Baxter State Park and Nesowadnehunk Access 2018-2019

[bikehikeskifish]

From BSP:


Winter conditions update from Ranger Dave Loome:

There is 12-18” of snow between the Abol area and Nesowadnehunk. Less south, more north. Crust with enough powder for okay skiing south, mostly powder north.

12+ inches of good clear ice on Foss and Knowlton and Daicey Ponds. Possibility for excellent ice skating on Foss and Knowlton and Kidney Ponds right now.

For Nesowadnehunk access, the Williams Pond Road is still being plowed to within 0.7 miles of the park boundary. There is a good plowed pullout at the end, looks like they will be cutting in there for some time to come.

Looks like Golden -> Telos -> Williams Pond is the way to get to Nesowadnehunk for The Brothers, Fort and Coe, and perhaps there will be logging ongoing for some time this winter.

When I went last year, it was 3.6 miles on Williams Pond Road, so this should be nearly trivial to get to the campground/bunkhouse. Even at 3.6 miles, if I am misunderstanding the logging area, is a significant savings from going from Telos Road.

Tim

 

[DayTrip]

I was just reading this on Facebook too. Do they plow roads in Baxter in Winter? I was under the impression the park beyond the gates was closed and you had to hike/ski in to the campsites and cabins. Can you drive to the Nesowadnehunk area and Winter camp in the campground or cabins? Did I understand that post correctly - within 0.7 miles?

 

[peakbagger]

The roads in the park are not plowed. The main road becomes a public snowmobile trail while the rangers maintain snowmobile trails for their use to service the major campgrounds. The roads outside of the park are not plowed by any government entity. Private contractors may plow logging roads outside the park and may allow private vehicles to drive on them. This varies year by year depending on what areas outside the park are being cut.

Therefore you cannot drive to any campground in the park but you can ski/snowshoe to them from outside the park from the nearest plowed road. Sounds like this year it is easier than most. The park has been slowly upgrading or building new winter cabins and the one at Nesowadnehunk is getting rave reviews due to its location. I believe that Daicey is getting a new one but dont know if its open this winter.

 

[bikehikeskifish]

https://caltopo.com/m/L7V3 is from 2017. The blue track was recorded on the day of the trip while the red track was drawn in advance. Note they really only diverge at the very end, where the winter access trail leaves Williams Pond Road. Looks like they will be logging off all the side roads. You can see we went too far and turned around. At the three-way route intersection was the parking area from 2017.

Tim

 

[DayTrip]

So all the usual campgrounds are open for tent use, etc or is it strictly cabin rentals? Outhouses and normal services (wood in the shed, ranger on site, etc) or is it basically nothing but what you provide?

Nesowadnehunk campground would be a pretty awesome spot to throw a tent for a night if it could be accessed. I'm guessing booking a site could be done last minute with lack of demand?

 

[DayTrip]

So all the usual campgrounds are open for tent use, etc or is it strictly cabin rentals? Outhouses and normal services (wood in the shed, ranger on site, etc) or is it basically nothing but what you provide?

Nesowadnehunk campground would be a pretty awesome spot to throw a tent for a night if it could be accessed. I'm guessing booking a site could be done last minute with lack of demand?

Do all the trails see foot traffic of any sort or is it pretty much breaking trail everywhere you go?

 

[DayTrip]

The roads in the park are not plowed. The main road becomes a public snowmobile trail while the rangers maintain snowmobile trails for their use to service the major campgrounds. The roads outside of the park are not plowed by any government entity. Private contractors may plow logging roads outside the park and may allow private vehicles to drive on them. This varies year by year depending on what areas outside the park are being cut.

Therefore you cannot drive to any campground in the park but you can ski/snowshoe to them from outside the park from the nearest plowed road. Sounds like this year it is easier than most. The park has been slowly upgrading or building new winter cabins and the one at Nesowadnehunk is getting rave reviews due to its location. I believe that Daicey is getting a new one but dont know if its open this winter.

Just to be clear, you cannot snowshoe on the Tote Road or Roaring Brook Road because they are snowmobile routes? You need to find other routes besides these? And if you can use the Tote Road, is there plowed parking anywhere around gate and do you check in at gate like normal?

 

[bikehikeskifish]

Do all the trails see foot traffic of any sort or is it pretty much breaking trail everywhere you go?

Don't count on trails being broken out. The Brothers/Fort/Coe do not get the traffic that Katahdin does. However, we got incredibly lucky and did not even need snowshoes (but did use crampons!) because the snow was frozen boilerplate. Many people with large and strong groups are unsuccessful in getting all 4 in a single trip. We did, but it was still a long day even without trail breaking.

Just to be clear, you cannot snowshoe on the Tote Road or Roaring Brook Road because they are snowmobile routes? You need to find other routes besides these? And if you can use the Tote Road, is there plowed parking anywhere around gate and do you check in at gate like normal?

There is no checkin at the tote road gate (Togue Pond) in winter. The road into BSP is not plowed. Access is via the Golden Road and then to your destination from there.

So all the usual campgrounds are open for tent use, etc or is it strictly cabin rentals? Outhouses and normal services (wood in the shed, ranger on site, etc) or is it basically nothing but what you provide?
Outhouses are open and there is free wood in winter with your cabin rental. I don't know about tent camping.

Nesowadnehunk campground would be a pretty awesome spot to throw a tent for a night if it could be accessed. I'm guessing booking a site could be done last minute with lack of demand?

When we booked the cabin, that was all that was available. As we did not see a ranger, I imagine you could stealth camp if you wanted to.

