WILLOW CREEK — Paddlers on the Mattawamkeag River now have five designated places to pitch a tent, following the installation of primitive paddle-in campsites along a 12-mile stretch of the waterway.
The sites, built over the past month by volunteers from the Mattawamkeag River Trail Committee and Northwoods Outfitters, include cleared tent pads, fire rings, and simple wooden benches. Each site is marked by a sign visible from the water and equipped with a bear-proof food storage locker.
“Before this, people were camping wherever they could find a gravel bar,” said Julia Chen of Northwoods Outfitters, who helped scout the locations. “That’s fine for a night, but if we want to attract multi-day paddling trips, we need real infrastructure.”
The sites are available on a first-come, first-served basis at no charge. The project cost $6,800, funded mostly by a donation from the Pleasant Lake Protective Association.
Chen said she expects the sites to draw paddlers from as far away as Bangor and southern Maine, extending the typical day-trip into an overnight excursion.