Caribou Valley Road

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Danacus

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Jul 23, 2005
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Location
Bangor, Maine
Can anyone tell me what shape this "road" is in? I want to hike North and South Crocker this weekend; will I be able to drive a car (Ford Contour) to where the AT crossing is or is this road too rough? Thanks in advance.

Dana
 
Dave answered the same question on the AMC Board recently:

"I was up there in July and there was a Dodge Neon at the AT crossing, so you should have no trouble making it to there. It's a little rough between the metal bridge and the AT crossing but the Forrester will be fine. After that, things get much more interesting, including some very sketchy looking bridge crossings"
 
Since the weather's been dry, you should be okay. Just take it slow and watch your ground clearance - there are bumps, holes, and some very steep little on-and-offs at the bridges, any of which a vehicle with low clearance could get hung up on.
 
As I said in the thread quote above, you'll be fine until the metal bridge. After that it gets fairly rough, you'll need to take it easy climbing a rutted section just past the bridge, then there are some deep holes that you need to avoid or drive over slowly. You can make it in a Contour, but it may be a white knuckle situation for a while.

Just below the metal bridge is a parking area. Some people park there and walk the 1/2 mile to the AT crossing. Have fun on the Crockers, they were much more enjoyable than I expected.

Here are my photos from the trip.

Oh, when your first getl on the road there's a sign saying "Caribou Pond Road" but it's really the CVR. That confused me for a bit.

-dave-
 
hey dave,

nice avatar - how did you like that throne on abraham?

(it faces my house ... wonder how that happened?)
 
g o said:
nice avatar - how did you like that throne on abraham?
(it faces my house ... wonder how that happened?)

All my coworkers are quizzically looking at me, wondering why I'm laughing so hard!
:)
 
I would be a little apprehensive about taking a small car like that out there. It was in pretty rough shape last month when I was there. It's probably dried out some since then, but still some of those bridge approaches nearly bottomed out my jeep!

and then finding the AT itself is another adventure. It's very difficult to see it if you don't know where to look. We drove right by it twice and never saw it. When you park at the pull off, it's a little further up the road and very overgrown until you get on it.
 
I was there a week ago driving a low clearance sedan on my way to hike Redington. I parked just before a short rocky section, 3.0 miles from the pavement. I think this is about 1.5 miles before the AT crossing. There were some SUVs and an old Suburu sedan that made it to the AT crossing that day and a CR-V that was seen a mile past the AT crossing.

If you have a low clearance vehicle I'd recommend just giving it a try ... be willing to park if you don't like the look of things. The first 3 miles of the road should be passable to pretty much anything. If need be, the road walk goes really quick.
 
I agree with Stevehiker. I would be apprehensive about bringing my low riding Saturn down that road very far. If you blow a tire on a rock (there's lots of 'em) or damage the undercarriage (oilpan for example) and for some reason can't drive the car out, it is a problem. Cell service is weak in that area, depending on where you are if you did need some help.

DO a search- you may find some reason pics of Caribou. By the way the signs say Caribou Pond Road, not Caribou Valley Road when you turn in.
 
Last edited:
Since my AMC thread was mentioned here & I'm unsure my reply got thru

How far from the AT crossing to the start of the standard Redington approach? Can I walk the road, walk the "trail" & get back to the car in four hours? (With a fanny pack with a road walk in there I'm thinking I should be around 2 1/4 to 2 1/2 MPH - I may have to jog a little bit on the return trip)
I want to be back in CT by midnight & leaving Augusta aound noon.
 
Mike,
It's 1.1 miles from the AT crossing to the wide spot in the road (hard to miss, in DAYLIGHT :) ) that starts the Redington hike- see Mohamed's website for details. I hiked the RT from the AT crossing in 5 hours, including an hour at the top poking around and not in any great hurry- the distance is about 10 easy miles total. You should be fine.
Weatherman
 

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