Maine's Moose River Canoe - Mountains and Waterfalls in the Maine Woods

Canoe the pristine Moose River in northern Maine near the Quebec border. Follow the twists and turns of Holeb Stream through the forests and mountains to the confluence of the Moose River at Camel Rips. Portage Holeb Falls and hike back up to view the cascading water. Paddle through Spencer Rips, a small rapid that can be easily run or portaged. Swim and play in the rapids or hike along the river and explore the woods. Spot the abundant moose, deer, osprey, and other animals in the area. Enjoy a quiet afternoon in camp reading, napping and enjoying the surroundings. Complete the "bow" in the Moose River, crossing the Attean Pond, ending this memorable Maine woods adventure.

Sample Itinerary

Please note: While the itinerary presented is an accurate depiction of what your trip will be like, it is only an example. Our trips are real adventures in the outdoors--not pre-packaged tours that happen on a schedule.

DAY 1: Your trip starts in the early afternoon at Holeb Pond. You will spend the first night at this beautiful lake in the Maine Woods, participate in a canoe orientation, and explore the area.

DAY 2: Get up early, eat breakfast, review canoeing skills and other necessary details for a safe and fun trip. Break camp and paddle across Holeb Pond and begin the journey down Holeb Stream. Follow the winding Holeb Stream to its confluence with the Moose River. Enjoy a short day on the river, setting up camp at Camel Rips. Spend your afternoon relaxing and swimming in the river, or exploring the woods.

DAY 3: From Camel Rips, continue down the river to Holeb Falls. After portaging around the falls, hike up to a beautiful view of the Holeb Falls. Enjoy the good swimming and fishing in this area.

DAY 4: Continue our journey down the Moose River through Spencer Rips, a small rapid, easy to run or portage around. Camp by Attean Falls, or out on Attean Pond as we complete the bow in the Moose River.

DAY 5: Layover day. You can choose to take a day trip to a nearby lake, hike along the river, swim, or play in the rapids. You may also choose to enjoy a quiet afternoon in camp reading, napping and enjoying your natural surroundings. This is a great day to watch the sunrise, take that perfect picture and look for northern lights.

DAY 6: Get an early start and paddle a few miles across Attean Pond to our take-out point. The trip officially ends after lunch in the early afternoon. Start the drive back to Bangor from here, and expect to arrive back in Bangor that evening.

Travel, Terrain, Etc...

TERRAIN/ROUTE CHOICES: This area lies near the northern Appalachian Mountains. The terrain is characterized by exposed granite with a thin layer of top soil, the result of glaciers scraping and grinding 10,000 years ago. The lakes and rivers make this area relatively accessible.

TYPE OF TRAVEL/DISTANCE: You will travel in 17-foot Old Town Tripper canoes, which hold two to three paddlers, plus all necessary gear. An average day's travel consists of 3-4 hours of paddling, depending on the weather, and, except for scheduled layover days, most days' travel distance varies from 8-14 miles per day. Expect 2-3 portages (short trail crossings) on this trip. Portaging can be challenging, but it also offers a chance to get out of the canoes and enjoy the woods. To protect the environment, WI uses Leave No Trace camping techniques. No previous experience is needed to complete this trip.

WEATHER: Temperatures in the summer months range from 45 F to 95 F. Rainfall can vary, but you should expect at least one day of wet weather.

ACCOMMODATIONS: At night you will sleep in a comfortable Eureka tents. Typically, there are 3 people per 4 person tent (although other arrangements can be made). Bathroom facilities consist of a foldable commode chair set up in a privacy tent. We make every effort to ensure privacy and cleanliness.

YOUR GROUP: The group size ranges from 10 to 12 participants, plus 2 or more Wilderness Inquiry staff. Each group consists of people of various ages, backgrounds and abilities, including people with disabilities. Our trips are cooperative in nature. WI staff will assist you in whatever areas you need, however most people pitch in where they can. Part of the adventure involves learning about daily camp activities.

EQUIPMENT AND CLOTHING: Wilderness Inquiry will provide all necessary canoeing and camping equipment. All you need to provide is your personal gear, such as clothing and a sleeping bag. A detailed equipment list will be sent to you upon confirmation of your participation.

