Here in the Allagash region the northern hardwood transition forest meets the boreal spruce fir forest that sweeps across Canada and the top of the United States. Therefore, the forest types that dominate are spruce-fir (red spruce is more prevalent here than the more northerly white spruce) and northern hardwoods (maple, birch, and beech). In addition, there are pockets of aspen, areas of white and red pine, bog forests of black spruce and tamarack, swamps of northern white cedar, and northern riverine species, such as silver maple and elm.

In the region of Allagash Lake and Allagash Stream, spruce and fir are dominant with some mixed hardwood. Cedar is also prevalent in swamps. Around the big lakes, the northern hardwoods increase. There are also three old-growth forests near the shores of Eagle Lake. Along the Allagash River, in addition to the spruce-fir and northern hardwood forest types, aspen and birch are more prevalent. And around Allagash Falls the northern riverine forest makes an appearance.

When you travel through the waterway, look for key, or indicator, plants - the species that are usually abundant and commonly seen - to determine which type of forest you are in. Each type of forest also contains indicator species of flowering plants. Spruce-Fir Forest.

Spruce-Fir Forest

Trees and shrubs in this forest are hardy plants adapted to thin and nutrient-poor soils, acid conditions, shade and cold temperatures. Balsam fir and red spruce are indicator trees. Other trees include white spruce, black spruce, northern white cedar, tamarack, eastern hemlock, white pine, red pine, lack pine, quaking aspen, bigtooth aspen, balsam poplar, white birch and red maple. Key shrubs include mountain maple, mountain ash, low-bush blueberry, elderberry and sheep laurel. Most of the herbaceous species on the floor of the spruce-fir forest survive the cold temperatures and drying effects of winter by the insulating effects of snow. Indicator species include northern white violet, red baneberry, nodding trillium, one-sided pyrola, creeping snowberry, twinflower, bunchberry, Canada mayflower, goldthread, common wood-sorrel, clintonia and starflower.

Northern Hardwood Forest

Trees and shrubs in this forest are those that grow in the warmer, drier and better-drained soils of ridges and south-facing slopes, such as the Churchill Lake side of Churchill Ridge. Key trees include yellow birch, white birch, sugar maple, American beech, eastern hemlock, white pine, red pine, northern red oak, pin cherry, balsam poplar and red spruce. Key shrubs include striped maple and hobblebush.

Because deciduous trees predominate in this forest, more light generally reaches the forest floor. The soil is better drained, darker, richer and less acid than that of the spruce-fir forest. In spring many of the wild flowers bloom early before the trees leaf out and close the canopy, thus, reducing the available light. Key species include painted trillium, goldthread, common wood-sorrel, pink lady's-slipper, and wild sarsaparilla.

Bog Forest

The bog forest is a pioneer forest of trees and shrubs adapted to wet, acid and nutrient-poor soils. You can canoe into a bog forest above the mouth of Pleasant Stream. Trees that do well in this forest have the ability to generate new trees by sprouting roots from low branches and trunks as they are buried by the deepening bog mat. Key trees include black spruce, tamarack and northern white cedar. Key shrubs include Labrador tea, leatherleaf and sheep laurel. Soils in this type of habitat can vary greatly in wetness and richness. In richer, more fertile soils, you may find bunchberry, goldthread and starflower. In more sterile soils, you would be more apt to find pitcher plant, sundews, cotton grass and other sedges, creeping snowberry, three-leafed Solomon's-seal, and orchids (such as rose pogonia, calopogon and white fringed orchis).

Northern Swamp Forest

This forest can be found throughout the waterway; a good example lies along the trail to Priestly Lake. Trees and shrubs are adapted to a cool, damp, mossy environment. Key trees include northern white cedar, balsam fir, eastern hemlock, brown ash, red maple, white birch, tamarack and black spruce. Key shrubs include high bush blueberry and red osier dogwood. You will find the species of plants on the floor of the northern swamp forest quite similar to those of the boreal forest. The herbaceous species include jewelweed, turtlehead, goldthread, starflower, jack-in-the-pulpit and various orchids.

