Hike to Katahdin Lake

 August 6, 2021

Hi Blog!

One of the reasons we stopped to visit Baxter State Park in Maine was to hike the Appalachian Trail to the summit of Mount Katahdin. The summit is considered the north end of the trail. We had visited the south end of the trail on Springer Mountain in Georgia in early 2020. If you are curious, here is a link to our blog on the southern end of the AT. Unfortunately, we were unable to secure one of the coveted Day Use Parking Permits for Katahdin. We even tried to book a campground reservation, but they all had been booked months ahead of time. Not to worry though, with over 209,644 acres of Maine wilderness, there were plenty of hiking and paddling opportunities.

After poring over the park map, we decided to hike the Katahdin Lake Trail. While this trail leads directly to Katahdin Lake, it also offers a chance for a loop trail to Martin Pond. There are only seven parking spots at the trailhead, so we got an early start to make sure we got a parking spot.

The first two miles are a beautiful walk on an old woods road that is slowly being taken over by the forest. Wildflowers and "fun guys" abound.

The Martin Pond Trail comes in from the left and begins a half mile single track that meanders its way over to the Martin Pond lean-to. We often found ourselves 'walking the plank' to get through the boggy bits. While we did encounter a few biting flies and mosquito, there were not as many as we feared.

While Baxter State Park was created in 1931, this area of the park was only added in 2006. The Baxter Park Authority negotiated an agreement to purchase 6,015 acres, including Katahdin Lake and Martin Pond. The total project costs were $14,000,000. That included land acquisition costs of $13,000,000 and project costs of $1,000,000 for the permanent protection of Katahdin Lake. That's a lot of green for a lot of green!

It didn't take long to reach the Martin Pond Lean-to. This is the view from the canoe launch.

Just around the corner were more amazing views!

After taking in the views, it was time to get back on the trail. The Martin Ponds Trail was full of water crossings and boardwalks. Sometime, we had to chose between rock hopping across a stream or trying to walk over a mossy log bridge. Which would you chose? 

Everything is bigger here in Maine.

The Martin Pond Trail took us right around the shores of Katahdin Lake.

As we came out of the woods, we noticed this moose feeding along the shoreline.

When we originally decided to hike the Martin Pond Loop, we didn't realized that to reach the bottom of the Katahdin Lake Trail, we needed to wade across an inlet. Luckily, we came prepared with our crocks and swim suits!

Once we crossed the inlet, we decided to have lunch. This is our view from the wooden bench on the sandy beach of Katahdin Lake.

We learned from the park rangers that there are canoes available for guests. The ones located at the lean-to are unlocked. The Day Use canoes are locked. We arrived early enough to get the key for the canoe at the Katahdin Lake Day Use Area. However, when we arrived at the lean-to, no one was home so we just used their canoe as the Day Use Area was still another half mile away!

After seeing the moose swim across to a small island, we decided to start our paddle by circling the island to see if we could get a better look at the moose.

As soon as we rounded the point, we found the moose happily munching along the shore of the island. She was curious at first, but as we passed her, she moved back into the woods.

Having seen the moose, we felt our trip to Maine was complete. We slowly made our way back to the lean-to beach when a pair of loons joined us.

As the clouds began to build, we felt it was time to stow the canoe and get ready to hike back to the trailhead.

We completed our loop with the Martin Pond Trail without ever seeing another person. After seven miles of hiking and one mile of paddling, Kathy took a well deserved break.

Within a mile of the trailhead, we passed two different families looking forward to spending the weekend in the Martin Pond Lean-to and the North Katahdin Lean-to. We told them about the moose and the kids seemed really excited. 

We are looking forward to a few more outings in Baxter State Park. Stay tuned!