The Main Stem of the Boquet, the steepest river in New York state in terms of vertical drop from its origins to where it empties into Lake Champlain, begins in the upper reaches of Dix Mountain in the town of Keene and flows through the towns of Willsboro, Whallonsburg, Wadhams, Elizabethtown, and Lewis.

How to get there

Fishing access is plentiful, including these parking areas: Noblewood Park, Willsboro (mouth of the river,) Fish Ladder, Willsboro, North of Elizabethtown, county Route 8, and Gilligan Lane in New Russia, just off of state Route 9.

Fishing

The lower end, mostly below Willsboro, is home to a great spring salmon run as the fish spawn from Lake Champlain. The state stocks landlocked salmon in the lower reaches of the Boquet, along with brown and brook trout upstream. Essex County also routinely stocks trout in the river, including some hefty 2-year-old browns.