Bangor is the gateway to northern and interior Maine, and is also just an hour’s drive from Acadia National Park. The Bangor vicinity has a little bit of everything. The Penobscot River is tidal through the downtown area, rising and falling as much as 16 feet. Above the tide line, the river is a migration route for sea ducks and a gathering point for freshwater ducks. The Caribou Bog complex extends rare raised bog habitat right to the doorstep of the Bangor Mall. The City of Bangor and the University of Maine in Orono maintain large forested recreational corridors and trails. Gardens and orchards are among the first places in Maine where irruptive Pine Grosbeaks and Bohemian Waxwings show up in winter. Significant spruce-fir boreal tracts occur nearby at Sunkhaze Meadows National Wildlife Refuge.

Greenville to the west lies at the southern tip of Moosehead Lake. Moosehead is Maine’s largest lake— in fact, it is the largest lake within a single state east of the Mississippi. In spite of its size and cool, clear water, much of the lake shore is undeveloped. Many of the nearby lakes and ponds are remote and protected by conservation. The area is famous for its large moose population, and Greenville is home to the Moosemania Festival every spring. The region boasts scenic mountains and rushing rivers. There is a diversity of wildlife habitats over a relatively small area. Beech and birch predominate through most of the forest, but spruce, balsam fir, cedar, and tamarack take over in the cooler, damper areas. This creates an important transition zone between the southern hardwood forest and the boreal spruce-fir forest of Canada. These zones are home to Maine’s boreal bird specialties: Spruce Grouse, Black-backed Woodpecker, Canada Jay, and Boreal Chickadee. White-winged and Red Crossbills can often be found, sometimes year-round. At least twenty species of warbler breed here. Bicknell’s Thrush can be found on area peaks above 3,000 feet.

Millinocket to the north lies at the entrance to Baxter State Park. The park stands as a monument to the love of Governor Percival P. Baxter for his native state of Maine. Even before Baxter served as governor from 1921 to 1925, he launched an effort to set aside more than 200,000 acres of forest to be preserved forever as wilderness for the people of Maine. It took him 32 years to assemble 28 parcels of land, along with a legal trust to protect the park in perpetuity. The influence of mountains and latitude produces an ideal breeding ground for Maine’s coveted boreal species. Spruce and Ruffed Grouse are regularly seen picking gravel from the Park Tote Road. Boreal Chickadees are commonplace. Black-backed Woodpeckers, and the even rarer Northern Three-toed Woodpeckers, are known nesters. Gray Jays are notorious camp robbers, especially at Chimney Pond Campground. Philadelphia Vireos are reliable in several spots. Yellow-bellied Flycatchers and Lincoln Sparrows may be found in boggy areas. Though Fox Sparrows are at the southern edge of their breeding range, they are sometimes heard singing along the trails and in boreal areas. Blackpoll and Bay-breasted Warblers are present in many areas. Moose find the mud ponds irresistible, and moose photo tours are now available. Black bear, white-tailed deer, eastern coyote, bobcat, and varying or snowshoe hare are just some of the mammals that thrive in the park.