Northern Riverine Forest

This is a floodplain, lowland forest and is especially noticeable above Allagash Falls. Key trees include American elm, green ash, red maple, silver maple and balsam poplar. Shrubs include speckled alder and red osier dogwood. The vine, virgin's bower, also grows here. Key herbaceous species include jewelweed, turtlehead, swamp milkweed and various sedges.

Old-Growth Forests

Old-growth forests provide opportunities to go back in time and experience the character of the land as it may once have been before human disturbance. Generally such forests must be: free of evidence of logging or other disruption, of a sufficient size to constitute a forest, stable in composition and structure and dominated by climax species of old trees that have attained at least half of their potential longevity.

Three old-growth forests, surveyed for Maine's Critical Areas Program, are near the shores of Eagle Lake.

The largest is the Eagle Lake Old-Growth Forest (about one-hundred acres) and is near the eastern shore on a ridge opposite the southeast end of Pillsbury Island. Here, some white pines are over three feet in diameter and up to one-hundred thirty feet high-among the tallest pine trees in Maine. A few of these pines may have been growing in the late I 700s and were here when Thoreau canoed by them to Pillsbury Island in 1857. If you look carefully, there is one point in the lake where an eagle's nest is visible. If the nest is active, you should get no closer than one-quarter mile from the nest to avoid disturbing the eagles.

Six miles down the lake at the Ziegler Site you will find another smaller stand of old-growth white pine that covers eight acres. The understory is composed of white, or sugar, maple, white birch, northern white cedar and red spruce. The age of one of the sugar maples is estimated to be over one-hundred eighty years old, and an increment boring of one of the pines showed it to be one-hundred twenty years old. The pines range in size from a little over two feet to two and one-half feet in diameter

Across the lake on the Pump Handle Peninsula and behind a campsite by that name, you can find a stand of old-growth hardwood trees. You can easily reach it by hiking the scenic trail leading up to the height of land. This is an even-aged stand of sugar maple and beech, averaging one-hundred twenty-five years in age. The largest maple is two and one-half feet in diameter and sixty-five feet tall.

NON-FLOWERING PLANTS

Non-flowering plants include ferns, clubmosses, horsetails, mosses, lichens and fungi. These are spore-producing plants, a major feature distinguishing them from the seed-producing flowering plants.

Although the non-flowering plants lack beautiful flowers, you will find that they are attractive and interesting in their own right. Following are some of the common non-flowering plants you are apt to encounter in the waterway.

Ferns are green plants with leaves, often called fronds, that resemble fiddleheads in spring before they unroll. Some that you might encounter are the following: sensitive fern, royal fern, ostrich fern, bracken fern, rusty woodsia fern, and common, or golden polypody, fern.

Clubmosses are perennial, evergreen plants with creeping stems that send up erect branches. Although small, they are much larger than the ordinary mosses they resemble. Three that you should look for on the forest floor are shining clubmoss, stiff or bristly clubmoss and running pine, also called ground pine or ground cedar.

Horsetails are primitive plants related to ferns and clubmosses that grow in both wet and dry places near streams and in woods and fields in the waterway. As you would expect, their name is derived from their resemblance to a horse's tail. The stem of this plant is jointed with scalelike leaves growing in whorls. One of the most common horsetails you will find in the waterway is a brushy species called field horsetail.

Mosses are tiny green plants that grow on soil, rocks and trees. You will usually find them in moist places, such as swamps and bogs. Some common mosses you will see in the waterway are sphagnum, or peat, mosses in bogs and swamps, haircap mosses on damp ground, and pin cushion mosses in moist woods on soil and decayed wood.

Lichens are a combination of an alga and a fungus. Some that you might find in the waterway are the following: green map lichen (a crustose lichen that grows on rocks and ledges); lung lichen (a foliose lichen that grows on trees and resembles a lung); and old man's beard (a fructicose lichen that looks like a gray-yellow beard hanging from the dead branches of trees, especially coniferous trees).

Fungi are organisms that lack chlorophyll and must obtain their food from dead matter or other living organisms. A fungus consists of fine threads, called hyphae, that grow underground or invade a host. The network of hyphae is called the mycelium. A mushroom is a fleshy part of the mycelium that produces spores. Mushrooms come in many shapes and sizes, from shelf, bracket or fungi to puffballs. Some that you might find in the waterway are chantarelle, clubfoot clitocybe, fly agaric, and king boletus.

