Baxter State Park

Baxter State Park is in the shadow of Katahdin, Maine’s highest peak at 5,271 feet. Every effort is made to preserve the park in a "forever wild" state. Only one road runs through the park, with a few smaller roads to connect to camps and campgrounds. Old logging roads have been allowed to revert to forest, or have been converted to footpaths. There are approximately 205 miles of hiking trails within the park, traversing a variety of habitats and ascending most of its peaks. There are two entrances to Baxter State Park. The southern entrance is closer to population centers and receives heavier use because of its proximity to Katahdin, popular campgrounds, and historic sporting camps. This entrance is reached through the Town of Millinocket. The quieter northern entrance is reached via Patten and Shin Pond. Though the road running through the park between these two checkpoints is just over 40 miles long, it takes half a day to drive. Roads are narrow, the speed limit is only 20 mph, and the sightseeing is too dazzling to ignore. Park rules prohibit vehicles longer than 22 feet, higher than 9 feet, or wider than 7 feet. Motorcycles and ATVs are not allowed. Neither are dogs or other domestic animals.

Togue Pond Gate is the southern entrance. There is a Visitor Information Center and a day use swimming area just south of the gate, located on Upper Togue Pond. Pine warblers and red-eyed vireos dominate the tall pines in this vicinity, and it is also one of the more reliable places for eastern wood-pewees. Common loons are often visible on the pond from ice-out to freeze-over. Immediately north of the entrance gate, the Park Tote Road forks left while the road to Roaring Brook splits right.

Roaring Brook is immensely popular, both as a campground and as the trailhead for ascending Katahdin from the east. It often reaches its day use capacity early, and additional visitors are directed elsewhere. Local birders make this route their first priority in the morning, before traffic gets heavy. The first stop is at Helon Taylor Pond, on the left just after the split. This marsh can be good for dabbling ducks, American bitterns, swamp sparrows, alder flycatchers, and such warblers as Wilson’s, palm, and yellow. From here to Avalanche Field, the forest is mostly dry deciduous. Hermit thrushes, ovenbirds, red-eyed vireos, black-throated blue warblers, and least flycatchers are audible everywhere from mid-May through mid-July.

Beyond Avalanche Field, the forest type becomes more mixed, with an increase in spruce and fir. Swainson’s thrush takes over, and there is an increase in blue-headed vireos and black-throated green warblers. On the final approach to Roaring Brook, tall deciduous trees return. This is one of Maine’s hot spots for Philadelphia vireo. The parking lot is long-famous for this species, but they compete with red-eyed vireos and both are present. Be careful to sort out individuals for an accurate identification. Least flycatchers are numerous in the campground area. Woodpeckers include downy, hairy, and yellow-bellied sapsucker.

While most of the trails leaving from the campground are intended to scale Katahdin and nearby peaks, birders make a beeline for Sandy Stream Pond. This short hike is relatively easy and level. The first quarter-mile is full of winter wrens, magnolia warblers, American redstarts, and occasional blackpolls. On the approach to the pond (and most of the way around it) small boardwalks elevate hikers over the muddiest spots. Yellow-rumped warblers, golden-crowned kinglets, and three species of vireo are findable. A northern waterthrush is often vocal at the stream outlet, and more can be heard from the back of the pond. Moose favor this pond, and their tracks are everywhere. They are accustomed to people, and take little notice. Common mergansers, ring-necked ducks, and common goldeneyes are seen regularly in the pond, often with babies. Swamp sparrows and common yellowthroats are typical breeders around it.

On the back side of Sandy Stream Pond, the trail leaves the wetland and proceeds either right (up South Turner Mountain), or left (up Russell Pond Trail). The latter can be used to make a loop back to the campground. The first few hundred yards of Russell Pond Trail are muddy with difficult footing, but it is also very boreal. Canada warblers, yellow-bellied flycatchers, and boreal chickadees are encountered regularly. As the trail returns to a more mixed hardwood habitat, the chance for Philadelphia vireo returns. Be sure to pay attention for a trail intersection 0.7 miles after the junction of the South Turner/ Russell Pond trails; a left at this junction will lead you over 1.1 miles of forested, sometimes wet trail back to Roaring Brook campground. Visitors who go right at this junction, as some mistaken day hikers have, eventually find themselves at the backcountry campground of Russell Pond some six miles later, minus the food and equipment necessary for an overnight stay!

After returning to Togue Pond Gate and taking a right turn onto the Park Tote Road, the first section of the next few miles consists of mature, deciduous habitat, dominated by hermit thrushes, ovenbirds, least flycatchers, and a medley of hardwood-loving warblers, particularly black-throated blue. After two miles, the woods begin a transition to mixed forest at Abol Pond. Check the pond for waterfowl. Possible dabblers include wood ducks, blue and green-winged teal, American black ducks, and mallards. Potential divers include hooded mergansers and ring-necked ducks. A variety of warblers and flycatchers are typical of the wooded edges, and Lincoln’s sparrow is sometimes present near the culvert that connects the two water bodies.

After Abol Pond, the road’s elevation rises steadily and the hardwood forest becomes intermixed with spruce, fir, and cedar. Swainson’s replaces hermit as the the more common thrush. Stump Pond is a likely place to find moose through June, primarily in early morning and late afternoon. The pond is surrounded by swamp sparrows and common yellowthroats. Snags are frequented by Nashville warblers, alder flycatchers, and cedar waxwings. Ring-necked ducks are a common nester in the pond. Common goldeneyes are frequently present, and both common and hooded mergansers are seen regularly.

