Millinocket Maine

ahschneid
22 hours ago
7 min read

We left Bitsy's house in Corea Maine on Monday 29 June. We left after lunch as Steve had taken our truck in to Ellsworth for a diagnostic and Anita had gone with Bitsy to see a cabin for sale in Beddington. Thankfully the truck issue ended up being a fuse that had gone bad on the suspension system, so it was replaced and the service engine light went off. Anita and Bitsy got back to the house a few minutes after Steve and it was about noon, so we had lunch and then headed out. It was hard to leave after such a warm visit with Bitsy. She really showed us a great time with driving us around and taking us to several places each day.

We arrived at Millinocket Maine around 3:30pm and our campsite at Wilderness Edge Campground was nestled in a little cove surrounded by trees, making it somewhat private. It was really nice. Tuesday (30 June) we went into Baxter State Park which was located about 7 miles from our campground. The Internet says: Baxter State Park is a large wilderness area permanently preserved as a state park in Northeast Piscataquis, Piscataquis County in north-central Maine, United States. It is in the North Maine Woods region and borders the Katahdin Woods and Waters National Monument on the east. We took the Roaring Brook Campground Road which is a gravel/dirt road that runs from the South Entrance (the one we had entered through) to the east.

That day we could only go on the tote road about a third of the way due to the road being closed for a culvert repair. We did the Sandy Stream hiking trail. The hike was fine with the usual Maine tree roots and rocks, but what looked like a small stream crossing on the map turned out to be water about up to Anita's butt. We could have skipped across the 30ft of water on the slimy slippery rocks, but that was more scary than wading through the fast flowing water, so we got wet. After all the side tracks and walking that day we ended up with 4 miles.

Baxter State Park - Millinocket Maine - 30 June 2026

Baxter State Park - Millinocket Maine - 30 June 2026

Mt. Katahdin

Baxter State Park - Millinocket Maine - 30 June 2026

Baxter State Park - Millinocket Maine - 30 June 2026

Huge mushroom toadstool

Baxter State Park - Millinocket Maine - 30 June 2026

Baxter State Park - Millinocket Maine - 30 June 2026

Baxter State Park - Millinocket Maine - 30 June 2026

Sandy Stream Pond Trail

Mt. Katahdin in background left

Baxter State Park - Millinocket Maine - 30 June 2026

Sandy Stream Pond Trail

Baxter State Park - Millinocket Maine - 30 June 2026

Sandy Stream Pond Trail

Big Rock

Baxter State Park - Millinocket Maine - 30 June 2026

Sandy Stream Pond Trail

Baxter State Park - Millinocket Maine - 30 June 2026

Sandy Stream Pond Trail

The small stream crossing...

Baxter State Park - Millinocket Maine - 30 June 2026

Sandy Stream Pond Trail Fresh moose track

Baxter State Park - Millinocket Maine - 30 June 2026

On Wednesday 1 July, we met friends Brad and Dawn for lunch at Knife Edge Brewery in Millinocket. We had met them in Picacho Arizona a couple of winters ago and they had given us lots of information on fishing in Alaska. They've been to Alaska 6 or 7 times. We met them at 11am and it was after 3pm when we left the restaurant! It was a lot of fun catching up and we had lots of laughs. They've been full timers for 6 years and are considering settling somewhere in the winters. We've thought about that too. We're all spending this coming winter in Florida, so we plan to get together again there. After lunch we had a few errands to take care of and that got us to the end of our day.

On Thursday 2 July Bitsy drove up to see Baxter State Park with us. It is about 139 miles from Corea to Millinocket but on secondary roads much of the way, so it takes about 3 hours. Bitsy hopped in our truck and we headed to Baxter State Park. We took the Tote Road and it was open all the way, so we drove it from the South to the North Entrance in about 3 hours. We stopped for bathroom breaks, a quick lunch and to take pictures of moose! We were almost to the North Entrance when we happened upon a young moose in the road. It was heading to the water on the left side of the road where its momma was in the pond. They were not startled by the vehicles stopped and taking pictures, but they moseyed on out of the water on the other side and meandered into the woods. This was around 2pm and so unexpected. Dawn and dusk are the times most wildlife is spotted.

We made it back to our campsite around 3:15pm and Bitsy got on the road to head back to Corea. She texted around 6pm that she was home. It was a fantastic day and we all felt so grateful for seeing the moose.

Baxter State Park - Millinocket Maine - 2 July 2026

Tote Road

Baxter State Park - Millinocket Maine - 2 July 2026

Tote Road

Doubletop Mountain

Baxter State Park - Millinocket Maine - 2 July 2026

Tote Road

Baxter State Park - Millinocket Maine - 2 July 2026

Tote Road

Doubletop Mountain

Baxter State Park - Millinocket Maine - 2 July 2026

Tote Road - Ledge Falls

Baxter State Park - Millinocket Maine - 2 July 2026

Tote Road - about 2 miles from North Entrance

Baxter State Park - Millinocket Maine - 2 July 2026

Tote Road - about 2 miles from North Entrance

Baxter State Park - Millinocket Maine - 2 July 2026

Tote Road - about 2 miles from North Entrance

Baxter State Park - Millinocket Maine - 2 July 2026

Tote Road - about 2 miles from North Entrance

Baxter State Park - Millinocket Maine - 2 July 2026

Tote Road - about 2 miles from North Entrance

Baxter State Park - Millinocket Maine - 2 July 2026

Tote Road - about 2 miles from North Entrance

Friday we wanted to go kayaking, but that venture was a bust. We drove to Penobscot River Trails to launch there, but although there was a sign for kayaks and canoes, we did not find any. Wwe kept driving and ended up on yet another gravel/dirt road for about 8 miles into the Woods and Waters National Monument. We ended up having our lunch at a bridge on the Penobscot River on a dirt road and then turned around. We tried Baxter State Park for Kayaks, but they were locked up, so we gave up on the idea of kayaking that day.

Stacyville Maine - 3 July 2026

Grindstone Falls

Stacyville Maine - 3 July 2026

Grindstone Falls

Stacyville Maine - 3 July 2026

Grindstone Falls

Stacyville Maine - 3 July 2026

Stacyville Maine - 3 July 2026

Stacyville Maine - 3 July 2026

Stacyville Maine - 3 July 2026

Saturday on the 4th of July, we drove to Daicey Pond to hike to the Little and Big Niagara Falls. That trail was 1.2 miles one way with lots of tree roots and rocks. There were sections of narrow board walks too. It took us an hour to go 1.2 miles with the terrain being so slow going. Our hike was on the Appalachian Trail for about a mile. We were grateful that it was only 73 degrees and mostly shady. Maine had had a heat dome for a couple of days while we were in Millinocket. This heat dome brought temperatures in the 90's, much higher than Mainiacs are accustomed to. Heat advisories were in effect and some outdoor events were cancelled.