[ Dates & Fees ]

This is an area of breathtaking beauty and centuries of stories. Sparkling pure lakes, tumbling streams, sweeping mountains and the vast north woods provide the backdrop for excellent wilderness travel.

The area's scenic value derives from the relative lack of development. The mountains support a healthy, diverse cover of many coniferous and deciduous tree species. The shoreline area has seen very little human alteration. Rustic cabins, on several of the islands and a few stretches of the river, represent the only visible signs of residential development. These simple wooden structures blend into the natural setting. The most prominent landscape features are the surrounding hills, mountains, and shoreline.

VEGETATION AND WILDLIFE

Maine's northernmost region is made up of boreal forest, consisting primarily of balsam fir, white spruce, and paper birch. Most of the southern half of the state is northern hardwood forest, composed of maple, beech aspen, ash, and white and red pine. Maine's state tree, the white pine, has the largest cones of all the New England pines, with needles that grow in bunches of five. In the 1700's, the British Royal Navy valued the white pine's straight, tall trunk for making ship's masts.

Lying between the boreal and northern hardwood forests is an ecotone or transition zone. The ecotone was important to early hunters since caribou and other herd animals would cross back and forth depending on plant availability, the rise and fall of insect pests, and the need for protection from severe weather. Hunting camps were positioned strategically to intercept herds during these seasonal migrations.

In these forests are smaller mammals, such as rabbits, foxes, fishers, and squirrels. There are magnificent hoofed beasts like moose, elk, and deer. Several large predators roam these woods as well: lynx, wolves, and mountain lions.

HISTORY

Made up partly of Precambrian rock, Maine was once a land of volcanoes. Maine's rocky coastline portray evidence of glacial activity. During the four recent ice ages, the northeast coast was covered by glaciers estimated between 1-2 miles thick (a single acre of ice one mile thick weighs almost seven million tons). Glacial erratics, granite boulders "dropped" by melting glaciers, stand prominently among columnar basalt cliffs. Maine's ridges and hills are moraines which are large deposits of gravel left behind retreating glaciers. Between the ridges and the hills, lakes and bogs formed. Shoreline bogs also formed between the high and low water marks. As time progressed, soil built up, allowing the land to blossom into forests and making Maine the "pine state."

As forest life crept back into the north, nomadic bands of Paleolithic people followed in the tree's wake. They were skilled hunters creating from stone and bones the special spear tips needed to kill their prey. Their descendants, who lived in Maine about seven- thousand years ago, are popularly known as the Red Paint People because of the red ochre they liberally used in religious rites. They settled along the ocean shore and hunted sea mammals and swordfish.

After the Red Paint People, other hunter gathers arrived who also did some primitive farming. They eventually became the Abenaki, the "People of the Dawn." The Abenaki comprised several Indian groups, including the tribes that still exist today in northern New England: Passamaquoddy, Maliseet, Micmac, and Penobscot. The Abenaki lived most of the year along rivers in wigwams made of bark. In summer many of the tribes migrated to the coast, where the insects were less prevalent and the warm season lasted longer. At the time of the arrival of Europeans, Native Americans were cultivating small gardens of corn, squash, beans, and melons. Additionally, they were fishing and gathering mussels, clams, and other shellfish.

Throughout the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, French and English battled for the land. To the European mind, the mere use of a bountiful land was insufficient; complete possession of the land was the only acceptable outcome. Nowhere was the conflict more savage than in Maine. So vicious was this endless warring, that the state's first nickname was not "The Pine Tree State" but "Bloody Maine." By the early 1800's, the coast of Maine was settled from York to Machias and inland to Augusta. Logging operations began to push up the inland rivers to the big forest in the north. Dams were built on almost every river, stream, and lake to control the level and flow of the water. It was water that powered the mills that turned trees into lumber.

For more information, visit these links:

Jackman-Moose River Region Chamber of Commerce

Moose River Bow Trip

[ Dates & Fees ]

WI leads trips to the Moose River but currently has no dates scheduled. If you have a group of people interested, we can set up a customized adventure just for you! Please contact us if you are interested in a group trip to this destination.

info@wildernessinquiry.org
612-676-9400
800-728-0719