Appalachian Trail Guide To Maine [Paperback]

Ray Ronan (Editor)

Book Description

Publication Date: March 18, 2004

One of 11 official guides to the Appalachian Trail, each of which includes a pack-sized book and up to seven separate water-resistant maps in a resealable plastic bag. This volume covers the northernmost 281 miles of the famous footpath--from majestic Kathadin in central Maine's Baxter State Park to the New Hampshire state line. The seven detached, full-color, tear-resistant, two-sided maps include trail descriptions and other hiking-focused information on the backs. The maps are at a scale of an inch to a mile and include elevation profiles and topographical lines. The book concentrates on safety information and background on area history, points of interest, geology, and natural resources.

This guide is published by the Maine Appalachian Trail Club and distributed by the national Appalachian Trail Conservancy.

Product Details

• Paperback: 172 pages
• Publisher: Maine Appalachian Trail Club (March 18, 2004)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1889386405
• ISBN-13: 978-1889386409
• Product Dimensions: 11.5 x 6.3 x 1.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.2 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #817,168 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

9 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A great guidebook, September 12, 2008

By 

nehiker (Boston) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Appalachian Trail Guide To Maine (Paperback)

As the other books in this series, this book consists of a set of water-resistant maps (7 in this case), lists of mileage points, brief trail descriptions, and general information about nearby towns, transportation, etc. Each of the maps also includes an elevation chart at the bottom (which tend to be rather rough approximations). As the title suggests, the guidebook focuses on the AT, though a few side trails are described as well. In contrast to the other 3 AT guidebooks I own, the maps come on separate sheets, with the back of each used for trail description; the book itself contains only general information. In my view, this is a very convenient feature as you can just carry the maps you need and leave the book at home.

I used maps 1-3 to hike the 100 mile Wilderness (just south of Baxter State Park) and found the maps and the trail descriptions to be generally very accurate. However, some information that might have been useful is omitted. For example, there are a couple of developed campsites (maintained by the state) at the south end of Nahmakanta Lake; they are not official AT campsites and there is no mention of them in the guidebook. More information about tenting opportunities at the shelter site would have been nice as well (a lot of shelters in the wilderness have rather poor tentsites). Overall, this guidebook is all you need to follow the trail though, and there is no other choice I am aware of anyway :)