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43°03′54″N 70°54′18″W / 43.0651°N 70.9049°W / 43.0651; -70.9049

River in New Hampshire, United States

Lamprey River
Lamprey River in Newmarket, New Hampshire
Show map of New HampshireShow map of the United States
Location
Country	United States
State	New Hampshire
District	Rockingham County
Municipalities	Northwood, Deerfield, Raymond, Epping, Lee, Durham, Newmarket
Physical characteristics

Source	Meadow Lake
• location	Northwood
• coordinates	43°12′3″N 71°12′19″W / 43.20083°N 71.20528°W / 43.20083; -71.20528
• elevation	594 ft (181 m)

Mouth	Great Bay
• location	Newmarket
• coordinates	43°3′54″N 70°54′20″W / 43.06500°N 70.90556°W / 43.06500; -70.90556
• elevation	0 ft (0 m)
Length	50.2 mi (80.8 km)
Basin features
Tributaries
• left	Pawtuckaway River, North River, Little River
• right	North Branch River, Piscassic River

National Wild and Scenic River
Type	Recreational
Designated	November 12, 1996

The Lamprey River is a 50.2-mile-long (80.8 km) river in southeastern New Hampshire, the United States. It rises in Meadow Lake in Northwood, and flows south, then generally east through Raymond, Epping, Lee, Durham and finally Newmarket. Here, it meets Great Bay, a tidal inlet of the Atlantic Ocean, to which it is connected by a tidal estuary, the Piscataqua River. The river from the Bunker Pond Dam in Epping to the confluence with the Piscassic River is part of the designated National Wild and Scenic River System.

History

Segments of the river are rich in history. Saw- and gristmills which operated by water power were common along the river. The Wiswall Falls Mills Site in Durham is on the National Register of Historic Places. Originally a sawmill, the site was used subsequently to make knives, nuts and bolts, pitchforks, carriages, matches and wallpaper. Sites such as Wadleigh Falls show the remnants of old mills and the rich river culture that used to be. Located in Lee, the falls is the remains of a dam created to power a mill which fed a 150-acre (61 ha) mill pond at one point.

Wildlife

The shoreline of the Lamprey River, its floodplain and its wetlands provide a wide range of valuable wildlife habitats. Its anadromous fishery is one of the strongest in the Great Bay watershed. Such fish species that use the Lamprey River include shad, river herring, smelt and even Atlantic salmon. These fish are hatched in the river, then spend most of their lives out at sea, returning to the river to spawn. With the construction in 2012 of a fish ladder at Wiswall Dam in Durham, the fish species are able to move up the river as far as Wadleigh Falls Dam in Lee.

The river is also rich in species of freshwater mussels. The river is managed by the New Hampshire Fish and Game Department for several different types of game fish, including brook trout which is native to the river. Rainbow trout and brown trout are also stocked in many parts of the river but are not native to the area.

Lampreys are also present in the river. However, the Lamprey River derives its name from an early settler who lived in the area, John Lamprey, rather than the fish itself.

Setting

Along the banks are hardwood forests and numerous farms. The area is under pressure from suburban development as one of the fastest-growing areas in New England. There is a strong local culture surrounding the Lamprey River with several local events held on the river, including numerous town-run fishing derbies and the Lamprey River Canoe Race held annually in Epping.

During the course of its journey from the Saddleback Mountains in Northwood down to Newmarket, the Lamprey changes from a small torrential stream to a small tidal river. The river between these points has slow meanders and rapids, and small waterfalls such as Packers Falls in Durham.

References

^ NH GRANIT database
"Wiswall Falls Fish Ladder Construction". Lamprey River Advisory Committee. Retrieved July 12, 2022.
"Community Profiles: Newmarket, NH". NH Economic & Labor Market Information Bureau. Retrieved September 25, 2017.

External links

"The Lamprey River Watershed", NH Dept. of Environmental Services Environmental Fact Sheet 7
Lamprey River Advisory Committee
Epping Conservation Commission
"New Hampshire Glossary: Lamprey Eel" at Cowhampshireblog.com

