Big Eddy makes a fine base camp from which to explore the surrounding region:

Allagash Wilderness Waterway The put-in at Chamberlain Lake is less than an hour’s drive north on the Telos Road from Big Eddy.

Ambajesus and Chesuncook Boom-houses  The West Branch Historical Society is restoring the boom houses at Ambejesus and Chesuncook as a way to preserve these historical buildings and the logging and river driving heritage on the West Branch of the Penobscot. 

Baxter State Park  With over 200,000 acres the park offers short day hikes to multi-day experiences.

Debsconeag Lake Wilderness Area Trailheads for the Ice Caves and the Rainbow Loop Trails are located a short drive down the Golden Road from Big Eddy.

North Maine Woods The North Maine Woods encompasses over 3.5 million acres of land under a variety of ownership including big and small corporations, individuals, families, and the State of Maine and The Nature Conservancy. Day use and overnight camping fees are charged at North Maine Woods Checkpoints.

Penobscot River Corridor Big Eddy Campground is located in the Penobscot River Corridor and the lands upstream and down of us are managed by the State of Maine Bureau of Parks and Lands.  Short access trails lead to the river including just upstream of the Campground on the east side of the Telos Bridge. Here there is a small parking area and a short trail to an overlook at “Vulture Rock” that offers an incredible view of the Cribworks Class V Rapid.

Big Eddy visitors often enjoy spending a relaxing evening sitting in the Adirondack Chairs and gazing out over the Eddy. As the sun sinks low, one of our non-human summer visitors can often be heard calling over the West Branch. 

The Common Nighthawk spends the winter in South America and returns to the Katahdin region in mid-May. Nighthawk populations have declined as a result of habitat loss and increasing use of pesticides which impact the large insects that are a major part of the Nighthawks diet.  We are fortunate that the population remains healthy around Big Eddy. This section of the West Branch offers many open ledges that are the preferred nest sites this ground nester.

Keep your eyes and ears on the sky this summer when you visit the Eddy and you may be treated with the peenting and Vroom of our resident nighthawks. These birds are known for being crepuscular, meaning they are most active at dawn and dusk.

What’s so special about Big Eddy? A few guests share their thoughts:

For Judy and me it is the joint love of fly fishing, the north woods, the solitude of the trout waters in the West Branch Region, and the liberty of knowing a stint on the “Eddy” is mere feet away – these experiences shared with good friends of similar minds are a blessing to our husband-and-wife team of over 50 years.  

For Judy, it is home – born and raised in East Millinocket, who sports the claim of a fishing “tomboy” if ever there was one. For me, an old forester who has spent nearly a lifetime professionally and personally in the Maine woods – a sojourn at the “Eddy” conjures up fond memories on each trip to the “Nesourdnahunks”,  Ten-Forty Pond or when coasting “Ladd Hill” down into the valley of the West Branch. 

• From Elbridge & Judy Cleaves 
  

This summer (2021) will be the 40th year I have camped at the Eddy, without missing a year. (Last summer  having a small camper meant we could do it safely.) 

I was the first woman licensed to guide the river (1982). I’ve been a mom floating the “circuit” up in the outflow from Big Eddy rapids, my daughter and I laughing at the push of it. With Nick Albans, I have been a river advocate, co-organizing the West Branch Coalition to Save the Penobscot, a coalition that grew to over 30 state, regional, and national groups that worked to stop the Big A dam. (It would have dewatered Horserace and then made a lake to the power station, a lake so vast Great Northern Paper proposed to relocate the Golden Road over the ridge next to Rainbow Lake. 

I hatched my first novel about the loss of the north woods while sitting with my feet in the river as caddisflies stained my paper. Nick Albans taught me how to fish so now at age 71, I cast into the Eddy’s green swirls but often just sit long after dark, eyes closed, happy knowing the river will murmur for my granddaughters. (Nick has a rock and plaque behind the eddy lawn down by the river. Stopping by to thank him is a good thing to do.)

• Sandy Neily

The COVID-19 pandemic inspired more people than ever before to explore the forests, mountains, lakes, rivers, and coastlines that make Maine uniquely Maine. It’s natural that newcomers to outdoor adventure—from hiking and camping to fishing and snowshoeing—might not know the ins-and-outs of responsible recreation.

 

 

 

That’s why the Maine Office of Tourism has started the Look Out for ME initiative. Their goal is to ensure that visitors and residents alike venture out safely and responsibly, with respect for the land we all love and cherish. Help us spread the word about how we can all do our part to protect Maine’s natural resources for generations to come.

Before you know it Big Eddy will be open. As the days get longer I wanted to let you know of some updates that we will be working on in 2021 and beyond. We are always looking at ways to reduce the run time for our diesel generator. In May we will install a new bank of storage batteries. The new batteries should increase our capacity to store even more of the sun’s energy. We are also working on a plan to increase the overall number of solar panels so that we can generate even more power on sunny days. A new and more efficient (and quieter) generator is in our future too.   

We have heard that many of you miss filling water jugs at the old hand pump. We removed the old pump in 2020 so that we could meet new safe drinking water guidelines. One of the unintended consequences of removing the old pump was that it required the electric pump to run more often to fill water jugs. To cut down on the run time of the electric water pump we plan to install a new Bison hand pump this summer.  

We will also be working with the Land Use Planning Commission on permitting to address the erosion issues at the boat launch.  

All of these improvements come at a cost and as we work hard to keep camping fees low at Big Eddy we will establish the Big Eddy Improvement Fund. We welcome donations to the fund which we hope to grow over time.  All funds raised will be exclusively used for infrastructure improvements at Big Eddy.  When you visit this year we would be happy to chat more about all the projects that we have in mind. 

Wishing you well and we look forward to seeing you this summer.