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Daytripping on the Ellis River, Andover Maine

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Raymond, ME
This gem of a quickwater river (current about 2 mph) runs from just south of Mooselookmeguntic Lake in the Rangeley area to its junction with the Androscoggin River at Rumford Point. The Ellis runs through a mix of agrilands ( cattle farms and potato fields) and a more northern feeling forest. The predominant trees are oaks , silver maple and pine with some extensive stands of hemlock.

Similar in scenery to what you will find on the Saco River, but with more mountain views of the eastern Mahoosuc Range and Oxford Hills, the Ellis is much quieter. It features an almost constant sandy bottom with sandbars at each bend. The lower four miles before the confluence with the Androscoggin have less sandy areas and more rock. There is one minor rapid which unfortunately dries up with low water.

Anyone traversing Route 2 might consider a trip to this area. It is easy to spot a bike at the take out as its only about six miles from the put in. The river curves considerably. The road does not.


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Put in at the Lovejoy Covered Bridge just off Rt 5 in South Andover. Never busy . Ample parking

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We saw an eagle, several turkey vultures, two elusive mink in addition to the cattle who were very interested in our dog. The take out was quite steep..fifteen feet up a sandy bank. The put in the same. We saw moose and deer tracks but no other evidence of either.

This seldom canoed river sees little to no maintenance but all blowdowns could be gotten around. Camping is possible except for the last four miles before the Androscoggin. There are no "Posted " signs. The river seemed relatively clean though there is a beer can or two in the campfire in my picture. The length of the river is about 17 miles from Andover. About 12 from where we put in.
 
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Mean looking herd of cows there! Nice TR and pics. I get to on a trip next week.
 
I'm a local Physical Education Teacher who will have a class trip on the Ellis in October.
Part of the class is learning how to research a trip. The full boat of logistics. They are required to review several sources and read user reviews and comments. After the trip, they must file a trip report and submit it to me with other information. To exceed the standard and achieve a 4 (highest grade) they must file a real authentic Trip Report on a paddler venue much like this one.
Cheers to Foliage Paddling. We will be accessing the river via private property with permission to paddle the lower river toward our takeout on the Androscoggin at Rumford Point. Cheers to the next generation of River Runners!
 
I'm a local Physical Education Teacher who will have a class trip on the Ellis in October.

BEOUTSIDE, welcome to site membership!

Feel free to ask any questions and to post messages, photos and videos, and to start threads, in our many forums. Please read Welcome to CanoeTripping and Site Rules! Also, please add your location to your profile, which will cause it to show under your avatar, as this is a geographic sport. How to do that, and how to use many other of the site's technical features, are explained in Features: Help and How-To Running Thread. We look forward to your participation in our canoe community.

*******************

As a tangent, the missing pictures in Kim's OP provide an example as to why I urge everyone to upload their pictures to our server rather than linking them from a disappear-able internet picture hosting site, as I explain HERE.
 
I'm a local Physical Education Teacher who will have a class trip on the Ellis in October.
Part of the class is learning how to research a trip. The full boat of logistics. They are required to review several sources and read user reviews and comments. After the trip, they must file a trip report and submit it to me with other information. To exceed the standard and achieve a 4 (highest grade) they must file a real authentic Trip Report on a paddler venue much like this one.
Cheers to Foliage Paddling. We will be accessing the river via private property with permission to paddle the lower river toward our takeout on the Androscoggin at Rumford Point. Cheers to the next generation of River Runners!
That’s so cool. I’m also a PE teacher, but am not able to do stuff like that. Fortunately I have a Boy Scout troop to get outside more frequently.
 
For some reason I cannot see the pics. I just get photobucket saying sorry photos are unavailable.
Is it just because it is an old thread, or can others still see the pics?
Jim
 
For some reason I cannot see the pics. I just get photobucket saying sorry photos are unavailable.
Is it just because it is an old thread, or can others still see the pics?
Jim
It’s an old thread. Those image hosting sites don’t keep photos forever.
 
For some reason I cannot see the pics. I just get photobucket saying sorry photos are unavailable.
Is it just because it is an old thread, or can others still see the pics?

It’s an old thread. Those image hosting sites don’t keep photos forever.

As I've now mentioned in several threads, many photos are disappearing because members (including me) linked them from internet sites instead of uploading the photos to this site's server, which will preserve them as long as this site lives. Further explanation here:

 
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