How old are your kids? I have paddled up from the Androscoggin boat launch (upstream of the Errol Dam) up to the upper end of Umbagog. It’s about a 1.5 miles and pretty pleasant. But, for younger kids, it may be bit of a challenging paddle as you are going against a gentle current.
Farther up Rt. 16, into Maine, there is a private campground right on Lake Azischohos (created by the dammed up Magalloway River) - https://blackbrookcove.com/
Personally, I haven’t camped at any of these lake campsites. My “camp” (cabin) in western ME is 20 minutes from Umbagog. So, I am usually just doing day paddles on Umbagog/Richardson lakes chain, or white watering the class II runs on the Androscoggin below Errol and Pontook dams.
You can leave car at the Errol Dam on the Androscoggin and paddle in. Definitely easier than paddling up the lake if you are going up to the northern end. You still need to check in at the office.
Of the two island sites near the Magalloway, I prefer R28. At least last time I was there, R29 had a tent platform that took up a fair amount of space. I’m OK sleeping on the ground and prefer the open space. Other than that, both are nice.
I hadn’t really thought about swimming. I did take a swim at R28 once, and I remember the bottom being mucky, at least on the side closest to the Magalloway. The upside is that on two occasions we saw moose feeding along the narrow strip of land the separates Umbagog from the Magalloway. There is good swimming at Molls Rock - I think it is the group site at R27. Big ledge you can jump off into the lake. Nice view from there too. No matter where you are, I don’t think finding a place to swim would be a problem.
The area around Sunday Cove and the Rapid River is nice. Fewer campsites, but there are a few cabins on private land.
@sing The kids are 7 and 9 and just starting out. They’ll ride with my wife and I in tandems. I was not confident of making it all the way from the state park on the south shore up to Sunday Cove on a Friday afternoon with the evening closing in, or even making it to R28 or R29, especially if there’s a north wind. But paddling from the dam looks much shorter and wind should be much less of a factor.
Nice to have a camp up there. I’m jealous. Do you keep sleds for the winter?
Give yourself several hours to paddle up with your tandems, especially with younger children. Although with lots of trees lining much of the river, a north wind and combine with the current to make the paddle up to Umbagog harder.
I used to backback and camp quite a bit all over New England (but mostly in the Whites) and my wife would join me every so often. When we decided to have kids, I knew my backpacking adventures were going to be closed out for awhile. So, we decided to look for a land/camp in the area that I really enjoyed for hiking and flyfishing (this is before my kayaking days). The camp was on the northern edge of where I want to be. So, yeah, it was near perfect. After our two boys came, they really enjoyed the camp until both developed bad pollen energies when they were 7-9 years old. They spent a lot of time swimming, fishing until the allergies came. Then they liked the camp in the winter because we used to sled, ski and snowshoe until they lost interest as “tweens.” These days, Its mostly me going up to get in some flyfishing and white water kayaking on the Androscoggin.
