Open Boat, Moving Water - A Paddler's Journal: Planning for Spring Camping - West Branch of the Penobscot/Lobster Lake

Sunday, March 1, 2026

Planning for Spring Camping - West Branch of the Penobscot/Lobster Lake

I got an email from Jonathan looking to start planning a spring camping trip. We decided on the West Branch of the Penobscot in May. Unfortunately Jonathan has now dropped out due to family obligations, but the trip is still on.

The classic trip is to put in below Roll Dam and paddle about 7-miles to Lobster Lake. Spend a night on Lobster Lake. From Lobster Lake, paddle 15-miles to Chesuncook Lake. Check out Chesuncook Village and then paddle 19-miles down the lake enjoying the great views of Mount Katahdin.

We are not planning anything that ambitious - 5 days, 4 nights with a leisurely pace. For the shuttle, we will use North Woods Outfitters (NWO) in Greenville. They will drop us at Lobster Stream, and pick us up at Umbazooksus West. Here is the plan:

Tuesday, May 19th - assemble somewhere close to Greenville.
Wednesday, May 20th - get to NWO early - 8:00 a.m. to 9:00 a.m. NWO drives us to Lobster Stream (45.89223,-69.56466), which will take 2 – 3 hours. Paddle to Lobster Lake - camp at Ogden Cove camp site (45.857293,-69.54895) – 3-miles.
Thursday, May 21st – explore Lobster Lake and hike up Lobster Mountain - trailhead is near Jackson Cove (45.851017,-69.542996).
Friday, May 22nd – paddle half way up the river to somewhere around Lone Pine (45.997846,-69.49727) – 12-miles. There are lots of sites in that area to choose from.
Saturday, May 23rd - finish paddling the river and across the top of Chesuncook Lake to one of the sites on Gero Island like Gero 3 (46.063178,-69.386223) – 11-miles.
Sunday, May 24th – paddle to Umbazooksus West (46.1302,-69.3687) – 5-miles. NWO picks us up at approximately 11:00 a.m. and drives up back to Greenville to pick up our cars. Load vehicles and head home.

For food, everyone will bring their own. It will make the logistics and packing a lot easier. In terms of boats, I’ll paddle tandem with Bill and plan to bring my Spirit II. I don’t know anything about fees or permits, so we'll have to figure that out.