Stories, Gear, and Outdoor Culture

The first ever Whitewater Symposium in New England, The Nor'Easter event put on by Outdoor New England, NRS, and Jackson Kayak brought together paddlers from all over the country to learn, paddle, and connect. 

January 1, 2024 was the first time Mill City Park ever hosted the event.

“Oh it was amazing, the crowd was huge. It was bigger than I thought," one competitor said. "A lot of locals which was really cool to see.”

Mill City Park has the potential to transform Franklin from a forgotten mill city to a viable player in the Lakes Region’s tourism industry

With an ambitious master plan anchored by an in-river whitewater park with an adjacent 13-acre land-based park and a 21-acre conservation area

By late 2016, the city began to embrace the park idea as a driver of economic development and even created an economic development team

Less than two months after its grand opening during Winni River Days, the Franklin Whitewater Park is already proving its ability to attract paddlers.

Six years of work at transforming the Three Rivers City from a former mill town to that of a modern micro-urban community reached its goal on June 17 with the ribbon-cutting ceremony for Mill City Park’s first river feature — a stationary wave that allows kayakers to hone their skills while remaining in one spot — and an amphitheater for spectators to watch the river activities.

Now that the mills are long shuttered, the river is making a comeback, not as a driver of industry, but as a nexus of recreation and exploration of the natural world.

It’s been a long time coming but the first whitewater park in New England will be officially opened Friday – not that the lack of ribbon-cutting has kept kayakers from trying it out for months.

While highlighting a unique relationship between two nonprofit groups, and to the delight of prospective snow kayaker Belle England, Boat Bash Snow Crash returned Saturday to cap off the 60th Franklin Winter Carnival.