Updated July 21, 2022

As we re-open the Reservations Office in our headquarters building to the public (on July 22), we recommend that all visitors to the office wear a mask to help prevent the spread of COVID-19.

We continue to ask all visitors to the park to arrive in good health, or stay home if you are feeling ill or presenting COVID-19 symptoms. 

 

Updated April 30, 2021

To visit safely this summer, please keep up your vigilance against Covid-19.

  • Arrive in good health. Stay home if you are feeling ill or presenting COVID-19 symptoms.
  • Bring a mask, and wear it where physical distancing is not possible, even if you are vaccinated.
  • Recreate within an appropriate risk level.

Baxter State Park will open for camping in many areas May 15. 

  • Rangers continue to assess spring conditions, and we’ll have more updates as May 15 approaches.
  • This year, bunkhouses will be rented at single-party lodging only.

Travel protocols are changing in Maine.  See the Maine Office of Tourism’s website for more information.

 

 

Updated December 2, 2020

BSP is open for winter camping as of December 1.

During Winter 2020-21, Baxter State Park (BSP) is following public health guidance and making every reasonable effort to make your stay safe–and we cannot do it all. We need your help. Vigilance against virus transmission comes down to individual responsibility.

  • Visitors are expected to follow state protocols for social distancing and use of face masks, and if staying at cabins or bunkhouses, are expected to clean and disinfect frequently touched surfaces upon arrival and departure.
  • BSP staff will make every reasonable effort to provide additional disinfection in bunkhouses and cabins on a weekly basis.
  • Bunkhouses will be booked as single-party only, as opposed to booking by individual space. A single-party refers to a family, or a group of friends and/or family that know each other.
  • If you or someone in your party is not a resident of Maine or an exempted state, you must complete a Certificate of Compliance form per the state’s Keep Maine Healthy Plan. 
    • You must email this form to [email protected] or drop it off at Headquarters (64 Balsam Dr., Millinocket, ME, next to McDonald’s–headquarters is not open to the public, but you may drop forms off any time of day or night in the dropbox to the right of the main doors) ) prior to entering the Park.
    • Each household will be required to submit this form. See the Keep Maine Healthy Plan for more.

As with any trip into the wilderness, with remoteness comes risk. By venturing out into the frozen Park landscape in the winter months, you accept this risk and responsibility for your own safety. Consequences are magnified; rescue response may be hours or even days away. Covid-19 introduces additional risk. Please understand that risk, learn what we have done to mitigate it, and recognize that your safety is your responsibility.

For information on winter in the Park, please visit the winter camping page.

 

Updated July 1, 2020

“Keep Maine Healthy” Plan

  • Baxter State Park is open for day use and camping to residents of Maine and non-residents who have met the quarantine and testing requirements according to the state’s Keep Maine Healthy plan. Please refer to the Keep Maine Healthy Plan for an up-to-date list of states whose residents are exempt from meeting quarantine and testing requirements. 
  • If your reservation is affected by these requirements, we offer refunds, transfers, credit, or the opportunity to donate to the Park.  Call our Reservations Office at 207-723-5140 7 days a week, 8am-4pm.

What is Open Now (summer season July 1 to October 22)

  • Togue Pond and Matagamon gates are open from 6am – 10pm daily.
    • All publicly accessible roads in the park are open.
  • All trails, except Dudley, are open.
  • Camping for residents of Maine and non-residents who have met the quarantine and testing requirements according to the state’s Keep Maine Healthy plan. Please refer to the Keep Maine Healthy Plan for an up-to-date list of states whose residents are exempt from meeting quarantine and testing requirements. 
  • All facilities are open except for bunkhouses and park headquarters in Millinocket.
  • At this time there will is no charge for canoes, paddles, and life jackets, which will not be disinfected. Visitors are encouraged to supply their own paddles and lifejackets.  Canoes are first come first serve.
  • Day use capacity will be reduced to allow physical distancing at parking lots, ranger stations, and on trails.

Partner with us for a Safe Season

We are following public health guidance and making every reasonable effort to make your stay safe–and we can’t do it all.  We need your help.  Vigilance against virus transmission comes down to individual responsibility.  

What we understand about this virus is that transmission is based on four basic principles:

  • how close you get to an infected person
  • how long you are near that person
  • whether that person expels viral droplets on or near you
  • and how much you touch your face afterwards

Based on this understanding and guidance from public health officials, 

We ask that you:

    • Monitor your own health.  If you are exhibiting any symptoms of COVID-19, please don’t visit the Park.  
    • Practice 6-foot physical distancing.  Where this is not possible, don a face covering.  Keep your mask with you–passing people on the trails will put you in close proximity.  
    • Practice good hand hygiene.  Bring your own hand sanitizer and use it before and after interacting with surfaces in the park including outhouses, trail registers, and picnic tables.
    • Do not take outsized risks. Outdoor adventures need to be safe. Accidents on the trail and in the woods create unnecessary strain on our first-responders.

We will:

  • Disinfect high touch areas.  For the summer season, we are disinfecting roadside outhouses at least twice a day, and more frequently where they are more heavily used.  High touch areas within cabins will be disinfected after each party.  We will NOT be disinfecting canoes, paddles, and lifejackets, lean-tos, picnic tables, or signs along the trail–use at your own risk.
  • Reduce overall day use capacity.  Our parking lots, like those of other parks and recreation areas, can become crowded as people gather to prepare for their hikes.  This is particularly true of Katahdin trailheads.  To allow for visitors to maintain physical distancing at these places, we will reduce day use capacity across the Park, consistent with other Maine state parks.  
  • Provide reminders along the way.  We’re working to get the word out to all potential visitors before they come to the Park and once you’re here.  Because so much of our ability to mitigate the risk of viral transmission is up to individuals, it is paramount that everyone keeps informed of the risks.

Still have questions?  Call our information and reservations line @ 207-723-5140.

Thank you for joining us in this effort to make this season safe and healthy.