The perfect way to cap your New England vacation is with a visit to western Maine, and a romantic sojourn over the waters of the Sebago-Long Lake waterway aboard the SONGO RIVER QUEEN II, a modern replica of a Mississippi River stern wheeler, large enough to accommodate in excess of 300 people.

The long ride down the Songo River was the inspiration for one of the poems by Longfellow. This waterway remains among the cleanest and prettiest in North America, and the meandering trail and twisting charm of the Songo River is virtually unchanged from the days when Longfellow, Nathaniel Hawthorne, and Ralph Waldo Emerson enjoyed the steamboat rides on the waterway that once reached the Atlantic Ocean.

In the 1830's,when the Cumberland and Oxford Canal was built, the Atlantic Ocean was connected with inland Maine through a series of 27 locks. The only lock still operational is the Songo Lock, which remains unchanged....still operated by hand as it was in the 19th century. The SONGO RIVER QUEEN II takes you to the historic locks, which provide a lift of about 5 feet between the two lakes, and passes two swing bridges, which pivot sideways on an axis to allow passage of boats with superstructures too high to pass underneath. These bridges are also among the last remaining of this type, which was once widely used throughout the United States.

A throwback to the days of the canal system are the land-locked salmon that populate the Sebago-Long Lake waterway. Much of the Songo Lock trip winds through Sebago State Park, where the surrounding land has been maintained in its original state. It is heavily populated with deer and other wildlife, which can sometimes be seen from the decks of the SONGO RIVER QUEEN II.