Katahdin Woods & Waters Scenic Byway

The Katahdin Woods & Waters Scenic Byway, which MaineDOT earlier called the Grindstone Scenic Byway, is an 89-mile route between the southern and northern entrances of Baxter State Park that was named a National Scenic Byway in 2021. From the park boundary near Togue Pond it heads out to Millinocket and on through East Millinocket to Medway, then turns north on Route 11 through Stacyville and Sherman to Patten; from Patten, Route 159 takes it past Mount Chase and Shin Pond village to Matagamon at the park's northern edge. For many miles the road keeps company with the East Branch of the Penobscot River, and MaineDOT points to views of Katahdin, Maine's highest mountain and the northern end of the Appalachian Trail, along with farms, meadows and working forest. North of Medway, Route 11 is also known as Grindstone Road, and nine miles up it a rest area with picnic tables overlooks Grindstone Falls on the East Branch. In Patten, the Lumbermen's Museum fills nine buildings with the tools and gear of Maine woodsmen from the 1800s into the early twentieth century. MaineDOT's suggested side trips include Ash Hill, with a 360-degree view of Katahdin and the mountains around Baxter, as well as Shin Falls, the Debsconeag Ice Caves and the West Branch of the Penobscot, which MaineDOT rates the best whitewater in the state. The East Branch, with its seven waterfalls, has been a favorite of canoeists ever since Henry David Thoreau wrote about his guided trip there in The Maine Woods (1864). The byway is also the way in to Katahdin Woods and Waters National Monument, designated in 2016: the National Park Service sends visitors up Route 11, turning onto the gravel Swift Brook Road for the south entrance, or along Route 159 and Grand Lake Road to the north entrance near Grand Lake Matagamon. As of November 2026, Baxter's Togue Pond and Matagamon gates are open for day use only, and since the end of October cars headed for the monument's north entrance stop at the North Gate parking area. The drive mapped here covers the byway's northern part, from Medway up Route 11 and Route 159 onto Grand Lake Road near Grand Lake Matagamon, and leaves out the leg from Medway through Millinocket to Baxter's southern gate.

• Formerly MaineDOT's Grindstone Scenic Byway
• 89 miles between Baxter State Park's two entrances
• Route 11 and Route 159 beside the East Branch Penobscot
• Grindstone Falls rest area north of Medway
• Patten Lumbermen's Museum
• Access to Katahdin Woods and Waters National Monument