Moosehead advice

[Art D]

I'm thinking of a last minute trip on Moosehead this weekend -- never been on it -- and am wondering if I'm going to have to compete with crowds of paddlers to get a campsite this late in the season. Can anyone with experience on Moosehead offer thoughts?

I ask in part because every site on nearby Umbagog, which requires reservations, is booked through the end of next June.

Thanks.

Art

 

[Black_Fly]

BWCA? Probably thin crowds this time of year. I would hope, at least. Crowds are radically affecting my plans these days, as is the cost of travel.

 

[Boatman53]

Art is in Maine so I am assuming he means Moosehead Lake in Maine. Hard to get to the BWCA by this weekend. Sorry I can offer no with help.
Jim

 

[Robin]

No experience with Moosehead other than a few days at Lily Bay State campground with grandkids, where I did get some nice day paddling in.
The wind might be a factor, it’s blowing hard this morning what with this storm going thru Maine today
Not far from Moosehead is Lobster Lake (wind could be a factor there too) and Second Roach Pond. We camped at the east end of SRP, pretty much out of the wind campsite and bay. There is a beautiful paddle in campsite on the north shore (on a peninsula) of SRP near those east end campsites. Free camping too.
SRP campsite-David, aka coldfeet, always a big smile


SRP peninsula campsite

 

[Art D]

Thank you for the responses. Much appreciated.

 

[Art D]

Nice boats Robin. What are you paddling?

 

[Robin]

Thanks, that’s my 14’ Chestnut Fox repoduction on the left, and David’s 15’ Chestnut Chum on the right, both wood canvas.

 

[yellowcanoe]

I would just go to Lobster. Having spent a good deal of time on Moosehead this year its not as interesting as Lobster. We went to Lobster too and there wasn't anyone there on the days we went in July.

 

[Boreal Birch]

There is a Moosehead Lake in in Carlton County Minnesota. The town of Moose Lake is located on the West/Northwest shore of the lake. There is also Minnesota Correctional Facility and a Minnesota Sex Offender Program on the South Shore. The rest of the lake is a State Park. This Moosehead Lake is about a 135 miles Southwest from the Moose Lake entry point in the BWCAW near Ely, Minnesota. Doubt that anyone here will travel there for the canoe tripping.

 

[yellowcanoe]

Part of Moosehead is on the Northern Forest Canoe Trail going up to the NE Arm. Coming off the Moose River in Rockwood.. going by Mt Kineo which is spectacular but also part cottaged.. No camping there from what I can tell Most sites on the E side of the lake.. The Maine Atlas and Gazetter is indispensible for those wanting to canoe trip in Maine. It shows all the primitive sites.

Sorry BB I have no desire after finding so much canoe country around me and its pretty cheap, do I have any interest in the Boundary Waters.. It seems to be a matter of fighting crowds though fall is probably OK. Not driving 30 hours from Maine.. ( especially when ) Quebec and Labrador are much closer. Even Ontario canoeing is only 10 hours away.

 

[Boreal Birch]

YC, my reply was written tongue in cheek as a destination for canoeist’s to Minnesota’s Moosehead Lake.
I left Minnesota 48.5 years ago in search of really wild country as the BWCA was not scratching my itch for solitude. I still go to Minnesota in October for ruffed grouse hunting and to the BWCA for a walleye fry.
Maine is still a bucket list destination that I may never cross off the list because of lack of time.

 

[yellowcanoe]

48.5 years? We went in 1973 and it was OK.. ( we had a two and a half year old and wanting to avoid large lakes picked small ones, The penalty was some 40 ports in six days)
We went again in 1989 as a gateway to Quetico and ran.. paddled so fast. The entry lake I think was Gull and it was so crowded we just wanted to be out. That was the days when you had to go through Customs on a lake.. And we went to Cache Bay on Saganaga Lake and passed up a chance to buy a Peter Puddicombe paddle for $53.

 

[Chip]

Hope you went. I've always enjoyed Moosehead and while I have never paddled at Umbagog, I have to think Moosehead has more to offer. But it's just so big! And the inability to reserve camp sites makes site planning a gamble. Hope it went well.

 

[goonstroke]

For Moosehead Lake, grab this map

The state has a lot of shoreland and does a pretty good job of mapping it. You might find a paper copy of that map in kiosks in Greenville or Rockwood.

Still, Moosehead is a big lake with boat traffic, and on a windy day it looks like the deep blue sea. Medium sized lakes (e.g., Attean, Lobster, Seboeis, Nahmakanta, etc) might be better alternatives. I think the crowds are pretty much gone, except for the propane burning leaf peeping types, but those are confined to the roads.