Northern Aroostook County Region - This area includes the St John Valley area, covering Van Buren, Madawaska, Fort Kent and the Allagash area. Some of the best in Maine's wilderness.

Central Aroostook County Region - The Central Aroostook County region encompasses communities from Mars Hill to Limestone, and from Fort Fairfield to Ashland. There are some wonderful things to do and see in the Aroostook County region, some of which are listed below.

Southern Aroostook County Region - The Southern Aroostook County region consists of communities from Bridgewater to Danforth, and south to the Patten - Island Falls Area. Interstate 95 has it's start in Houlton, culminating in Kittery, 295 miles away. If you are looking for an Eco-Tourism trip to Maine, this would be a great place to get going. There are covered bridges, lakes, mountains and much, more to experience in the Southern Aroostook County region.

Katahdin Region / Baxter State Park - The Katahdin area is home to Baxter State Park and the beginning of the Allagash Wilderness Waterway. In the Katahdin Region there is ample Whitewater Rafting and Kayaking adventures awaiting the enthusiastic adventurer. The Katahdin Region is arguably the Center of all outdoor recreation in Maine. From here you can get anywhere in the state by any means you wish. If you hike, bike, ski, snowmobile or drive you can start in the Katahdin area and go in any direction you wish.

Washington County Region - Downeast Maine gets its start in Washington County. There are so many things to do and see in Washington County it is hard to list it all here. One of the most famous places accessible from Washington County is Campobello Island, summer home to the Franklin D. Roosevelt. Also you may want to take a tour of the Quoddy Loop Trail, one of the most scenic coastal trails in the East. Washington County is called the Sunrise County because the sun hits this area of the Continental US first every morning.

Moosehead Lake Region / Greenville Maine - The Moosehead Lake area is home to one of the largest lakes in Maine, and one of the most scenic areas in the state as well. If you are looking for an outdoor adventure with a psoitive impact on your life, this is a great place to start. Outdoor recreation includes hunting, fishing, boating, snowmobiling and much more. With a lake so large, water sports are one of the best kept secrets of the area.

Hancock County Region - Acadia National Park boasts 40 miles of rocky shoreline and the only fjord on the eastern seaboard. Ellsworth, a major retail center, is the county seat of Hancock County. This area is a popular tourist destination due to the scenic coastline, mountains, and islands, abundant outdoor recreational opportunities, and park lands.

Cumberland County Region - Cumberland County is a popular attraction for visitors to Maine and hosts the Portland Sea Dogs, a minor-league affiliate of the Boston Red Sox, the L.L. Bean flagship store in Freeport, Maine, and the Portland Museum of Art in Portland. The County is approximately 850 square miles in area.

York County Region - York County is a popular destination for both Mainers and visitors alike, offering beautiful beaches like Ogunquit, which also offers the Ogunquit Playhouse. Many visitors find a summer residence in Old Orchard Beach in York County because of its long beach and pier. Wells, a town in York, offers the Wells National Research Reserve a 1,600 acre educational and research facility with 7 miles of trails that span from woods to the beach.

Androscoggin Region - Androscoggin County, incorporated in 1854, is a county in southern Maine that hosts two of Maine’s largest cities, Lewiston and Auburn, also known as the “Twin Cities.” The county is centrally located and is approximately one-half hour from both Portland, Maine’s largest city, and Augusta, Maine’s capital. The Maine Turnpike cuts directly through Androscoggin County, offering easy access to its major cities. Androscoggin County is home to the Maine State Parade, the Moxie Festival and the beautiful Great Falls Balloon Festival, a hot-air balloon spectacle that takes place each year in Lewiston and attracts local citizens and visitors alike.

Somerset County Region - Somerset County is the 3rd largest county in the State of Maine in geographic land area and contains the 9th largest in population. The Kennebec River, one of the largest Maine river tributaries flows from North to South through the county and is used for commercial as well as recreational purposes. Somerset County also contains major ground transportation routes that support heavy commercial, tourist, and residential use.