AT in Baxter

[torn&frayed]

Just back from another great trip to Baxter.
(I'll hold my tongue temporarily on my opinion of the new parking regulations)
My questions are regarding the Grassy Pond Trail. Why was it closed for so long? When was it re-opened and designated as the new route of the AT? And why didn't Mr. Ranger at Nesowadnehunk have any clue about this re-location?
I love it. It eliminates the walk along the dusty, narrow dirt road.
I also want to share a secret - Burnt Mountain is awesome! If you ever need an easy day, and don't mind some "Tote Roading", check it out. Pay no attention to the description in ME Mt Guide (at least, the version that I own).
Now, about those parking rules..........................when I go into Baxter, I want the weather to decide where I will hike - not a pre-planned parking pass and a Meter Maid.
See ya
Jim

 

[Tom Rankin]

Now, about those parking rules..........................when I go into Baxter, I want the weather to decide where I will hike - not a pre-planned parking pass and a Meter Maid. See ya

Are you saying that you no longer can park in the lot of your choosing, even if none of them are full?

 

[sapblatt]

that would stink - although all of my trips there have had a pretty exact backpacking itinerary - you get used to their ways because the place is so spectacular

 

[torn&frayed]

I have not taken the time to investigate the actual new rules. But the Ranger at Nesowadnehunk, where we camped, asked us upon check in time, "Where are you hiking tomorrow?".
I replied "The Owl", and I thought he was going to faint.
He told us that for the busy parking lots we need to reserve a spot - with headquarters, not with a park ranger - in advance. They are in a trial period right now, while they educate visitors and revise the system. So, he said if we arrived early enough and found a spot, we would just get a warning this time if we did not have the proper permit. In the future, the penalty will be to put boots on cars parked without a permit.
I'm hoping it's a plan that will be thrown out the window, soon.

 

[peakbagger]

I realize that the thread is mostly about venting about the parking rules, but as was pointed out in earlier threads, the policy is in place for only Roaring Brook, Abol and Katahdin Stream. You have the option to make reservation in advance for specific days if you want to park in these lots and Maine residents get priority up to 3 weeks in advance.

As an example I just looked up labor day weekend and most of the lots are wide open. Starting this Saturday if you are not a resident, here is your chance as its three weeks to the Saturday of labor day weekend. On the other hand if you want to hike the mountain this weekend on Saturday, you are out of luck, but there are slots for next weekend. For the average individual who drives 6 hours one way to get to the park, IMHO I dont think 1 minute on the web is a major imposition to book a parking space in advance compared to waiting in line for a couple of hours at the gate hoping to get a spot. For those who want flexibility and are opposed to reservations, if all the spots are not reserved, the Togue Pond gate staff fill in the remaining unreserved spots in the morning and at some point, they even start handing out reserved spots for no shows. So for those enamored of waiting in line at 4 AM in the morning on a peak weekend the option is still there but for those who want to sleep in the option of reservations is there to ensure a spot.

Where I do agree the system is flawed, is that if you are in the park, you dont have to option of waking up in the morning and deciding to climb the mountain via any of three parking lots. Previously you could get up early and drive to whatever parking lot you wanted before the Togue Pond gate opened. On the other hand, all the other trails in the park are wide open with no reservations required.

By the way, I saw a truck with a boot on it earlier this summer that was parked on the tote road (not in a parking space).

 

[Blue]

Question

As an example I just looked up labor day weekend and most of the lots are wide open. Starting this Saturday if you are not a resident, here is your chance as its three weeks to the Saturday of labor day weekend.

If I want RB parking, should I book all three days I'm staying in the park, even if I plan to only use RB once? If the weather is bad on one day, it would give me the flexibility of choosing the best day.

 

[peakbagger]

If you want to climb the mountain on the best day of your choosing, I think you do (which will cost you an extra $24 dollars over and) above what you paid for reservations to stay in the park. Of course if you have reservations at the three campgrounds with these parking lots, this doesnt apply as the parking space is included with the reservation.

