The Maine Attraction
August 18, 2009 by Tom Kaiser
I’ve got nothing against cities, but I think rural areas usually make for a better vacation. Even though I grew up in the countryside and really enjoy the rural lifestyle, I live in a city and have been a resident of Minneapolis for nine years now. Luckily, I get to spend a lot of time in some of the country’s most rural places through my ATV Mag travels, some naturally spectacular areas. I just returned from one destination that really had an impact on me – Maine’s isolated northwestern edge near Jackman.
Flying into Portland, Maine was spectacular, with all the tiny islands, big bridges and old buildings really painting a nice postcard to see through the plane’s window. One of my close friend’s, Meghan Howard, lived here for a year for school, so I had a list of places to check out, mostly down by the waterfront. Portland is the lobster capital of the world, after all.
After grabbing my rental car, I drove into downtown, walked by the water and grabbed a cup of lobster bisque, but then realized the time and knew I had to get on the road for Jackman.
One of the best view's from our first day's trip to the historic Pittston Farms.
The drive up was also a picturesque experience, with all of rural Maine’s tiny churches, small town charm, rushing rivers. After two hours things started getting really rural north of Augusta, with signs warning motorists of moose crossings.
Pretty soon my four-lane freeway was a two-lane highway, winding along through the trees with very few houses and even fewer towns. My destination was the Brown Moose Motel in Jackman, where I would meet up with Kevin Cavanaugh of Maxx’s ATV Rentals the next morning to do some riding.
Breakfast was found (every day) at the Mama Bear’s Den cafe across the street, and the riding Kevin and his sons-in-law Nigel and Mike showed me, was unique and spectacular. Most trails were wide paths abandoned from logging use, but some were very tight and technical, crossing many rivers with cool names like Penobscot.
Each day our destination was somewhere totally off the electrical grid – the historic Pittston Farm (apparently a great snowmobile destination) and Bulldog Camps on the shore of the clearest lake I’ve ever seen.
I rode with Kevin Cavanaugh, one of the locals who had a hand in getting access to, and building, the area trail system.
Back in Jackman, I met many locals excited about a magazine article on their town. Being able to live the very small town life for a few days was relaxing. I made pleasantries every morning with the same waitress at Mama Bear’s, learned about the difficulty of building trail bridges in winter, and really made friends with Kevin and his family who took me in for a few days.
Driving back to Portland in the daylight was revealing, as I didn’t realize I had driven past one of the most scenic rivers I’ve seen on my night ride up to Jackman. What a cool place to do some camping and kayaking… I need to keep this area on my list.
Back in Portland, I enjoyed walking by the waterfront and grabbing some more food from the sea. It’s really one of the coolest American cities, but it all paled in comparison to the people and places I discovered in a very small place called Jackman.
Look for the full story in an upcoming issue of ATV Magazine. I’ll be posting a photo gallery on this sight with most of my trip’s pictures. Also, let me know if you have any questions about riding in the area. If you live in the region, I highly recommend a relaxing weekend visit. Check out Portland if you can, but the real Maine attraction is up north.
- Tom
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Hey Tom,
Great start on the story, Can’t wait until the full story comes out. To anyone who hasn’t been up to the Jackman/MooseRiver Trails. Come on up. http://www.jackmanmaine.org will give you all the information you need to know before heading up to Jackman. Thanks Tom for everything, Hope to see you up this way soon. Mike
Hey Tom. I was the breakfast waitress at Mama Bear’s when you came to jackman. I actually for got about the article until I came across your address. Can’t wait to read the story in your magazine.