The Maine Outdoor Film Festival is Back for Its 14th Year
June 3, 2026
Second-Half-of-Summer Event Grab Bag
July 21, 2026
2026 is a great year to check out this North Woods gem!
Rough and ready
This August marks Katahdin Woods and Waters National Monument’s 10-year anniversary. Katahdin Woods and Waters, or KAWW, is an 87,500-acre swath of the Maine Woods that’s managed by the National Park Service. Just east of Baxter State Park, it contains stretches of three of Maine’s most pristine rivers – the East Branch of the Penobscot, Wassataquoik Stream, and the Seboeis River.
KAWW has had a bumpy first decade. The land, a donation from Roxanne Quimby, co-founder of the natural beauty products company, Burt’s Bees, was brought into the federal estate through the Antiquities Act, a law that allows Presidents to establish national monuments, effectively bypassing Congress.
Typically, a national monument designation increases environmental protections and reduces natural resource development on a tract of land already managed by the federal government. This was the case with Bears Ears National Monument, which was also established by President Obama in 2016 and comprised lands managed by the Bureau of Land Management. KAWW, on the other hand, was a gift of private land that was absorbed into the federal estate to protect environmental and cultural resources.
Most other public lands, like national parks or wildlife refuges, are created through an act of Congress. This helps explain why KAWW isn’t a national park and why its designation was controversial. It’s not a national park because back in 2016 (and still today) Maine’s senior Senator, Susan Collins, didn’t support it. If federal leaders don’t support a national park in their state, the concept doesn’t get very far in Congress.
It was controversial for many reasons. Proposals to carve a national park out of the Maine North Woods have been around since Thoreau first traveled this region (he specifically called for federal protection of the area). In the 1990s, a group called RESTORE the Maine Woods was pushing the concept of a 3+ million-acre national park that surrounded Baxter and extended to the Canadian border. Suffice it to say the idea was much more popular in Boston than Millinocket. Even a smaller national park like the one proposed by Quimby met stiff resistance. Obama’s use of the Antiquities Act felt, to many, like an end-run around the public and Congress. There’s still a sign on Swift Brook Road, the main southern access route, that hangs on a tree just outside of the monument boundary and declares: “This bridge owner says NATIONAL PARK NO!”
Of course, plenty of Mainers, both locals and from farther away, fully and wholeheartedly supported the monument and still hope it will become a park when the political winds shift.
A world away
Today, KAWW is, in many ways, much like it was 10 years ago when it was first designated – wild and primitive. At only 87,500 acres (Baxter is just under 210,000 acres by comparison), KAWW is fairly small. And even those acres are split into three parcels: the main parcel that runs along Baxter’s eastern edge, a small southern parcel, and the Seboeis Parcel, which lies farther east.
KAWW is remarkably close to Interstate 95 but feels a world away. The southern access route, bumpy and rutted Swift Brook Road, heads west into the monument from the tiny town of Sherman. It’s the most popular way into the monument and provides access to the Katahdin Loop Road, Lunksoos and Sandbank Stream campgrounds, and the new Tekαkαpimək Visitor Contact Station (more on those below).
From the north, visitors access the monument off Route 159. Just past Matagamon Wilderness Camps and Stores, Messer Pond Road cuts south a few miles to Haskell Gate where there’s parking and a trailhead. From there, the International Appalachian Trail continues south through the entire main section of the monument. Much of the IAT is open to bikes but the section from the Lunksoos Lean-To to the ford across the Wassataquoik is not, making it difficult to bike through the entire monument.
Dip your paddle
KAWW’s waterways are part of what makes the area so special and a big reason why the Obama Administration and the Park Service felt the area was worthy of federal management. The East Branch of the Penobscot runs along the eastern boundary of the main parcel, starting just below Grand Lake Matagamon. Wassataquoik Stream cuts through the southern third of the main part of the monument, and the Big Seboeis River dips in and out of the monument’s eastern reaches.
The East Branch of the Penobscot serves up one of Maine’s best wilderness paddle trips. A handful of first-come, first-served, float-in campsites facilitate this 25-mile, three-or-more day trip. The upper stretch has several rapids, including some mandatory portages. Paddlers interested in continuing past the monument’s southern boundary can extend their trip all the way to Medway, another 20+ miles that include more portages and a (portage-able) stretch of Clas IV whitewater through Grindstone Gorge.
Flatwater paddlers can get a taste of the East Branch by putting in at Lunksoos Campground and paddling upstream. It’s about 2.5 miles to the confluence of the Big Seboeis, and much of this paddle snakes through a silver maple floodplain forest, unique in Maine and absolutely beautiful. Intrepid paddlers can keep pushing upstream if they wish, but the water picks up speed the farther north you paddle.
