By Dawn De Busk

Staff Writer

CASCO — People plan weekends, days off and vacations around boating and swimming in the Lake Region.

This area of Maine is known for its pristine water quality and for its bevy of lakes and ponds from which to choose. However, the old adage, “Too much of good thing” came true during the 2023 boating season.  

Excessive rain this summer caused water levels to rise that in turn caused the closure of the Songo Lock, which connects Brandy Pond to Sebago Lake.

While the closure of the Songo Lock put a dent in the boating numbers, those numbers evened out when the Lock stayed open during a relatively dry September, according to Jim Britt who heads the Maine Department of Agriculture, Conservation and Forestry.

“In 2023, there were 50 days of Songo Lock closures due to high water and flood conditions,” he said.

“Anecdotally, given the use and the weather I recall, I would say we trended at or above the 2022 numbers,” he said.

“In 2022, the boating totals from May 1 to Sept. 30 were 3,728 boats, or approximately 7,456 openings at Songo Lock. The Lock was open to boat traffic for the entire month of September. By approximating September to be the same as 2022, I estimate there were 2,117 boats, or approximately 4,234 openings, at Songo Lock in 2023,” he said.

Britt did not yet have the official report for the full month of September, he said.

But, he had all the data for May, June, July and August for boat using the Lock, for people using SLSP day use and the campground.

This season, the Lock was closed for about two weeks in May, June and August.

In July, the Lock was closed for about one week (8 days) and the number of boats using the Lock was still half the amount.

In July ’22, the lock transported 1,592 boats along the Songo River. In July ’23, 846 took that route. Last year in August, 1,150 boats used the Lock; this year in August, 745 boats passed through. The Lock was shut to boat traffic for 13 days due to high water.

July and August are typically the months when more people boat.

Compared to July and August, June’s boating numbers at the Lock are historically lower.

Last year in June, 410 boats used the Lock. This June, 101 boats caught it on a day it was open because the Lock was shut to boat traffic for 13 days.

The high-running water kept the Locks shut for 16 days in May. The park counted 136 boats this year, compared to 275 boats in May 2022.

Additionally, the rainy days really put a chill on the number of visitors to the day use area.

The overall number of people who visited Sebago State Park dropped 35 percent compared to last year. As September came to a close, the day use area had 110,854 users compared to 171,470 for that same time period last year.

“June’s weather is the primary cause of the decrease from 2023 to 2022,” Britt said.

In June, there was a 61 percent drop in the number of people going to the day use area, which includes a boat ramp and large parking area. 

In June ’22, the number of visitors was 26,890. This June, that dropped to 10,286.

During the months when vacations and summer activities are at full tilt, the number of visitors to the day use area dropped by 37 percent in July and by 44 percent in August.

Last year in July, 53,489 people spent time at the day use area. This past July, 33,276 spent time outdoors there. In August ’22, 46,009 engaged in recreational activities at day use. This August, 25,761 dodged rainy day and were able days to spend time at the park.

Around the region, other state parks near bodies of water saw a decrease in visitors compared to 2022.

During the spring, Sebago Lake has the similar number of visitors as Two Lights State park. In June of last year, 27,307 went to Two Lights compared to 26,890 going to Sebago Lake. Two Lights had 7,672 visitors this June compared to about 10,000 at Sebago.

In May, SLSP had 13,047 visitors for an    18 percent decrease from last year.  This May, Two Lights had 15,248 visitors, which is 23 percent drop from the previous May.

During the summer, Sebago Lake has numbers closer to Range Pond State Park, which is located in Poland about 45 minutes to an away. Another park with water is Scarborough Beach. All three parks usually average 54,000 visitors in July. This July, Sebago Lake had one-third fewer visitors at 33,276, compared to 44,173 at Range Pond, and 36,203 at Scarborough. 

In August 2023, Range Pond saw a 6.4 percent increase with almost 30,000 visitors. Scarborough Beach experienced a small drop of 7 percent with about 34,000 in August. Meanwhile, SLSP had almost half the number of visitors, dipping to 25,751 after a whopping 46,000 crossed the day use gates in 2022.

When looking at campground statistics, the number of campers in May rose by 43 percent, from 5,089 last year to 7,315 this year.

For July and August, the number of campers stayed close to last year’s number, with 45,126 campers (3.5% increase) in July, and 39,275 campers (2% decrease) in August 2023.

People seem committed to getting outdoors and using the state park. Sometimes, people did it despite the weather. Other times, folks lucked out with good weather during a planned trip to the state park.

“Every time people visit a Maine State Park, they discover something new that reminds them how amazing these places are and the positive impact of spending time in nature,” Britt said.