Is Northern and Western Maine the most remote part of the US, east of the Mississippi? (Kittery: 2013, living)

[maineguy8888]

If you're going east-west, between the Maritimes and central Cananda, then northern Maine is right "on the way". Many Canadian truckers enter at Houlton and head south on I-95 too. But other than those two exceptions, you have to be going to northern Maine because that's where you are headed, pretty much.

[Phish Head]

Originally Posted by mainebrokerman

I wouldnt be so quick to jump to this conclusion- Ive seen signs west of bethel "the great north woods" and this means 26 million acres (see below)

from bethel to .. colebrook nh is one of the prettiest rides-all mountains and "notches"
and if you've ever travelled this, you would believe the great north woods has so much land to it

last week, I drove to rangeley , then rte 16 (18miles) to stratton another beautiful ride- mostly trees and mountains





The Great North Woods of Maine, New Hampshire, Vermont and New York make up the largest and wildest forest left in the eastern United States. Twenty-six million acres of spruce, fir, beech and sugar maple are dotted with thousands of silver lakes and streams. Loons call across the ponds, moose browse in dense thickets, and Canada lynx pad unseen through the trees.

Northern and Western Maine is pretty darn remote, as are the Adirondacks. But I'd still have to say that there are lots of places out west that are far larger and even more remote. I know that the Frank Church-River of No Return Wilderness area in Idaho has a 3.3 million acres roadless area. I believe that means no logging or even unmaintained dirt roads. I don't think anything east of the Mississippi has anything even close to that. That's pretty darn remote. I'm not sure about desert areas out west either, but I remember driving hours through Central Nevada off the interstate and seeing absolutely nothing but desert.

[AustinB]

Originally Posted by Phish Head

Northern and Western Maine is pretty darn remote, as are the Adirondacks. But I'd still have to say that there are lots of places out west that are far larger and even more remote. I know that the Frank Church-River of No Return Wilderness area in Idaho has a 3.3 million acres roadless area. I believe that means no logging or even unmaintained dirt roads. I don't think anything east of the Mississippi has anything even close to that. That's pretty darn remote. I'm not sure about desert areas out west either, but I remember driving hours through Central Nevada off the interstate and seeing absolutely nothing but desert.

You must have missed the title of this thread...

[Phish Head]

Originally Posted by AustinB

You must have missed the title of this thread...

Read the thread- I was responding to someone who was making the claim that parts of Maine are just as remote as parts west of the Mississippi

[Bydand]

Originally Posted by Phish Head

I know that the Frank Church-River of No Return Wilderness area in Idaho has a 3.3 million acres roadless area. I believe that means no logging or even unmaintained dirt roads. I don't think anything east of the Mississippi has anything even close to that. That's pretty darn remote. I'm not sure about desert areas out west either, but I remember driving hours through Central Nevada off the interstate and seeing absolutely nothing but desert.

Actually the River of No return area is only 2.37 million acres and has 296 maintained trails that run 2616 miles through it. Not to mention the 32 national Forest Service roads that lead to 66 trailheads. The trail-less area is around 1.5 million acres.

If you are going to argue something you should at least use honest numbers. The real numbers are still impressive as hell, no need to fudge them.

As for east of the Mississippi, I don't believe there is any place as remote as the North Maine Woods in the US.

[Phish Head]

Originally Posted by Bydand

Actually the River of No return area is only 2.37 million acres and has 296 maintained trails that run 2616 miles through it. Not to mention the 32 national Forest Service roads that lead to 66 trailheads. The trail-less area is around 1.5 million acres.

If you are going to argue something you should at least use honest numbers. The real numbers are still impressive as hell, no need to fudge them.

As for east of the Mississippi, I don't believe there is any place as remote as the North Maine Woods in the US.

Frank Church

"At 2.3 million acres (9,300 km²), it is the second largest contiguous area of protected wilderness in the continental United States, after Death Valley.[1] Together with the adjacent Gospel Hump Wilderness and surrounding unprotected roadless Forest Service land, it is the core of a 3.3 million acre (13,000 km²) roadless area. It is separated from the Selway-Bitterroot Wilderness, to the north, by a single dirt road (the Magruder Corridor)"

So, now explain what I stated that wasn't honest?

[MRVphotog]

Cool pic....I agree that the North Woods of Maine is the largest area of nothingness in the east.

2.3m acres isn't all that big considering the Adirondack Park is over 7m acres. I also think there are several places out west that have larger areas of nothingness in Nevada, Wyoming, Montana and North Dakota. Look at the size of Wyoming with less people than Vermont.

[Submariner]

Originally Posted by MRVphotog

Cool pic....I agree that the North Woods of Maine is the largest area of nothingness in the east.

2.3m acres isn't all that big considering the Adirondack Park is over 7m acres. I also think there are several places out west that have larger areas of nothingness in Nevada, Wyoming, Montana and North Dakota. Look at the size of Wyoming with less people than Vermont.

... Is Northern and Western Maine the most remote part of the US, east of the Mississippi?

Where is Nevada? In relation to the Mississippi river?

[Phish Head]

1. I think we can all agree that there are places west of the Mississippi that are more remote than northern and western Maine.

2. While there are certainly remote areas east of the Mississippi, such as the Adirondacks, parts of Pennsylvania, and West Virginia, I think northern and western Maine take the cake.

[gcberry]

Anyone wishing to read an excellent book about Northern Maine and its remoteness should take a look at "The Wilderness from Chamberlain Farm: A Story of Hope for the American Wild" by Dean Bennett.