Abol Campground lies just beyond Stump Pond. From here to Nesowadnehunk Fields Campground, pockets of thick spruce increase the likelihood of bay-breasted warblers, blackpolls, boreal chickadees, and both species of grouse. Ruffed and spruce grouse are drawn to the road for gravel, which they swallow to aid digestion. Northern goshawks prey on grouse and are occasionally encountered along the road, though brushes with broad-winged hawks are more common.

The boreal forest pockets become more common at Katahdin Stream Campground, where campers have enjoyed the sporadic visits of white-winged crossbills and Candada jays. For the next few miles north, bay-breasted warblers and blackpolls become more likely, though still unpredictable. The Grassy Pond trails offer moderate terrain through mixed forest while brushing several ponds that are often visited by moose. The last of these, Tracy Pond, is adjacent to the road. Ring-necked ducks and common goldeneyes are seen with chicks.

The access roads to the cabins of Daicey Pond and Kidney Pond offer enjoyable birding, especially because they are lightly traveled. The open parking area of Daicey Pond is populated with chipping sparrows, while blackburnian and pine warblers are typical of the tallest pines. On the access road to Kidney Pond, a bay-breasted warbler is possible near both ends of the mile-long road, while black-throated blue warblers are known nesters over the middle portion. Barn swallows and eastern phoebes nest under the eaves of the camps, and hairy and downy woodpeckers join yellow-bellied sapsuckers in sharing the trees around the camp area. There is also a short nature trail that leads to potential moose sightings at the pond inlet beyond the cabins at Kidney Pond.


At Slide Dam picnic area, the road grazes Nesowadnehunk Stream in a particularly scenic spot beneath Doubletop Mountain. American redstarts, common yellowthroats, and chestnut-sided and Nashville warblers are seen regularly foraging among the alders of the stream edge, while veeries are in the woods just off the roadway. Philadelphia vireos are present, though often across the stream. Red-eyed vireos are more likely on the near side. This scene repeats itself wherever the stream brushes the road, and Canada warblers may be expected in the damper thickets.

Nesowadnehunk Field Campground is one of the largest open expanses in the park, making it attractive to sparrows and goldfinches, and a pair of nesting merlins that feed on them. Trees on the edge of the fields are often noisy with golden-crowned kinglets. Boreal chickadees in the spruce thickets near the campground are sporadic but never surprising. Just beyond the campground, the Park Tote Road becomes choked with bogs and spruce. This four-mile stretch is the most thickly boreal tract along any section of roadway in the park. Likely warblers include bay-breasted, blackpoll, magnolia, Canada, Nashville, and palm, along with many of the more common species. Boreal chickadees and yellow-bellied flycatchers are frequently seen. Spruce grouse, Canada jays, and black-backed woodpeckers are possible, and an American three-toed woodpecker has been a recurrent rarity.

Beyond the Nesowadnehunk boreal stretch, which diminishes past the access road to Camp Phoenix, mixed forest habitat prevails all the way to Trout Brook Farm Campground. Maple, birch, and fir are characteristic. There are enough boreal patches to encourage the presence of spruce grouse, and it’s even better habitat for ruffed grouse. Red-eyed vireos and least flycatchers are abundant. Around the campground, merlins, evening grosbeaks, and spruce grouse are possible. The road to the South Branch Ponds traverses hardwood forest with plenty of hermit thrushes, ovenbirds, and black-throated blue warblers. Merlins often nest in the campground area, and they are noisy neighbors once the young have begun demanding food.

The Pogy Notch Trail skirts the east side of the ponds. It is relatively flat and undemanding, though damp in spots. Red-eyed vireos are common, Philadelphia vireos are present, and American redstarts are remarkably abundant.

Katahdin dominates the park, but there are many other peaks that reward moderate to strenuous hiking with spectacular views. Most ascents in the park pass through several habitat zones. Mature trees at the bottom are habitat for warblers such as blackburnian, black-throated green and northern parula. At higher elevations, a boreal zone of thick spruce provides blackpolls, bay-breasted warblers, and Swainson’s thrushes, vocal through mid-July. This is a zone good for black-backed woodpeckers, boreal chickadees, and spruce grouse. In the krummholz, a dense zone of stunted spruce and aspen normally above 3,000 feet, Bicknell’s thrush makes its home. Locating this species requires a familiarity with both its song and call notes. The song resembles the downward spiral of a veery but with a hiccup in the middle. The penetratingly loud call notes can be characterized as WEER. The calls are usually heard more often than the song. Bicknell’s thrush tends to be vocal only at dawn and dusk, necessitating an ascent or descent in darkness. It is sometimes heard from Chimney Pond Campground, located halfway up the east side of Katahdin. Due to its alpine habitat preference, this bird typically arrives late and should be looked for in June. Canada jays are also visitors to Chimney Pond, and they think nothing of stealing food from the picnic tables of unwary campers. Expect dark-eyed juncos, yellow-rumped warblers, white-throated sparrows, and oodles of winter wrens at these elevations.

Another alpine denizen is often found on the tablelands of Katahdin: American pipits nest around Thoreau Spring at the conjunction of the Abol and Hunt trails just above 4,600 feet. (Stay on trails: the sedge grass is fragile and the birds are ground nesters.) Common ravens enjoy the thermals the mountain provides and even northern goshawks sometimes leave the woods to ride these air currents. Migrating hawks regularly pass the summit from mid-August through September.

Directions: South entrance - From I-95, take exit 244, turn west on Route 11/157, and follow through Medway, East Millinocket, Dolby, and Millinocket. From downtown Millinocket, follow signs along Route 157 to the park.

North entrance - From I-95, take exit 264, turn west toward Sherman. Continue to Route 11 north through Patten, then turn left on Route 159 toward Shin Pond. Follow to the park.