St. John River Red Pine Airstrip to Priestly Bridge
This is a leg of the famous St. John River that is a good day trip. The trip takes you through some of the wildest country left east of the Mississippi River.
The St. John is only canoeable during the spring highwater. It can be run with kayaks all summer. This is a full day trip and is about 22 miles in length. The river will vary from deadwater to easily runnable rips.
Put in at Red Pine Airstrip, MAG 60 E5, off the American Realty Rd. This is a good campsite to stay overnight and be able to start your trip early the next morning. About 10 miles down river, you will come to Nine Mile Bridge. The bridge is gone. The USGS has a hand cable car that crosses the river. It is locked so that it can not be used except by employees of the USGS.
Nine Mile Bridge was once a logging depot and had a full-time population of loggers, store keepers and even a school teacher. On the left hand shore, you will see some private camps. Walk the road beyond these camps and you will find the remains of an old steam shovel.
Along the river you may notice pins driven into rocks and ledges. These are left over from the log driving days. The pins held booms in place to catch the logs floating down the river or to tie up supply barges used to traverse the river.
Another 10 miles below this is Seven Islands. This was a full fledged town back in the lumbering days. On the left bank at the head of the Islands, you will see a campsite. Here, there are old farm implements on display. Watching the eroding banks through this section will often yield artifacts such as horse or oxen shoes and small hand tools.
In the woods behind this campsite, several old buildings are still standing. They are difficult to locate and make sure you take a compass reading before heading into the woods to try and find them. Please do not remove any of the contents of the buildings or disturb them.
About 2 miles below this is Priestly Bridge, MAG 61 C3. The landing is on the right hand side just upstream of the bridge.
Maine Guide Linda Engelhardt shows off her catch.
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