Edited - sorry for the wrong cost for a day use permit Michael is right so the impact is $15 to book all three days.

 

[MichaelJ]

If you want to climb the mountain on the best day of your choosing, I think you do (which will cost you an extra $24 dollars over and

Day use reservations are only $5/day.
They can be made online or by phone, though of course neither of those options works inside the park itself.

Yes, it's those staying in the park who get the short end of this program. However, if you're driving up to stay at a motel then do a single day hike, you're the lucky one as there's now no risk of getting all the way up there and not getting your hike.

If you really want to be secure in your climb of Katahdin, book a site and stay at Katahdin Stream, Abol, or Roaring Brook (or Chimney Pond).

"Unreserved parking spaces will be filled on a first-come, first-serve basis as soon as the Togue Gate opens.
DUPR spots are held until 7:30am on the day of your reservation, after which any unfilled DUPRs or remaining space will be filled on a first-come, first-serve basis."

It is not clear to me if that's 7:30am at the Togue Pond gate or 7:30am at the parking area.

 

[Tom Rankin]

I realize that the thread is mostly about venting about the parking rules, but as was pointed out in earlier threads, the policy is in place for only Roaring Brook, Abol and Katahdin Stream. You have the option to make reservation in advance for specific days if you want to park in these lots and Maine residents get priority up to 3 weeks in advance.

As an example I just looked up labor day weekend and most of the lots are wide open. Starting this Saturday if you are not a resident, here is your chance as its three weeks to the Saturday of labor day weekend. On the other hand if you want to hike the mountain this weekend on Saturday, you are out of luck, but there are slots for next weekend. For the average individual who drives 6 hours one way to get to the park, IMHO I dont think 1 minute on the web is a major imposition to book a parking space in advance compared to waiting in line for a couple of hours at the gate hoping to get a spot. For those who want flexibility and are opposed to reservations, if all the spots are not reserved, the Togue Pond gate staff fill in the remaining unreserved spots in the morning and at some point, they even start handing out reserved spots for no shows. So for those enamored of waiting in line at 4 AM in the morning on a peak weekend the option is still there but for those who want to sleep in the option of reservations is there to ensure a spot.

Where I do agree the system is flawed, is that if you are in the park, you dont have to option of waking up in the morning and deciding to climb the mountain via any of three parking lots. Previously you could get up early and drive to whatever parking lot you wanted before the Togue Pond gate opened. On the other hand, all the other trails in the park are wide open with no reservations required.

By the way, I saw a truck with a boot on it earlier this summer that was parked on the tote road (not in a parking space).

Thanks for the clarification. I think I saw a boot last summer too, but it was a very illegally parked car, not in a lot.

 

[peakbagger]

One loophole for those in the park is the use of a bicycle, they are legal on the park roads and may be a option for those who are not far away from one of the reservable lots (possibly Daicey, Kidney and the group site near Roaring Brook). Be aware that sight lines and width of the road will make this a challenging effort. I expect this concept could also apply to day use, but the options would be less attractive when balanced against a $5 investment. I have considered it in the past to make the end of the day walk from Abol to Katahdin Stream a bit quicker.

Of course there could be a debate if a bicycle is a "vehicle" and therefore in need of a parking permit.. Somewhat like the paragliders a few years ago, its probably something that would need to end up in court if it was pushed. Heck for those out for an adventure, I think they also would skip the vehicle fee at the gate of they rode in.

 

[Bob Kittredge]

We were staying at Foster Field July 22 thru 26. I asked about parking at Katahdin Stream at the gate and was told by the ranger that I wouldn't need a Day Use Parking Reservation since Foster Field is considered part of KS.

On Friday we drove the 2+ miles from Foster down to KS, arriving at 7:20AM. There was ample day use parking and no sign of any ranger checking anybody's registration. Maybe they only check on the busiest of days.

Had an excellent hike up and down the Hunt. My pics.

 

[Christa]

My questions are regarding the Grassy Pond Trail. Why was it closed for so long? When was it re-opened and designated as the new route of the AT? And why didn't Mr. Ranger at Nesowadnehunk have any clue about this re-location?

