Men's Journal

A 30,000-acre reserve unites some of New England’s greatest wilderness lodges.

By Stephen Jermanok

Best known for its network of huts in New Hampshire’s White Mountains, the Appalachian Mountain Club is now working on a Central Maine system of sporting camps that promises to make Henry David Thoreau’s rugged haven more accessible than ever. In November the AMC purchased 29,500 acres from the Plum Creek Timber Company for $11.5 million, a move that safeguards two century-old sporting camps. (The new acquisition adds to the 37,000 acres of land containing two other camps the AMC purchased in 2003.) Since each camp is spaced seven to 10 miles from the next, vastly greater expanses of terrain in the legendary 100 Mile Wilderness area are now open for lodge-to-lodge backpacking and canoeing (or cross-country skiing, snowshoeing, and dogsledding in the winter).

“You can start your day deep in the Maine woods, hike to a nearby peak for an amazing view, or set out for a paddle with bald eagles overhead,” says Walter Graff, the AMC’s deputy director and head of its Maine Woods Initiative. “This is one of the wildest areas in the lower 48.”

“Sports,” as they were once called, have been making the trek north from Boston and New York for 150 years (following in the footsteps of Thoreau, who first hiked the area in 1846). Over the past two decades, though, many of their historic camps have fallen into private hands. But thanks to the AMC, you can now stay at the circa-1874 Little Lyford Lodge & Cabins, backed by the peaks of Baker and Indian mountains. Between the canoe there and the hike to your next stay, expect more moose and loons than humans (outdoors.org/mainelodges).

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FIELD NOTES Thoreau’s The Maine Woods is still in print, and for good reason — it’s the bible of Down East outdoorsmen — but for more practical info, try J. Parker Huber’s The Wildest Country: Exploring Thoreau’s Maine (published by AMC), which turns HDT’s musings into vacation plans.

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This article first appeared in the April 2010 issue of Men’s Journal.