The Seboeis River is a great two-day paddle at higher flows if you want a taste of the area but don’t have the time for an East Branch trip.
The Wassataquoik is a great stream for a packraft if you’re lucky enough to own one. Small, boulder strewn, and woody, it requires solid paddling skills and an adventurous mindset. In September 2025, I did a short bikeraft with Alejandro Strong of Packraft Maine that included a part of the Wassataquoik. We biked an old, abandoned logging road from Whetstone Falls Bridge to the Wassataquoik and then rafted (with our bikes attached to our packrafts) back to Whetstone Falls Bridge. We walked a lot of the Wassataquoik – water levels were just too low for paddling, but it was a marvelous adventure all the same.
For the land lubbers
For those interested in more land-based adventures, two small campgrounds, Lunksoos and Sandbank Stream, offer seven and three sites respectively. Both are accessed from Swift Brook Road.
When I visited, I camped at Sandbank Stream and rode my gravel bike roughly 20 miles around the Katahdin Loop Road. It was lovely. The views of Katahdin were amazing, if rare along the tree-lined road, few cars passed me, and it was just the right amount of climbing for this weekend warrior.
Hikes to Orin Falls, Barnard Mountain, Kelloch Mountain, and the rugged Deasey Mountain hike are all accessed from the southern end of the monument. With support from Friends of Katahdin Woods and Waters, the Park Service is improving trailhead facilities including pit toilets, parking, and trail signage at the more popular trailheads.
Tekαkαpimək Visitor Contact Station
The southern part of the monument also hosts the Tekαkαpimək Visitor Contact Station. This stunning building celebrates the Wabanaki and features engaging exhibits about their culture and relationship to this region. I typically eschew park visitor centers, but this one is well worth a visit. Almost all the exhibits were created by members of the four Tribes that make up the Wabanaki Confederacy, the Penobscot Nation, the Passamaquoddy Tribe, the Houlton Band of Maliseet Indians, and the Mi’kmaq Nation. The center just opened in June of 2025, so it’s brand new. It’s also where you’ll find flush toilets, soap and water, and bottle refilling stations.
In the winter, the northern portion of the monument offers groomed cross-country skiing along the East Branch of the Penobscot and two winter-use huts, Haskell Hut and Big Spring Hut, that can be booked through Recreation.gov. Intrepid skiers and snowshoers can spend a night or two deep in the monument, warmed by the crackle of a wood fire, beneath some of the darkest skies in the East.
In summer and winter, KAWW’s dark skies are a big draw for folks, especially folks from Boston and farther down the eastern seaboard. KAWW is a “Dark Sky Sanctuary” per the organization DarkSky International, and the 2020 designation boosted the region’s notoriety among dark sky enthusiasts. Each fall, Friends of Katahdin Woods and Waters hosts Stars Over Katahdin, a weekend celebration of the region’s celestial offerings. This year it’s October 3rd.
KAWW is not Acadia, that’s for sure. It’s much more wild and rugged and much more do-it-yourself. Millinocket and Patten are the closest towns of any size to KAWW and both provide visitor amenities like a post office, grocery store, hotels and restaurants. Patten is much smaller, but Richardson’s Hardware and Ellis Family Market sell camping gear and food respectively. The new Katahdin Brew Works in Patten is the area’s only brewery, but time your visit wisely, it’s only open Fridays and Saturdays currently.
Come prepared with a map, solid directions, a full tank of gas and a spare tire, along with all your camping essentials. Cell service is sparse, the roads are bumpy and few signs show the way (the NPS is installing way-finding signage in 2027).
Two other nearby trail systems, the Penobscot River Trails and the Seboeis Riverside Trail, which are on private land but open to the public, provide world-class hiking and biking (and cross-country skiing) opportunities if you want to extend your stay or branch out beyond the monument proper.
For a more refined getaway, consider staying at Mt. Chase Lodge, located in Shin Pond Village, just north of Patten on Route 159. Farther south, in Sherman, the Katahdin Valley Motel offers budget, dog-friendly options, and Taylor’s Katahdin View Camps and Campground, just outside of Stacyville on Swift Brook Road offers campsites and cabins with an incredible view of Katahdin.
No doubt the 10-year anniversary and the first full season of Tekαkαpimək will draw visitors this summer. But most of those likely won’t venture too far off the somewhat beaten path. For those of us who want a bit more adventure and relish the chance to explore, KAWW delivers.
Quick links for more info:
KAWW National Park Service Official Site
