5 reasons to go deep into Maine Woods, a park twice the size of Acadia

Publish date: 2024-08-25

Earlier this month, the Appalachian Mountain Club added another large parcel of land to its Maine Woods Initiative, a public parkland project that has grown to nearly 130,000 contiguous acres with the recent acquisition of the 29,000-acre Barnard Forest.

The newly expanded outdoor space in the northern section of the Appalachian Trail is more than twice the size of Acadia National Park. Once the conservation group spruces up the forest, it too will be open to outdoor enthusiasts.

Much of the AMC’s land in central Maine had been owned by logging companies, paper manufacturers and other industries that did not want the public frolicking on their property. The initiative, which was established 20 years ago, takes the opposite tack. All hikers, bikers, Nordic skiers, snowshoers, anglers, birders and moose-seekers are welcome.

“These were formerly industrially owned timberlands,” said Steve Tatko, the AMC’s vice president of conservation research and land management. “We have a long tradition in Maine of public access to private lands, but it never was guaranteed. We want to conserve these places and guarantee permanent public access to these spaces indefinitely.”

The country’s oldest conservation group said Barnard Forest will need some light development before it can fully open up. However, its other 100,000 acres are accessible to outdoor enthusiasts of all persuasions. We spoke with Tatko and Nicole Zussman, the club’s president and chief executive, about five reasons to go deep into Maine Woods.

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Charming lodges

The organization runs three rustic lodges in addition to more than 30 tent sites and a pair of lean-tos. Barnard Forest does not have accommodations, but Tatko said the club may allow backcountry camping in the future.

If you prefer to sleep in the great indoors, the lodges offer private cabins and shared bunkhouses. Each property has “a different feel,” Zussman said. Prices vary by type and season, from $55 a night for a campsite to more than $500 for a cabin with a full meal plan in the fall. AMC members receive 20 percent off rates.

Gorman Chairback Lodge and Cabins was built as a private camp in 1867 and sits on the shores of Long Pond in the Katahdin Ironworks Jo-Mary Forest.
Little Lyford Lodge & Cabins, which dates to 1873 and is also in the KI Jo-Mary Forest, is one of the oldest continuously operating sporting camps in Maine.
Medawisla Lodge and Cabins, whose name means “loon” in the Abenaki language, is the youngest. The AMC opened it in 2017.

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At all three properties, guests socialize and dine in the main lodge, where breakfast and dinner are served. Amenities include complimentary canoes, kayaks, stand-up paddleboards and snowshoes, plus a communal wood-fire sauna and telescopes. The nightly rate includes the two main meals and a trail lunch.

“You can sit in our lodges with your friends, with your family,” said Zussman, whose organization will celebrate its 150th anniversary in 2026. “We have journals of stories going back literally 100 years that you can peruse.”

Trout and salmon fishing

Maine Woods is teeming with fish — some you can catch, others you can only admire.

To bring back threatened species, the AMC has reopened 110 miles of stream habitat and is restoring the west branch of the Pleasant River, a critical ecosystem for the endangered Atlantic salmon.

“We’ve got Atlantic salmon returning here for the first time in 180 years,” Tatko said.

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Though the salmon is a protected species, anglers can cast for eastern brook trout. Tatko said 90 percent of Maine’s trout habitat lives in the 100-Mile Wilderness region, a section of the Appalachian Trail.

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“These are native fish. They’re not stocked,” he said. “They live their lives out in these forests.”

Fly-fishing enthusiasts can also fish for landlocked salmon, which have been around since the Ice Age, when retreating glaciers trapped their ancestors. Tatko said Maine Woods has one of the country’s last populations of reproducing landlocked salmon. “That’s pretty exciting for anglers,” he said.

The fishing season runs from May through September, and a license is required. Visitors can acquire a permit through fly-fishing programs hosted by the AMC lodges; at local gas stations and sporting goods stores; or through the Maine Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife.

For anglers who prefer floating to wading, the club provides free canoes at its lakes and ponds. Visitors just need to bring a life jacket, paddles, fishing gear and luck.

Stargazing

In 2021, DarkSky International designated Maine Woods as an International Dark Sky Park, the first and only in New England. (Katahdin Woods and Waters National Monument, which is also in Maine’s North Woods, earned the International Dark Sky Sanctuary designation, which is given to remote destinations.)

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“It’s an exceptional place to view stars, due to it’s truly dark,” Zussman said. “We even had to work with some of the surrounding communities so that they would replace their lightbulbs.”

The AMC has maps that recommend stargazing viewpoints. From Oct. 15 through 22, Medawisla Lodge will hold its second-annual See the Dark Festival, which coincides with the waning gibbous lunar phase.

Cross-country skiing

Maine Woods has 90 miles of groomed cross-country ski trails, the largest free XC network in New England, according to Tatko. The trails wend through spruce fir forests and white pine groves, gently drop into valleys, jog alongside rivers and traverse mountain sides.

“If you want to ski in a forest has been in the Northeast for 7,000 years,” Tatko said, “this is one of the few places where you can do it.”

For a multiday winter adventure, the AMC organizes lodge-to-lodge ski and snowshoe excursions. The organization will transport your bags and can arrange a shuttle back to your car. You can also book a snowmobile for a lift on longer routes.

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Itinerary distances and difficulty levels vary, such as the 6.5-mile ski from Little Lyford to Gorman Chairback or the 18-mile journey from Little Lyford to Medawisla.

In the winter, Little Lyford and Gorman Chairback are only accessible by ski, snowshoe or dog sled. Four-legged mushing teams are welcome with a reservation.

Gravel biking

Maine Woods has 330 miles of gravel roads, some of which were used by loggers, and plans to add 65 more miles of bike trails in Barnard Forest. For those new to the sport, gravel biking falls somewhere between cycling to work and barreling down a single-track mountain trail.

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“It’s much more approachable,” Tatko said. “More and more people are finding it as a creative way to engage their families who may have different skills and abilities.”

The sport is popular spring through fall. Come winter, swap our your gravel grinder for a fat-tire bike.