GrindstoneScenicByway-UpperValleyEconomicCouncil.PDFVIP

Grindstone Scenic Byway Corridor Partnership Plan The following text is pulled from the working CPP website. Although the Corridor Advocacy group did adopt this plan in principle in its meeting of November, 30, 2011, this plan should still be considered a draft until it is released for public review. Overview The Grindstone Scenic Byway takes a visitor through some of the most spectacular natural landscape that inland Maine has to offer. Dominating that landscape is Katahdin, Maine’s tallest mountain. Katahdin marks the northern terminus of the Appalachian Trail, a 2,184 mile footpath originating at Springer Mountain in Georgia. Katahdin forms what might be called the centerpiece of Baxter State Park, Maine’s largest publically owned land holding, and one which, by covenant, protects forever the wilderness values of Katahdin and its surrounding forests and waters. Running through forested landscape at the base of Katahdin (though outside the Park), travelers encounter the two major (East and West) branches of Maine’s mightiest river, the Penobscot. The Penobscot watershed drains over 1/4 of Maine’s land area, a drainage area the size of the entire state of Massachusetts. The Grindstone Scenic Byway runs both north and south from points of origination along Interstate 95, one in the town of Medway (convergence of the East and West Branches of the Penobscot) and the other in the town of Sherman, gateway to the agricultural lands of southern Aroostook County. The more northerly leg reaches through Patten and on to Shin Pond and Grand Lake Matagamon, offering travelers magnificent views of Katahdin to the west and, further on, access to recreational opportunities associated with a number of remote rivers, lakes, and streams. This leg ends at Baxter State Park’s north gate. The more southerly leg passes through the industrial towns of East Millinocket and Millinocket before heading north and west to “the Lake” (convergence of Ambejejus