Rivers of New Hampshire by drainage system

Gulf of Maine

Atlantic coastal tributaries	Blackwater River Browns River Drakes River Hampton River Hampton Falls River Little River Old River Taylor River
Merrimack River watershed	Baboosic Brook Back River Baker River Bear Brook Beards Brook Beaver Brook Beebe River Big River Black Brook Blackwater River Cockermouth River Cohas Brook Contoocook River East Branch Baker River East Branch Pemigewasset River Fowler River Frazier Brook Gridley River Gunstock River Lane River Little River (Big River) Little River (Merrimack River) Little Massabesic Brook-Sucker Brook Little Suncook River Lost River Mad River Melvin River Merrimack River Merrymeeting River Middle Branch Piscataquog River Moosilauke Brook Nashua River Newfound River Nissitissit River North Branch Contoocook River North Fork East Branch Pemigewasset River Nubanusit Brook Pemigewasset River Pennichuck Brook Piscataquog River Powwow River Purgatory Brook Red Hill River Salmon Brook Shedd Brook Smith River Soucook River Souhegan River South Branch Baker River South Branch Piscataquog River South Branch Souhegan River Spicket River Squam River Stony Brook Suncook River Tioga River Turkey River Warner River West Branch Mad River West Branch Souhegan River West Branch Warner River Winnipesaukee River
Merrymeeting Bay (Androscoggin River watershed)	Androscoggin River Chickwolnepy Stream Clear Stream Dead River Dead Diamond River East Branch Dead Diamond River Little Dead Diamond River Little Magalloway River Magalloway River Middle Branch Dead Diamond River Middle Branch Little Magalloway River Mollidgewock Brook Moose Brook Moose River Peabody River Rattle River South Branch Little Dead Diamond River Swift Diamond River West Branch Dead Diamond River West Branch Little Dead Diamond River West Branch Little Magalloway River West Branch Magalloway River West Branch Peabody River Wild River
Piscataqua River watershed	Bean River Bellamy River Berrys River Branch River Bunker Creek Cochecho River Ela River Exeter River Fresh River Isinglass River Jones Brook Lamprey River Little River (Brentwood) Little River (Exeter) Little River (Lamprey River) Mad River North River North Branch River Oyster River Pawtuckaway River Piscassic River Piscataqua River Rattlesnake River Salmon Falls River Squamscott River Winnicut River
Saco Bay (Saco River watershed)	Bearcamp River Beech River Chocorua River Cold River (Bearcamp River) Cold River Cutler River Dan Hole River Deer River Dry River East Branch Saco River East Branch Whiteface River East Fork East Branch Saco River Ellis River Little Cold River Lovell River Mad River Middle Branch Mad River Mill Brook New River Ossipee River Pequawket Brook Pine River Rocky Branch Saco River Sawyer River Shepards River South River South Branch Mad River Swift River (Bearcamp River) Swift River (Saco River) West Branch Whiteface River Wildcat Brook Wonalancet River

Long Island Sound

Connecticut River watershed

Protected areas of New Hampshire

Federal

National Historic Parks and Sites	Saint-Gaudens NHP
National Forests	White Mountain
National Trails	Appalachian Trail
National wild and scenic rivers	Lamprey River Nashua River Wildcat Brook
National Wildlife Refuges	Great Bay John Hay Silvio O. Conte Umbagog Wapack
Other protected areas	Great Bay National Estuarine Research Reserve

State

State parks	Ahern Androscoggin Annett Bear Brook Beaver Brook Falls Bedell Bridge Cardigan Chesterfield Gorge Clough Coleman Crawford Notch Daniel Webster Birthplace Deer Mountain Campground Dixville Notch Echo Lake Eisenhower Memorial Ellacoya Endicott Rock Forest Lake Fort Constitution Fort Stark Franconia Notch Franklin Pierce Homestead Gardner Memorial Wayside Governor Wentworth Historic Site Greenfield Hampton Beach Hannah Duston Memorial Jenness Jericho Mountain Kingston Lake Francis Lake Tarleton Madison Boulder Milan Hill Miller Mollidgewock Monadnock Moose Brook Mt. Sunapee Mt. Washington Nansen Ski Jump North Hampton Northwood Meadows Odiorne Point Pawtuckaway Pillsbury Pisgah Rhododendron Robert Frost Rollins Rye Harbor Sculptured Rocks Silver Lake Taylor Mill Umbagog Lake Wadleigh Wallis Sands Weeks Wellington Wentworth Wentworth–Coolidge Mansion White Island White Lake Winslow
State forests	Abbott Agnew Allen Alton Bay Ames Ammonoosuc Annett Annie Duncan Ashenden Ayers Ballard Bear Mountain Belknap Mountain Benton Big Island Black Mountain Blair Blue Job Mountain Bowditch-Runnels Cape Horn Carroll Casalis Chemung Cilley Connecticut Lakes Connecticut River Contoocook Conway Common Lands Cowden Craney Hill Cushman Davisville Davis-White Devils Slide District #5 Dodge Brook Eaton Fall Mountain Fay Feuer Foster & Colburn Fox Gay George Duncan Gile Gilmore Goodwin-Chandler Grant Green Mountain Hamel Harriman-Chandler Haven Hemenway Hodgman Honey Brook Hubbard Hill Huston-Morgan Hyland Hill Kearsarge Mountain Lang Station Lead Mine Leighton Litchfield Little Pine River Livermore Falls Lord Pines Lovewell Mountain Low Marshall Mascoma Mast Yard Max Israel Meadow Pond Merrimack River Merriman Mt. Major Nash Stream Nottingham Nursery Opechee Bay Page Page's Corner Paugus Bay Percy Pine River Piscataquog Powwow River Prescott Province Road Ragged Mountain Reed's Ferry Rock Rimmon Russell Russell-Abbott Russell-Shea Saltmarsh Pond Sanborn Scribner-Fellows Second Presidential Sentinel Mountain Shadow Hill Shaker Shieling Sky Pond Soucook River Southeast Stevens Pines Strawberry Hill Sugar Hill Swain Taylor Totten Trails Upton-Morgan Urban Forestry Center Vienna Smith Vincent Wade Walker Welton Falls West Iron Works Road White Farm William Thomas Woodman
Wildlife management areas	Cornish

Other

New Hampshire Department of Natural and Cultural Resources

Categories:

History

Wildlife

Setting

See also

References

External links