Baxter State Park: It’s Big, It’s Wild

Here in the middle of Maine is New England at its wildest. In Baxter State Park, the far northern extreme of the Appalachian Range appears more closely linked to the Rockies or the High Sierra than to the Berkshires, the Green Mountains or any other range in New England.

Not only is Baxter wild, it’s huge. At more than 200,000 acres, Baxter is one of New England’s largest parks. The centerpiece is Mt. Katahdin, whose nationwide name recognition far exceeds that of Baxter State Park. Katahdin, a gray-granite monolith, looms high and mighty above the relatively low terrain surrounding it.

Mt. Katahdin is not one peak but a series of summits, long described by back-country travelers as fishhook-shaped. Baxter Peak, Katahdin’s high point, thrusts 5,257 feet skyward, making it New England’s second highest mountain. Only New Hampshire’s Mt. Washington reaches farther into the clouds.

Katahdin shares some of the characteristics of other great New England peaks: forested shoulders, a summit ridge of stunted trees, alpine vegetation and grand views. What Katahdin lacks is a summit hotel, a ski lift and a toll road. Mountain-resort enthusiasts of the 1800s and 1900s came and went without ever enveloping Katahdin. Only the most rustic resorts were constructed near the mountain, and even today the park offers very few amenities.

If ever a park deserved to be named for an individual, it is this pride-of-Maine preserve named for Percival Baxter. The wealthy, remarkably persistent Baxter first tried government action to create a parkland around Katahdin. In 1918 as a state legislator and from 1921-25 as Maine governor, Percival prodded the public and Maine politicians but could not persuade his fellow citizens and politicos to purchase the great mountain.

In 1930, private citizen Percival Baxter bought 6,000 acres of Mt. Katahdin with his own money and donated it to Maine as a park. Baxter kept buying land, purchasing parcels from lumber companies, sometimes acquiring land unsuitable for park purposes in order to trade for land that was. In 1962, 32 years and 28 purchases later, Baxter, at 86 years old, donated a final parcel, enlarging his namesake park to 200,018 acres.

Although by Maine standards Baxter State Park may seem a little too crowded, most hikers won’t find that to be the case at all. Visits are strictly regulated. When an area’s quota has been reached, rangers issue no more permits. Arrive early for the Abol Falls area and for areas closest to the main gate. Moose are more plentiful than day-use permits.

Katahdin’s weather, at its worst, sometimes rivals that of worst-weather king Mt. Washington. Even during the summer, the hiker must prepare for sudden storms. Temperatures plunge, granite outcroppings become slippery, and what Henry David Thoreau called “a cloud factory” envelops the mountain.

Several trails climb Katahdin. Abol Trail climbs steeply over the scree-covered southwest shoulder of the mountain. Saddle Trail and Cathedral Trail ascend Baxter Peak from Chimney Point Campground. Foot for foot, the mountain’s precipitous Knife Edge Trail, which crosses the narrowest of ridge lines, is surely New England’s most thrilling trail. Not surprisingly, Katahdin was the unanimous choice as the northern terminus of the Appalachian Trail.

Even that great seeker of wilderness Thoreau appeared to have gotten more than he bargained for in climbing Katahdin. The nature writer came up short on two summit attempts and later wrote: “Nature here was something savage and awful, though beautiful. . . . There was felt the presence of a force not bound to be kind to man.”

One of the classic ascents of the 5,267-foot mountain is via the Hunt Trail, which climbs in tandem with the final leg of the Appalachian Trail. The path, originally hewn in the 1890s by sporting-camp owner Irving Hunt, was restored and realigned in the 1930s by the Civilian Conservation Corps.

Hunt/Appalachian Trail, way-marked with the AT’s conventional white blazes, visits Katahdin Stream Falls and crosses the Tableland, a plateau perched high on Katahdin’s shoulder. About 2.5 miles of trail travels above tree line, so vistas from Katahdin’s upper slopes are superb.

From the east end of Katahdin Stream Campground, the trail ascends alongside the stream, crossing it at the 1.1-mile mark and offering views of Katahdin Stream Falls. Two miles out, the trail crosses O-Joy Brook, and after three-quarters of a mile more of climbing rises above timberline. Hunt Trail ascends rocky Hunt Spur to the granite stones of the Gateway, entrance to the relatively flat Tableland. At 4,636 feet, 4.3 miles out, the trail passes Thoreau Spring and the Baxter Peak Cut-off Trail.

Hunt Trail/AT continues to climb east, reaching Baxter Peak where a large sign proclaims this summit the north end of the Appalachian Trail. Behold wild Maine at your feet before you descend.

Access: From Baxter State Park’s Togue Pond Gate, drive eight miles on the park road to Katahdin Stream Campground.

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Hunt Trail (Appalachian Trail)

WHERE: Baxter State Park

DISTANCE: From Katahdin Stream Campground to Baxter Peak is 10.4 miles round trip with 4,200-foot elevation gain.

TERRAIN: Gray mountain monolith, mixed forest

HIGHLIGHTS: New England’s wildest country, second-highest peak.

DEGREE OF DIFFICULTY: Strenuous.

PRECAUTIONS: Beware of sudden storms, high winds, rain and hail.

FOR MORE INFORMATION: Maine Bureau of Parks and recreation, 64 Balsam Drive, Millinocket, ME 04462; tel. (207) 723-5140.