Come to The County

Maine’s largest and northernmost county is unspoiled and unpretentious. Jutting up into the Canadian provinces of New Brunswick and Quebec, this beautiful, rolling area is often called simply the County due to its vast size. Lumber barons and lumberjacks are the stuff of local legends, and towering timber still stretches for miles in the western and northern parts. More than two thousand lakes, rivers, and streams (including the legendary Allagash Wilderness Waterway) dot the countryside, home to scores of old-fashioned fishing and hunting camps. (Some are so remote that floatplanes are the only way in.) The rest of the County has an almost Midwestern feel, with miles and miles of agricultural fields, most of them devoted to potatoes — a breathtaking sight when in bloom. During the fall harvest, local children are excused from school to help dig for spuds.

Major cities in Aroostook include Presque Isle, home to about 9,104 residents and a branch of the University of Maine. With a population of eight thousand or so, Caribou is another hub, located on the shores of the Aroostook River. Madawaska (a Maliseet Indian word meaning “land of the porcupine”) is the northernmost town in Maine and a major port of Canadian entry, with approximately 4,362 residents.  Houlton is the county’s oldest community and the seat of government, with more than six thousand residents. A number of its beautiful, rambling old homes and a whole section of the brick downtown are on the National Register of Historic Places.