Jackman sits in the Moose River Valley on Route 201, about twenty miles short of the Quebec border. It is the last real town before the North Woods proper, and it is where a good share of our remote work begins.
If you are driving up to meet us, or simply want to know what else is here, this is the ground as we know it.
Moose Alley
The stretch of Route 201 between The Forks and Jackman is known as Moose Alley, and the name is earned. Roughly forty miles of bog, pond and cut-over clearing sit either side of the road, and at dawn and dusk in season it is about the most reliable moose viewing in the state.
Two rules make the difference: go early or late, and slow down. Most people drive it at speed in the middle of the day and see nothing.
The Old Canada Road
Route 201 through Jackman is not just a road to Canada. From the Robbins Hill Scenic Overlook at Solon up to the border at Sandy Bay Township, 78 miles of it carry the Old Canada Road National Scenic Byway designation. It follows a route the Abenaki used as a trading corridor long before it was paved, and it runs alongside the Kennebec, Wyman Lake and the Dead River on the way up.
The mountains either side are why this region gets called the Switzerland of Maine. Drive it in early October and you will not argue with the name.
The Canadian border is roughly twenty minutes north of town at the Armstrong-Jackman crossing. The Forks is about twenty-five minutes south, and Greenville and Moosehead are about an hour east — both easy day trips from a Jackman base.
The water
Jackman is ringed by water. Big Wood Pond sits at the edge of town, with Attean Pond and Long Pond just south-west. Between them they hold salmon, lake trout and smallmouth bass. The classic trip here is the Moose River Bow Trip, a multi-day paddle that loops through the ponds and streams of the valley and comes back to within a short carry of where it started.
Trips we run in this country
- Remote heritage water fishing. Our One-Day Heritage Water Trip and Two-Day Wilderness Expedition are built for exactly this kind of country: water you cannot reach on a day trip from town.
- Ice fishing. Ironbound Pond is one of the waters on our guided ice fishing list, alongside Wyman Lake and the Moosehead region.
- Remote camp moose hunts. If you draw a permit in WMD 4, 8 or 9, our remote camp moose hunt is the trip that puts you in the right country with a camp behind you.
Winter
Jackman is a snowmobiling town first and foremost in winter, sitting on the ITS trail network with reliable snow long after Central Maine has gone patchy. Snowshoeing, cross-country skiing and ice fishing fill in around it. Book lodging early for February.
A little history
Samuel Holden walked his family roughly thirty miles up from The Forks on snowshoes in 1819 and settled in the Moose River valley. By 1820 the Holdens had opened an inn, serving travellers and drovers working the route north.
That route matters. A wagon road had been pushed through around 1810 — the Old Canada Trail, also called Arnold’s Trail after Benedict Arnold, who marched this way toward Quebec during the Revolution. In the 1830s the state hired Captain James Jackman to finish the road from The Forks to the Canadian border, and the town took his name.
The Jackman-Moose River Valley Historical Society keeps the longer version, and the town publishes its own history as well.
Where to eat
- Mama Bear’s Den and the Four Seasons Restaurant & Lounge for home-style cooking.
- The Backwoods Bistro for hearty comfort food.
- Moose River Pub and the tavern at Moose River Lodge for burgers, sandwiches and a cold beer after a day out.
Hours contract sharply out of season. Check before you count on dinner.
Where to stay
- Attean Lake Lodge on Attean Pond has been taking guests since 1900. Individual log cabins, home-cooked meals, and reached by boat only, which tells you most of what you need to know about the experience.
- Bishop’s Country Inn in town, and a well-established motel and cabin trade around it.
- Sporting camps through the wider valley, most of them all-inclusive with meals and guiding.
- Seasonal cabins and rentals on Attean and Long Pond if you would rather be self-contained on the water.
Hunting: WMD 8
Jackman sits in Wildlife Management District 8. We guide moose permit holders in WMDs 4, 7, 8, 9 and 14, so a WMD 8 permit is squarely in our country. Confirm your zone on the MDIFW district map and tell us where you drew.
- Remote camp moose hunt — built for exactly this country.
- Guided moose hunts for permit holders.
- Upland bird — the valley cover holds grouse and woodcock.
- Bear and guided trapping through the surrounding country.
We do not have a lodging partner in Jackman itself. The closest on our lodging page is North Country Rivers at Bingham, on the Kennebec south of the valley, which covers WMDs 8, 13 and 14.
Practical notes
This is genuinely remote country. Fuel up before you leave the main road, expect cell coverage to disappear, and carry what you would want if you had to sit still for a few hours. None of that is a reason not to come. It is a reason to come prepared.
Making a trip of it
We guide the remote water and the big-woods hunts out of this region every season. If you want to build something around it, look at our fishing trips and hunting trips, or get in touch and tell us what you are after.
Sources
- History — Town of Jackman, for the settlement account and the origin of the town name.
- Jackman — Maine Office of Tourism.
We are not affiliated with any of the businesses named above, and none of these are paid placements.