I’m just starting to plan a trip to Mooselookmeguntic and Upper and Lower Richardson lakes in Maine this August and was wondering if anyone could suggest some of the better campsites, or any other general information.
Both are under private control
S Arm Campground controls Richardson and Stephen Phillips Preserve controls Mooselookmeguntic.
Mooslookmeguntic
Do you have any favorite campsites, and which would be the better starting point, South Arm or Cupsuptic?
no favs but Cupsuptic
has more sites to hide on… Richardson is long narrow and right now the winds are howling and the temp at freezing. Its one of those lakes where the wind either goes right up or right down the lake.
I often visit both areas on day trips and haven’t paid as good attention as I could to campsites.
Thanks for the info!
Kayak medic is right
A couple of years ago I planned to do the trip from South Richardson to Rangeley, due to the wind I ended up changing plans a doing it north to south instead. It was off season so I didn’t have to worry about campsite reservations. We stayed at Narrows and Shelter Island, both were very nice. Be ready for wind.
Only been once
I went through the area south to north, starting in Lake Umbagog and ending in Rangeley. We camped on the south side of Metallak Island in South Richardson…nice site, great beach, but a cabin nearby. We also camped at Stoney Batter Point on Mooselookmeguntic. Very nice site. I’m pretty sure reservations are needed during season. We went off-season.
-Chuck
How difficult is the carry from
Richardson to Umbagog? Is there a shuttle service available like there is on the Allagash?
Spell C-A-R-T
Its a rough woods road.
http://www.lakewoodcamps.com/sites/default/files/LKWD_SiteMap-Fishing%20Areas.pdf?phpMyAdmin=lxfOpebenix4fMHlycyZAlMa%2CT3
alternatively of course walk. You might be able to flag down a helpful ATV rider.
A VERY Rough and Rocky Road
I went on the same trip as Riverstrider.
There is a several hundred yard carry where carts are not useable at the Umbagog end. Then there’s roughly three miles of rocky jeep track.
We had two solo canoes and two tandems all loaded with Four days gear and food. All running heavy duty carts with 16" bicycle wheels. The solo boats were easy to zig and zag between the boulders, the tandems less so. One of the tandems crashed, bent a wheel past usable and cracked the hull.
Of course if you are going from Richardson to Umbagog, and if the Rapid is running, and if you are comfortable on Class IV rapids you can just float it.
Metallak Island on Richardson was as good as it gets in a heavy tropical rain storm. But if the cabin was occupied it might feel crowded.
I really liked the campsite at Stoney Batter Point.
Mooselookmeguntic etc
On the other hand the portage between Mooselook… and Richardson is quite easy.
The NFCT built a nice dock at Richardson but it is more canoe friendly than kayak friendly, with a kayak I found it was to high to be of any use to me. Therefore I landed on the rocky shore and used drift wood and what not as rollers to drag the boat closer to shore.
You’ll want to watch the water levels closely when you go on any of those lakes mentioned. The submerged rocks are not well rounded but rather quite sharp it is best not to get hung up on them, hugging the shoreline to closely can work against you… some of the rocks extend quite far out.
Richardson has some beautiful sandy beaches (depending again on water levels). All 3 lakes mentioned are quite beautiful. I am to be paddling that area again next week though the weather forecast looks pretty iffy.
Upper Richardson
I camped at Whitney Point, the last site on the east side going north. It’s in a small sheltered cove with two adjoining sites.
It was quite nice. As I recall the two sites south of there on the east side were nice as well. My memory isn’t too clear but I don’t think I saw anything as nice on the west side at the north end (e.g., the Half Moons).
By the way, there is an excellent put in at the north end of Richardson.
I was told by other campers that it’s hard to get a site on Richardson. There are a lot of large power boats on Richardson in the summer, and lots of wind.