“What happens to me when I cross the Piscataqua and plunge rapidly into Maine at a cost of seventy-five cents in tolls? I cannot describe it. I do not ordinarily spy a partridge in a pear tree, or three French hens, but I do have the sensation of having received a gift from a true love.”

E. B. White, award-winning children’s author (1977)

Like me, E.B. White was a New Yorker by birth and lived in and loved Maine. Though the first toll as you head north is now $2.80, Maine’s simple beauty still draws you in and gives you your money’s worth.

 I’ve been traveling up Route 95 to our vacation house in Maine since 1983, but it’s interesting how you often don’t see things in plain sight unless something draws your attention. Only a few years ago, I noticed a little green sign standing in the highway median. It marked a spot where a small river I hadn’t noticed before crossed under the highway. I started looking for more green signs in the median and, to my surprise, found fifteen river crossings between the bridge over the mighty Piscataqua River at the Maine-New Hampshire border and my exit 75 at Auburn.

The name “Piscataqua” is an anglicized Abenaki native American word meaning a river with a strong, rapid current. It starts in Salmon Falls near Berwick, Maine (site of the first water-powered sawmill in America) and empties into the ocean at the Gulf of Maine east of Portsmouth, New Hampshire.

Near Exit 2 in Kittery, Maine, the highway crosses the tidal Spruce Creek. The creek drops 60 feet from the headwaters in Eliot, Maine. It flows south and southeasterly through the heavily populated town of Kittery before emptying into 2.5 square miles of clam flats and joining the Piscataqua River.

Near Exit 5, the good-size, tidal York River is hard to miss. It flows from Eliot, Maine, to York Harbor, and its Abenaki name is Agamenticus, which means “beyond-the-hill-little-cove.” The federal government designated the York River as part of the National Wild and Scenic Rivers System in 2023.

Near Exit 11, the sign for the Cape Neddick River wasn’t in the median but off to the side of the road last I looked. It’s in the town of York and rises at the outlet of Chases Pond and flows east to the Atlantic Ocean, reaching its mouth at Cape Neddick Harbor near the village of Cape Neddick.

I saw the small Josias River sign a few years ago but recently couldn’t find it, perhaps due to highway work in the area. (It should be somewhere between Exits 11 and 15.) The river enters the Gulf of Maine in Ogunquit, where it and the Ogunquit River come together at Perkins Cove, a popular artist and tourist area. Like many geographical features, it has gone by various names, including Four Mile Brook. The ultimate name arose from the Littlefield family, the first recorded settlers in Wells, which once included Ogunquit. Josiah Littlefield owned considerable property along the river and built and operated a sawmill at the falls on the river for several years. This resulted in locals referring to it as “Josiah’s river.” Josiah Littlefield was abducted and taken to Canada in 1708 during the French and Indian Wars, where he spent two years seeking his freedom and buying it, only to be killed in a Native American attack in 1712, a couple of years after his return. The river was named in his memory.

Near Exit 15 is the tidal Ogunquit River, which eventually flows into the Gulf of Maine at Perkins Cove.

Near Exit 17, the Webhannet River, whose watershed includes five tributaries and is contained entirely within the town of Wells, Maine. The watershed comprises 1,510 acres of land under conservation, including 1,167 acres of estuary salt marsh and uplands protected by the Rachel Carson National Wildlife Refuge. The river flows into Wells Harbor, then empties into the Gulf of Maine between jetties.

Near Exit 25, the almost thirty-mile York County Mousam River crosses under 95. Its primary source is Mousam Lake, located between the towns of Shapleigh and Acton, and it flows into the Atlantic Ocean just west of Kennebunk Beach. The Mousam River is one of the most heavily dammed rivers currently in Maine, with a total of 13 (excluding major and minor tributaries).

