Nahmakanta public reserve a hiker’s delight 43,000-acre unit accessible by new trails

Nahmakanta. Just its name conjures up something exotic, something primitive.

As a Maine Public Reserved Land unit, the largest one administered by the Department of Conservation’s Bureau of Parks and Recreation, it encompasses some 43,000 acres in the backcountry southwest of Baxter State Park and south of Rainbow Lake. It is one of 30 units of public reserved land in our state which range in size from 500 acres up to this behemoth. The beauty of these public reserves is that you can use them pretty much free of charge. (There are no user fees in this unit, but you’ll pay to get here. See below.)

I had the chance to cajole Steve Spencer, recreation specialist and trail designer for the Bureau of Public Lands, into taking me there this week to see some of the hiking trail work in the Nahmakanta unit he’s developing.

The Bureau of Public lands describes the Nahmakanta unit thusly: “Nahmakanta encompasses more than 43,000 acres and is the largest unit in the public reserved lands system. The Appalachian Trail crosses the unit as it follows the shore of Nahmakanta Lake. The large roadless Debsconeag backcountry area offers the experienced hiker the opportunity to explore a spectacular complex of low mountains and remote ponds. Vehicle accessible campsites provide convenient access to scenic ponds and hiking trailheads. A popular snowmobile trail crosses the unit linking Millinocket and Greenville.”

While the state has owned the unit for more than 10 years, it’s one of those places you rarely hear discussed. It was brought to my attention a couple of years ago and is one of those places I’ve wanted to visit ever since. So it was great to have a chance to visit the place with Spencer.

We hooked up at 6 a.m. last Tuesday and headed north to Brownville Junction on Route 11. Fifteen miles north of town on the left is the Jo Mary Road. The dirt road runs northwest to Upper Jo Mary Lake and eventually to Henderson Checkpoint at the Nahmakanta unit. When the Jo Mary Checkpoint is open (it’s closed for the season now) you’ll have to pay a day-use fee of $4 per person for the Katahdin Ironworks-Jo Mary Multiple Use Forest, a privately owned forestry unit.

You can get to the Henderson Checkpoint from the west via the road that lies north of First and Second Roach Ponds east of Kokadjo. There is no fee charged on this end of the road. It’s passable, lots of washboard, but otherwise OK. We met a trailer truck hauling wood chips east.

After passing the Henderson Checkpoint, you’re basically in the Nahmakanta unit. The eastern trailhead for the Backcountry Trail System is 12 miles up the road on Fourth Debsconeag Lake. Along the way you’ll see a couple of small signs for Pleasant Point Camps on Fourth Debsconeag Lake. The last mile or so is pretty rough.

The BPL is in the process of developing the trails and campsites in the unit, and Spencer has been doing much of the design. Two years ago on National Trails Day a loop trail system on Turtle Ridge in the unit was dedicated. Spencer said he hopes the backcountry trail we scouted out would be ready for dedication in 2003. Next summer the last mile-plus of access road to the eastern trailhead will be improved. As it is now, that section of road is passable only by vehicles with higher ground clearance than a family sedan.

Work on the 12-mile Debsconeag Back Country Trail system has been done by the Maine Conservation Corps under the supervision of Scott Cady, a team leader for the MCC. Spencer had nothing but praise for his abilities.

When all the trail work and campsite development is done in the next two years, Spencer said, there will be four remote, walk-in sites in this backcountry section – one new one in addition to the one already established on Fifth Debsconeag Lake, and a new one on Eighth Debsconeag Lake. There is one on Sixth Debsconeag Lake already.

For the entire Nahmakanta unit there are nine drive-in campsites, eight walk-in sites and 10 which can be accessed by boat or canoe – four on Nahmakanta Lake, two on Wadleigh Pond, three on Pollywog Pond and one on Penobscot Pond.

We clawed and bumped our way to Fourth Debsconeag Lake and managed to arrive with the muffler and most of the paint still on Spencer’s van. About a half mile farther, the road crosses the outlet brook from Fifth Debsconeag Lake. A snowmobile bridge crosses the brook and the trail begins on the left at the end of the bridge. The first half mile or so of the blue-blazed trail follows this picturesque babbling brook upward to Fifth Debsconeag Lake where it divides. We took the right or northern side, winding our way up to Stink Pond. Then it was upward to a ridge overlooking this tiny pond.

From there we hiked to the cutoff trail that brought us to Sixth Debsconeag Pond. The cutoff begins at a large cairn with a wooden post in it. It’s hard to miss, unless you get to yacking as we did and walk right past it. After passing several more artfully constructed cairns Spencer realized our mistake and we backtracked a couple hundred yards and had a good laugh at ourselves. (We’d have added five or more miles to our outing had we not turned back.)

Take a few minutes when you get to Sixth Debsconeag to enjoy the view of this tiny pond. There’s a campsite on a small point that affords a relaxing panorama.

While we had avoided rain, there were low-hanging clouds which hindered long-range visibility. I had to take Spencer’s word, at one point, that the view over toward Nesuntabunt Mountain was indeed a good one. (At least the bottom half looked impressive, standing there guarding Nahmakanta Lake.) And Mount Katahdin, I was assured, was still there even though we couldn’t see it.

On this seven-mile loop, you won’t be challenged by higher altitudes – the ridge overlooking Stink Pond is about 1,300 feet in elevation and Nahmakanta Lake is at 646 feet. If you’re looking for a moderately easy hike in some backcountry on a new trail, this is the place to be. If you go, remember to practice Leave No Trace Ethics. Pack out what you pack in and leave the place better than when you arrived.

To get more information and camping regulations from the BPL call 287-3821.

This just in: Maine Outdoor Adventure Club will meet at 7 p.m. Dec 4, at Cadillac Mountain Sports in Bangor. Non-members are invited to the meeting as well as the group’s new member hike Dec. 8th at Donnell Pond. Call Bill Johnson at 338-0491for more information.

Jeff Strout’s column is published on Saturdays. He can be reached at 990-8202 or by e-mail at jstrout@bangordailynews.net.