Moosehead is the biggest lake in Maine and the one that feels least tamed. Greenville sits at its southern tip and is the jumping-off point for most of what happens on and around it — float planes, moose tours, remote camps and, in our case, hard water.
Here is the region as we use it, and what to do with the rest of your time.
The Katahdin
The Katahdin is a 1914 steamboat built at Bath Iron Works. She started in the tourist trade, spent decades as a towboat hauling timber across the lake during the log drives, and was restored in the 1990s by the nonprofit now running her as Katahdin Cruises and the Moosehead Marine Museum. Cruises run from around three hours up to seven.
It is the single best way to understand the scale of the lake, and the history comes free with the view.
Moose, properly
Greenville is one of the most reliable places in North America to see moose. Guided dawn and dusk tours work Lily Bay Road and the Moose River drainage, and in season sightings are close to a given.
The other option is a float plane tour over the lake and the north woods, which is the only way to really see how much unbroken forest is out there.
Mount Kineo
Kineo is the great rock face standing out of the middle of Moosehead — an 800-foot mountain whose cliffs drop close to 700 feet straight into the lake. It is one of the defining sights in Maine.
You cannot drive to it. Access is by water, with a short shuttle from the boat launch at Rockwood taking about ten minutes. Once across, four trails combine into roughly six miles of walking around the peninsula and up to the summit, where a steel fire tower gives you the whole lake and the mountains behind it. The Indian Trail is the direct route up; the Carriage Trail is the gentle one.
Allow most of a day, take water, and check the shuttle times before you commit.
Trips we run in this country
- Moosehead region ice fishing. The Moosehead Lake Region trip is one of six waters on our ice fishing list and the furthest north of them. Big water, serious fish, and a genuinely different day out from a Central Maine pond.
- Remote heritage water. Our One-Day Heritage Water Trip and Two-Day Wilderness Expedition reach the kind of water this region is full of.
- Moose hunts. If your permit falls up here, our guided moose hunts and remote camp moose hunt both work this country.
Hunting: WMD 9
Greenville and the Moosehead country sit in Wildlife Management District 9, one of the districts we guide moose in. Confirm your zone on the MDIFW district descriptions.
- Guided moose hunts — WMD 9 is prime country and we guide it.
- Remote camp moose hunt if you want a camp rather than a daily drive.
- Deer, bear and upland bird through the same big woods.
We do not currently have a lodging partner in Greenville. The properties on our lodging page sit further south and north — tell us your dates and we will point you at something local.
Winter
Moosehead is a snowmobiling destination of the first order, with the trail network radiating out of Greenville and snow that arrives early and stays. Ice fishing, snowshoeing and cross-country skiing round it out. It is also when lodging is easiest to get and the lake is at its most striking.
Where to eat
- Blair Hill Inn — widely held to be the best dining in the region. Farm-to-table, and a view down the lake that does a lot of the work.
- Around town you will find the usual and welcome mix of pub food, breakfast places and general stores. Out of season, check hours before you plan an evening.
Where to stay
- Blair Hill Inn — a mansion on 79 acres above the lake, and one of only two Maine properties in the Relais & Châteaux group.
- The Lodge at Moosehead Lake — inland Maine’s longest-standing AAA Four Diamond property.
- The Greenville Inn — close to both the lake and downtown.
- Moose Mountain Inn — trailside, which matters if you are sledding or snowshoeing.
- Kineo View Motor Lodge — for the lake and mountain views without the price tag.
Practical notes
Greenville is three hours from Central Maine and the last stretch is genuinely rural. Fill the tank, download your maps, and do not assume anything is open late. Moosehead rewards people who plan a little.
Making a trip of it
A good Moosehead weekend looks like this: cruise or float plane on day one, a dawn moose run on day two, and water in between. In winter, swap the first two for a day on the ice.
If you want the fishing handled, look at our fishing trips or get in touch.
Sources
- Katahdin Cruises & Moosehead Marine Museum — for the 1914 build date, the Bath Iron Works origin and the cruise lengths.
- Guide to Moosehead Lake — New England Today, for the lodging detail.
We are not affiliated with any of the businesses named above, and none of these are paid placements.