Jackman, Maine

Jackman is often called the “Switzerland of Maine” due to its mountainous landscape and deep valleys. Located on the Old Canada Road (Route 201), it serves as a gateway to the North Maine Woods and Quebec. It is a haven for snowmobilers in the winter and anglers, hikers, and ATV riders in the warmer months.

Gateway to the North Maine Woods

Jackman is the western gateway to the North Maine Woods, sitting on the Old Canada Road close to the Quebec border. It opens onto the Ragmuff and Seboomook country and an extensive snowmobile network, and like every gateway town it is where a trip gets provisioned. There are no gas stations, grocery stores or restaurants anywhere inside the woods.

You cannot drive through to Canada

This catches people out, and the penalty is severe. North Maine Woods is explicit that through traffic between Maine and Canada is not permitted on its road system. Visitors may travel to a destination inside the area and then return to the country they entered from, and a party entering at one of the Canadian border checkpoints has to leave by the same one. The North Maine Woods road network is a there-and-back proposition, not a route to Quebec.

The border checkpoints are federal crossings requiring customs clearance, and their hours are much shorter than the woods gates. St. Aurelie runs 7am to 5pm Monday to Thursday and 7am to 2pm Friday. St. Juste runs 7am to 5pm Monday to Friday. Both close for federal holidays, and North Maine Woods warns the schedules change, so call ahead.

Under federal law PL 99-570, entering Maine without proper clearance carries a $5,000 fine for a first offence plus $1,000 per person involved. That applies on foot and by water as well as by vehicle.

What it costs

North Maine Woods charges per person, not per vehicle. Day use is $13 for Maine residents and $18 for non-residents. Camping is charged on top at $12 and $15 per person per night. Under 18 is free for both, and 70 and over is free for day use though still liable for camping fees. If you go more than a few times a year, the seasonal day-use passes are $95 for residents and $140 for non-residents, with the summer season running 1 May to 30 September and the fall season 20 August to 30 November.

Arriving after a gate closes costs $20 per vehicle. There is a phone at the checkpoint to register, and you leave payment in an envelope. Staffed checkpoints take cash, checks and cards, but the electronic gates take cash and checks only, so carry cash whatever your plan.

NMWMap’s fee calculator totals this for a whole party across a multi-night trip, which is worth doing before you reach the gate rather than while a queue builds behind you.

Planning from Jackman

Campsites inside the North Maine Woods are first come, first served with no reservations and a two-week maximum, so bring alternatives rather than a single target. NMWMap maps more than 400 sites across the North Maine Woods, KI Jo-Mary, the Allagash Wilderness Waterway and Baxter, with GPX downloads for Garmin and Gaia and a road conditions guide written for this road network.

Jackman sits on the Old Canada Road National Scenic Byway, so the approach along Route 201 is a drive worth allowing time for in its own right.