Tours

Katahdin Cruises & Moosehead Marine Museum. The Moosehead Marine Museum runs 3- and 5-hour afternoon trips on Moosehead Lake aboard the Katahdin, a 115-foot 1914 steamship converted to diesel. Cruisers learn about the rich logging and tourism history of Maine's largest lake and environs on the narrated excursions. (The longer one skirts Mt. Kineo's cliffs.) Also called the Kate, this ship carried resort guests to Mt. Kineo until 1938; the logging industry then used it until 1975. The boat and the free shoreside museum have displays about the steamships that transported people and cargo on Moosehead Lake for a century starting in the 1830s. 12 Lily Bay Rd., Greenville, Maine, 04441. 207/695–2716; www.katahdincruises.com. From $40. Cruises: late June–mid-Oct., Tues.–Sat. at 12:30. Museum: late June–mid-Oct., Sun. and Mon. noon–4, Tues.–Sat. 10–4.

Gulf Hagas. Called the “Grand Canyon of the East” and part of the Appalachian Trail Corridor, this National Natural Landmark has chasms, cliffs, four major waterfalls, pools, exotic flora, and intriguing rock formations. The West Branch of the Pleasant River flows through the 3-mile, slate-walled gorge east of Greenville in a remote, privately owned commercial forest, KI Jo-Mary, which allows access via gravel logging roads (always yield to trucks). A fee (cash or check only) is charged from late spring to late fall at forest checkpoints, where you can get trail maps and hiking information.

From either parking area you can hike to one of the showcase falls and mostly avoid the difficult rim trail. A good choice for families with young children: start at Head of Gulf parking area for a 3½-mile round-trip hike to Stair Falls on the gorge's western end. From the Gulf Hagas parking area, it's a 3-mile round-trip hike to spectacular Screw Auger Falls on the gulf's eastern end. Gulf hikers who start from this parking area must ford the Pleasant River—usually easily done in summer, but dangerous in high water—and pass through the Hermitage, a stand of old pines and hemlock. A loop route that follows the rim and the less difficult Pleasant River Tote Trail is an 8- to 9-mile trek; there are shorter loops as well. Slippery rocks and rugged terrain make for challenging progress along the rim trail. Greenville, Maine. www.northmainewoods.org.