"Katahdin - Appalachian Trail's Northern Teminus" Top 5 Page for this destination Millinocket by jackfruit

Millinocket Travel Guide: 12 reviews and 21 photos

Summit Sign on Mt. Katahdin - Millinocket
Summit Sign on Mt. Katahdin

Elevation: 5267', 1605m
Range: Longfellow Mountains, part of the Appalachian Mountains
Country: United States
State: Maine
County: Piscataquis
Nearest Towns: Millinocket, 22 miles SE
Ownership: Baxter State Park
Latitude: 45° 54' N
Longitude: 68° 55' W

Situated in Northern Maine, Mt. Katahdin (5267ft) is Maine's most famous mountain, and means "Sacred Mountain" in the local Indian tongue. Mt. Katahdin lies within the Baxter State Park in Maine and can be accessed by road from Millinocket, Maine. Because of the restricted day use laws in Baxter State Park, you have to get there very early (as early as 4:00am on busy weekend days in the summer) to get a day use permit.

This mountain is famous for it's Knife Edge trail which is a ridge trail about 3-4 ft wide at it's widest and has sheer drops from 800-3000 ft on either side. So this is not for the faint of heart. This trail is a 1.1 mile exposed ridge between Baxter Peak and Pamola Peak, in the saddle area of Katahdin.

The Helen Taylor (named for a former superintendent of the park) trail is the most popular,and parking for this trail is at Roaring Brook. Once this one fills up (and it does very early), you will be directed to other possible trailheads like the Abol Ridge which we were.

Abol is the steepest trail up Katahdin and gains 4000ft elevation in under 6 miles.

We did the Abol on the way up and the Knife Edge to Helen Taylor on the way down.

There is a hiker's log at Roaring Brook Campground that keeps track of hiker traffic on the mountain.

Knife Edge Trail from the sky - Millinocket

Knife Edge Trail from the sky

Katahdin from the plane window - Millinocket

Katahdin from the plane window

Pros and Cons
  • Pros:Do the Abol Trail to the summit and Knife Edge back! Challenging and breathtaking views!!
  • Cons:Wake yourself up at 4am or earlier to get to Togue Pond Gatehouse to stand a chance of making it in!!
  • In a nutshell:She makes you work for it, but its worth it every step of the way!!
  • Last visit to Millinocket: Oct 2001
  • Intro Updated Jan 19, 2004
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Reviews (1)

Knife Edge between South & Pamola Peaks - Millinocket Planning to hike Katahdin? Favorites (1)

This website has everything you need to plan your hike - http://americasroof.com/me.shtml Although challenging all the... more travel advice

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Comments (2)

  • Reply
    marcoparco's Profile Photo
    Feb 22, 2004 at 12:24 PM

    I was in Millinocket a few years ago...Didn't have the chance to go hiking but went white water rafting! AMAZING! Cheers!

  • Reply
    aadil's Profile Photo
    Jan 20, 2004 at 9:31 PM

    Hike the highest mountains and dive in the deepest seas ....... a very adventurous life you lead!!! Great start to a wonderful page, so how did you manage to go up there in a plane too?!!! Hope you were not skydiving there?!!! :-))

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“Too often ... would men boast only of the miles covered that day, rarely of what they had seen.”

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