Maine High Peaks: Aziscohos Lake Camping Trip

Aziscohos Lake is a fairly remote lake in Northwestern Maine near the New Hampshire border. Almost 20 miles long, it has a number of primitive camping sites that make it a great location for a long weekend of paddling or fishing. All campsites are managed by private campgrounds and must be reserved in advance. Aziscohos Lake Wilderness Camping maintains campsites on the eastern shore in the middle of the lake, as well as four more on the northern end. Black Brook Cove Campground has a dozen sites in the southern end of the lake. We recommend setting up a base camp at the Lincoln site in the middle of the lake, and then paddling to the north end the next day to explore there. The northern part of the lake is particularly beautiful, especially the arm that extends up past Bosebuck Mountain Camps. Beneath these waters is the Vail Site, a Native American archeological site that dates back around 13,000 years. Researchers have discovered evidence of several encampments here, as well as a place where large numbers of caribou were killed. Lake Aziscohos itself is manmade, created after the Magalloway River was dammed in the early 20th century, and the encampments are on what was once the bank of the river.

If you only have two days, we recommend staying at the Birches site, which is at the north end of the lake. If the wind isn’t too strong against you, you should still be able to make it to the site in about 4 or 5 hours, leaving plenty of time to explore other spots on the lake.

Click here to buy a downloadable map from our store (Free for members).