Canoe the Wild

The Allagash Wilderness Waterway is sold here as Maine best known canoe trip, and the outfitter claim for it is that it is one of the few eastern rivers a party can paddle for a week or more without meeting modern civilisation. Trips come in four lengths. The eight-day run takes the entire traditional route, ninety-three miles including the three big headwater lakes of Chamberlain, Eagle and Churchill, finishing at Allagash Village; the seven-day covers eighty-two miles from the south end of Eagle Lake; and the five and six day trips, forty-five and sixty-two miles, skip the large headwater lakes by launching at Churchill Dam. Beyond the first and last days a party averages ten miles and six to seven hours on the water. Camping is on riverside sites with picnic tables, a fire pit and an outhouse, in tents, cooking over an open fire. Chase Stream Rapids is the only moderate whitewater, and the trip suits ages twelve and up. Mid-May to mid-September is the window, July and August the busiest.