Royal River Park

This is an idyllic community park, offering a 1-mile paved trail along the river (along with side trails), with panels explaining the site’s historical significance. Picnic tables, playing fields and a summer concert series round out its offerings. Lots of dogs and dog owners take advantage of this refuge, so close to downtown. It is wheelchair accessible.

The falls are loud and dramatic, but they quickly resolve into a wide, calm river. People sometimes fish in these quiet waters.

The park was once a busy site with several mills — including a grist mill for grains, a carding mill for wool, and a fulling mill for woven cloth — starting around 1805. The site was expanded in the 1860s by the Yarmouth Paper Company, and then the Forest Paper Company, into a vast mill for soda pulp, used in paper making. It was the biggest of its kind in the world in 1909, with 275 employees. The mill closed in 1923 and burned in 1931.

Directions: The best place to park is main entrance, across from the Yarmouth Water District offices on East Elm Street, about 0.3 mile east of Andy’s Handy Store at the corner of Main Street. You can also park at the Rowe Elementary School (best when school is not in session). There are additional entrances to the park from Bridge Street and via the pedestrian bridge accessed from Forest Falls Drive. Check out the town map in my slideshow.