff midday sea breezes are the norm. We timed our outing to paddle back from the fort with the incoming tide and with a gentle breeze pushing us effortlessly along.

With little paddling effort needed, we fully enjoyed the views of the Camden Hills towering over the town to the north. To the east of town, the impressive tan towers of the Dragon Products cement works reached to the sky. To the left of the towers, we spied Montpelier, a replica of the magnificent white mansion that Henry Knox, George Washington's secretary of war, retired to in 1795.

Today's cement factory towers provide clues to Thomaston's other flourishing industry during the heyday of shipbuilding. The export of lime powder, used in the making of plaster and cement, was very profitable. Because lime powder was an extremely dangerous cargo to carry, it brought a lucrative fee. Lime powder easily reacted with water to create a highly combustible material. There was no shortage of water in and around the transporting ships, and no shortage of danger.

At one time, 160 lime kilns operated in the Thomaston area. The lime was intensely heated by wood-fueled fires to release the water molecules from the lime. Thomaston must have been a very smoky town during that period.

Before ending your outing explore the inner harbor around the boat launch area. A number of marinas are busy taking boats out of the water and getting them ready for winter storage. Paddle a half-mile up the river under the River Road bridge. Beyond the high bluff on the right once sat the Maine State Prison from 1824 to 2002.

It seems strange to pass by the large expanse of peaceful grassland that now sits where brick walls and barbed wire once housed a city of prison inmates. Indian summer still has a few warm surprises left for us well into November. The St George River is a great place to celebrate the passing of the seasons, and to immerse yourself in the midst of Maine's maritime heritage and history.

Michael Perry is former director of the L.L. Bean Outdoor Discovery Program and founder of Dreams Unlimited, specializing in multi-media programs about the outdoors.