Also, in the area of Exit 25, the Kennebunk River crosses. It rises in central York County, at the junction of Carlisle Brook and Lords Brook in the town of Lyman and flows generally southeast, past the town center of Kennebunkport, where it becomes navigable. It enters the Atlantic in Kennebunkport, approximately one-half mile downstream from the town center.

The 136-mile Saco River crosses under Interstate 95 near Exit 32. It rises at Saco Lake in Crawford Notch, New Hampshire, and flows south-southeast before crossing into Oxford County, Maine. After running through six hydropower stations, the river enters York County. It enters Saco Bay on the Atlantic with Camp Ellis in Saco on the north shore and Hills Beach in Biddeford on the south shore. It supplies drinking water to roughly 250,000 people in thirty-five towns. The origin of “Saco” is attributed to an Eastern Abenaki language word meaning “land where the river comes out.” The Saco is a popular recreational river, drawing an estimated 3,000 to 7,000 people per summer weekend for canoeing, sport fishing, and camping. There are many sand beaches, and free camping is allowed on some of them, but campfires require a permit.

The Stroudwater River, mainly in Cumberland County, Maine, crosses 95 as a small stream near Exit 46. The river begins at Duck Pond in Buxton. It grows through Buxton, Gorham, Westbrook, and finally, Portland before emptying into the Fore River at Stroudwater Falls in Portland. The Fore River Sanctuary, a nature preserve with footpaths and wooden bridges over wetlands, is located near the confluence of the Stroudwater and Fore Rivers.

The Presumpscot River crosses 95 near Exit 52. It is located in Cumberland County, Maine, and is the main outlet of Sebago Lake. In addition to Sebago Lake’s primary source, four significant tributaries of the river are the Pleasant River, the Little River, Mill Brook, and the Piscataqua River. The Presumpscot flows through the Standish, Windham, Gorham, Westbrook, Portland, and Falmouth communities before emptying into Casco Bay at Falmouth. Sawmills were built on the river during the 1660s. General Samuel Waldo built the first Maine paper mill on the river at Falmouth in 1731. Seven dams impede water flow as it travels from Sebago Lake to the ocean, some of which produce hydroelectric power. The 48-acre Presumpscot River Nature Preserve is located in North Deering and was purchased and preserved in 2001. In August 2014, Portland Trails preserved 20 acres of land in the Presumpscot River estuary in Falmouth around Mile Pond.

Trickles of the wide-ranging Piscataqua River cross under 95 two times, near both Exit 55 and Exit 56.

The Pleasant River crosses under 95 near Exit 62. It originates in Gray and parallels U.S. Route 202 as it flows southwesterly through Windham to discharge into the Presumpscot River. Except for a few cascades over exposed bedrock, the river has a fairly low gradient through the Presumpscot Formation of silt and clay marine mud with localized sandy pockets. Early water power surveys found suitable Pleasant River locations for grist, shook (for making wooden boxes), and lumber mills. The Maine Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife stocks the river with brook and brown trout.

The last river I cross driving up 95 to my exit is the Royal River at Exit 71. It’s a small river that originates in Sabbathday Lake in New Gloucester and flows northeasterly into Auburn and then south through New Gloucester (via the Royal River Reservoir), Gray, and North Yarmouth into Casco Bay at Yarmouth. The Native Americans called the river Westcustogo River (meaning muddy) or Pumgustuck River (falls at mouth of river). During the 1700s and 1800s, the Yarmouth River, as it was then known, was a source of economic growth for Yarmouth as it provided the power for the many mills. The river is named after William Royall (1595–1676), one of the first European settlers in the area, though the official name omits the second L. The Royal River is mentioned in several of Maine-native Stephen King’s novels, including The Body, when the boys cross the Royal River, only to be attacked by leeches, Salem’s Lot, and Rita Hayworth and Shawshank Redemption.

Driving up the Route 95 corridor gives you only a taste of the river systems in the state. Overall, Maine has approximately 31,752 miles of river, of which 123.3 miles of two rivers are designated as wild & scenic.