Tim

 

[peakbagger]

Do all the trails see foot traffic of any sort or is it pretty much breaking trail everywhere you go?

You can ski or snowshoe on the tote road, you just need to share with the snowmobiles. Make yourself visible and keep off to the side when any are approaching. The same applies on the various paths that the rangers keep open over the winter for their use on snowmobile (these routes are definitely not open to the snowmachining public they are just for park staff use and the subject of a few lawsuits in the past. If you remember the extensive bridges on the Chimney Pond trail near the pond, they were built for park snowmachines accessing Chimney Pond.

You may get lucky on broken trails off the snowmachine trails but you may not as the usage is lower and the mountains in the area make snow on their own.

Best idea is call the park, I don't think its legal to camp anywhere you do not have reservations and the number of structures available in winter are limited. Management of the park in winter is stricter. The availability of S&R folks is very limited so the park staff can and will limit where you can go depending on their assessment of your ability and gear. The rangers can be helpful, I know a few groups that were sking up the Roaring Brook road (a particularly long ski in from the Golden Road) and the ranger offered to haul their gear up to Roaring Brook.

Standard recommendation is get your winter gear and ability sorted out elsewhere before you go to BSP.

 

[DayTrip]

You can ski or snowshoe on the tote road, you just need to share with the snowmobiles. Make yourself visible and keep off to the side when any are approaching. The same applies on the various paths that the rangers keep open over the winter for their use on snowmobile (these routes are definitely not open to the snowmachining public they are just for park staff use and the subject of a few lawsuits in the past. If you remember the extensive bridges on the Chimney Pond trail near the pond, they were built for park snowmachines accessing Chimney Pond.

You may get lucky on broken trails off the snowmachine trails but you may not as the usage is lower and the mountains in the area make snow on their own.

Best idea is call the park, I don't think its legal to camp anywhere you do not have reservations and the number of structures available in winter are limited. Management of the park in winter is stricter. The availability of S&R folks is very limited so the park staff can and will limit where you can go depending on their assessment of your ability and gear. The rangers can be helpful, I know a few groups that were sking up the Roaring Brook road (a particularly long ski in from the Golden Road and ranger offered to haul their gear up to Roaring Brook.

Standard recommendation is get your winter gear and ability sorted out elsewhere before you go to BSP.

This is certainly not on the radar for this season. Need much more Winter camping experience before I attempted a trip of this sort. But it is certainly on the bucket list. When the time comes I would likely make a phone call for info. Have very limited knowledge of the area.

 

[ChrisB]

This is certainly not on the radar for this season. Need much more Winter camping experience before I attempted a trip of this sort. But it is certainly on the bucket list. When the time comes I would likely make a phone call for info. Have very limited knowledge of the area.

If you can park within a mile of Cozy Cabin this is the winter go for the Brothers!

Nevertheless it is still a major winter effort and depending on conditions a very strenuous haul.

Using a temp camp at the Marston trail head is not a bad strategy.
Cb

 

[bikehikeskifish]

Cozy Cabin is closed. It's replacement is vastly nicer - 2 bunk rooms with 4 spacious bunks each. Pictures in my linked trip report above.

Tim

 

[alexmtn]

…Nesowadnehunk campground would be a pretty awesome spot to throw a tent for a night if it could be accessed. I'm guessing booking a site could be done last minute with lack of demand?

No last minute booking of anything, at least as of last year. They require a week of lead time, purportedly to allow time for updates to get out to all staff members that you're coming -- for safety and facility fuel/maintenance reasons.

Alex

 

[ChrisB]

This is certainly not on the radar for this season. Need much more Winter camping experience before I attempted a trip of this sort. But it is certainly on the bucket list. When the time comes I would likely make a phone call for info. Have very limited knowledge of the area.

Hi,

The Winter Experience of Baxter Park is truly unique. It's an amazing and wild place, particularly in winter.

Having said that, I will add that using the winterized cabins available at various locations in the park make a winter visit easy and pleasurable. A cozy and warm cabin is a wonderful refuge from the harsh realities of the Maine deep winter as you cook, socialize, and sleep in comfort.

Be it at Roaring Brook, Chimney Pond, South Branch, Kidney Pond, or Nesowadnehunk, a cabin is a great place from which to venture into the larger park.

As a result, cabin reservations can be hard to get if you do not have a flexible schedule. Particularly at Roaring Brook and Chimney.

So plan well in advance and get ready for a memorable trip.

cb

PS It is generally considered a no-no to be tenting in winter and expect use of a nearby occupied cabin for cooking and hanging out, unless there is an emergency (which has happened on trips I've made).

 

[bikehikeskifish]

There are spots available at lean-tos. Also, I wouldn't consider no space at Chimney a show-stopper. The rangers pack the trail from Roaring Brook to Chimney several times a day with snowmobiles, often towing a box of firewood.

Tim

 

[ChrisB]

There are spots available at lean-tos. Also, I wouldn't consider no space at Chimney a show-stopper. The rangers pack the trail from Roaring Brook to Chimney several times a day with snowmobiles, often towing a box of firewood.

Tim

Staying at RB adds about 6 miles to an ascent of Baxter peak or Hamlin. That might be a deal breaker for many winter parties.

A really fun trip is a ski traverse of the park from north to south. You can use cabins at South Branch, Russell Pond and Roaring Brook along the way. It’s about a 50 mile ski tour from car to car. The stretch between South Branch and Russell is really beautiful skiing when condx are right.