HANOVER — Moran's Landing, a hand-carry canoe and kayak public access site to the Androscoggin River off Route 2, can now accommodate people with disabilities, drift boats and small boats.

More than $10,000 of recent work made possible by donations from local businesses and an Auburn contractor, was completed last week.

Improvements included building a new concrete boat ramp for very small watercraft, additional parking and handicap parking with proper signage, erosion control efforts, stump grindings along the road edges, and general groundskeeping like brush cutting, tree trimming and raking, according to Ferg Lea and Hiram Towle.

"Before the work, it was hand-carry from the parking lot to the water, and then over a small sand bar — actually rocks — along the shore and into the river in some moving current," Lea, chairman of the Androscoggin River Watershed Council, said by e-mail on Tuesday afternoon.

The landing is near the confluence of the Bear River and the Androscoggin, just easterly of the Newry-Hanover town line where Route 26 leaves Route 2 toward Grafton Notch State Park.

"Much was done prior to my involvement, including a very nice concrete boat ramp to accommodate drift boats and other small boats," Towle, of Mountain Operations at Sunday River Ski Resort in Newry, said by e-mail on Tuesday.

Lea said the ramp enters shallow water, which isn't suitable for larger motorboats.

"People would have to be able to lift their boats over the shallows," he said. "That section of river really isn't suitable for motors anyway because of rocks and shallow areas below the site."

The improvements were spearheaded by the Androscoggin River Watershed Council, with help from the Upper Androscoggin Anglers Association, the Mahoosuc Land Trust, Maine Handicapped Skiing, Jeffrey M. Stern's Fiddlehead Environmental Consulting, the Land for Maine's Future fund, and the Maine Department of Conservation.

Contractors included Steve Swasey Excavating of Andover; Richard Douglass Excavating, Jack Cross Excavating, Chadbourne Tree Farms, and D. A. Wilson Excavation, all of Bethel; and Environmental Projects Inc. of Auburn.

"It was great seeing so many groups being able to work together for a common goal," Lea said. "Not only did these groups chip in, but many local excavators, and even one from the Auburn area helped out by donating materials, labor and equipment."

The effort will be recognized during a short celebration at the site starting with hot dogs and refreshments being served by Stony Brook Recreation at 1 p.m. on Sunday, Oct. 4.

At 1:30 p.m., Lea said, "There will be a brief celebration to note all of the hard work that all of the groups and individuals did to make this a reality."

A memorial to the late Rocky Freda of Sun Valley Sports in Bethel and president of the Upper Androscoggin Anglers Association, will be held prior to a canoe and kayak paddle downstream about four or five miles to the Hanover boat launch.

Paddlers can gather at Moran's Landing at 12:30 p.m. for a vehicle shuttle to Hanover.

Lea said the paddle fall flotilla should be arriving at the Hanover take-out by about 3:30 p.m.

"This event will mark one of two celebrations this fall announcing the expansion of the Androscoggin Canoe Trail to a trail running the 168-mile length of the Androscoggin River," Lea said. "The Watershed Council has been working with many of the site owners for the past two years to make the trail a reality."

Androscoggin River Trail signs will soon be going up, and maps and descriptions of the trail will published on the council Web site at www.androscogginwatershed.org.

To register for the fall flotilla or for more information, call 527-2163 or 824-3806.

tkarkos@sunjournal.com