Just got back from Baxter myself. I was reading one of our Guide Books while in the park (not the AMC Maine Mountain Guide by the way) and they said that the relocation of the AT to the Grassy Pond Trail occurred sometime in (probably late) 2009 and was done specifically to eliminate that walk along the Tote Road. Couldn't tell you why the Ranger didn't have a clue unless he was a relative newbie.

As for the whole parking thing, if you're staying in one of the campgrounds (Roaring Brook, Katahdin Stream, Abol), you don't need to buy a Day Use Permit for trails that leave from that campground, but you do need to buy one for the trails that leave the other campgrounds.

And, as a side note, there appears to be some confusion amongst the Rangers whether people who are staying at the Bear Brook Group Campground just down the road from Roaring Brook need to buy a Parking Permit or not. We were told by one Ranger to park in the Camping side, thus not requiring the purchase of a Parking Permit and then by another Ranger on a different day that we had to park in the Day-Use area, which should theoretically necessitate the purchase of a Parking Permit. I suspect you'll run into the same thing if staying at Foster Field with Katahdin Stream. It seems to depend on which Ranger you talk to. I'm not convinced they've all got their ducks in a row yet.

 

[MichaelJ]

Bear Brook is specifically the group site for Roaring Brook. Headquarters and Ranger do agree that Bear Brook campers are entitled to park at Roaring Brook with no day use reservation or additional fees. They just disagree on where to actually put the car in the parking lot. HQ said to use the camping side, but the Ranger wants the cars on the day use side. I suspect the Ranger's preference is based on knowing just by looking in the lot whether any day use hikers are still out somewhere.

I suspect the same relationship holds between Foster Field and Katahdin Stream, since if you look at the camping section of the Baxter Website, Foster is listed as the group location for Katahdin Stream just as Bear Brook is listed as group for Roaring Brook.

 

[SteveHiker]

I always thought that road walk on the AT was kinda lame. Of all the places you'd expect a roadwalk on the AT, wouldn't Forever Wild be the least likely?

 

[Becca M]

Day Use Passes in BSP - recent experience (mid-week)

Just back from Baxter this week (mid-week). Stayed in Millinocket and went in for dayhikes. I bought two separate day use passes b/c I wanted to ensure I'd get the main peak on a decent day. Each day was $15 in the DUPR system plus $5 processing fee. The DUPR system didn't seem set up to let you purchase 2 days in one transaction, so I had to go back into the system each time - a minor pain.

THEN, the gate problem: make sure you get there way before 7am at the Togue gate even if you have a day use pass. The first day, 6am, the line was only a couple cars long and they had a second ranger working the line. The second day, we got there at 6:45 and waited approx 45 MINUTES in line even tho we had passes!!!! People were getting VERY anxious as the passes state you must be there by 7:30, plus all the idling car fumes made for a very frustrating start of the day. Perhaps my experience was an isolated incident, but, it seems like there is opportunity for some streamlining/optimization during peak times...

 

[MichaelJ]

Becca, just to clarify, the $15 was for the out-of-state car fee, while the $5 was for the day use reservation?

 

[chinooktrail]

They must have been planning the reroute for a while, my 1989 map shows it as a road walk, but my 2002 map shows the new route...

Anyway, thanks for the heads up about the parking changes, I just got my 2 passes online for the 4 days I'll be there and it cost me $10.00. I am out of state, but staying in the park. The site never asked if I was staying in the park, unless it crossrefrenced my name, which I doubt, so not sure about the cost of it all for the different situations...

I am just hoping Mother Nature is kind and gives me a severe clear day for Katahdin!

 

[Becca M]

reply to MichaelJ

I'm not sure about which portions were for which fees (they take the printout at the gate and fill-in another form for the car), but, I was out-of-state.

Total per day: $15 for the DUPass (for the 3 main parking areas for trails that lead to Baxter peak) + $5 processing fee + the gate fee ($14 out-of-state). All was per car. --Becca