Backpack Trail Guide

Trails / Maine / Baxter State Park

Freezeout Trail and Webster Lake Loop

Baxter State Park, north end (Matagamon Gate)

Most Baxter State Park visitors head for Katahdin. The north end, entered through the Matagamon Gate, is far quieter. Brad Viles wrote in the Bangor Daily News in November 2024 that the north entrance usually has the fewest visitors, and he pointed to a 34-mile backpacking loop on the Freezeout Trail as the way to escape crowds entirely.

The loop runs through the park’s Scientific Forest Management Area, which Carey Kish says Percival Baxter envisioned as “an example and inspiration to others.”

The hike

Kish lays out a five-day, four-night circuit of about 35 miles from Trout Brook Farm Campground, combining the Frost Pond, Wadleigh Brook, and Freezeout trails. His itinerary:

Much of the route follows old tote roads, and Kish notes logging-era relics along the way: corduroy road, an old log hauler, a camp stove, and a big sawdust pile on Grand Lake Matagamon. Viles recalls that Henry David Thoreau paddled Webster Lake, Webster Stream, and the East Branch of the Penobscot in 1857 with a guide from Old Town, and that they “saw no one.”

Trail conditions have been the main complaint. A Views from the Top poster who hiked the area in August 2016 called the trails among the worst he had seen, with poor drainage, saplings and waist-high grass, and slippery old bog bridges, though blue blazes and ribbon were good in many sections. His group gave up on the Wadleigh Brook Trail through the logging areas and walked the road back. Still, he wrote that “The Little East Leanto and Webster Outlet Leanto were absolutely beautiful spots to spend a night.” A WhiteBlaze poster adds that the Webster Outlet-to-Hudson Pond stretch sees almost no use, with little blazing in open areas.

Shorter options exist. The 2016 group did a two-night trip from the Park Tote Road to Little East and Webster Outlet, and suggested renting a canoe to reach Little East on Lake Matagamon.

For Baxter’s busier backcountry near Katahdin, see Russell Pond.

Tips

Camping

Baxter’s camping page lists the Freezeout Trail/Webster Lake sites: N.W. Cove (tent), Little East (tent site for up to 8, plus a lean-to), Webster Outlet (lean-to and tent site, up to 12), Hudson (lean-to), and Frost Pond (lean-to), plus two public-lands sites the park administers, Little Coffeelos and Telos Cut. Sites must be reserved; the park says backcountry sites are booked by mail, phone, or in person at headquarters in Millinocket, not online. Each site has a fire ring, an outhouse, and a water source that must be treated. Group size is generally limited to 12. Quiet hours are 9 p.m. to 7 a.m. Carry out all trash, and don’t bring firewood into the park. Kish says each lean-to sleeps four and has a picnic table, fire ring, and privy.

Inside Intel: The 2016 Views from the Top poster recommends Little East and Webster Outlet as “absolutely beautiful spots to spend a night,” but warns that groups larger than four “may have trouble finding anything good.”

Trail facts

The Lowdown

Lean-tos at Webster Outlet and Little East:

The Freezeout loop's lean-tos each sleep four, and Webster Outlet and Little East got high praise from one trip report. If shelter floors leave you sore, these pad and pillow tips can help.

See the tips →

Where this comes from

This page draws on the sources below, along with other guides and trip reports. Links go to the original pages.

Before you go: This page is based on published trail guides, trip reports, and reviews, along with official park and agency information where we could find it. It’s meant to help backpackers discover new trails, not to replace current, official information. Conditions, closures, permits, campsites, and water sources change, and some details here may be out of date or wrong. Confirm everything with the managing agency and check current conditions before you head out, and don’t rely on this page alone for safety or navigation. Backcountry travel involves risk.