The Greater Allagash: Maine’s Upper Saint John River

The Saint John River runs more-or-less parallel to the Allagash in the northwest corner of the Maine woods. In the popular imagination the Allagash is the “wild” river of the north woods, while the Saint John is relatively unknown and untraveled.

Someone once said that when Allagash guides take a vacation, they go to the Saint John. Compared to the Allagash the upper Saint John is longer, more remote, and more challenging. This doesn’t mean that the Allagash is not long, or remote, or challenging, but it’s puzzling that many people seem to assume that the Allagash is the ultimate canoeing river of Maine. This honor belongs to the Saint John.

The Allagash mystique has existed since Thoreau visited its waters in the mid-nineteenth century. From Thoreau’s era, the beginning of recreational travel in northern Maine, the Allagash watershed has been easier to reach and travel within than the Saint John. And, of course, the fact that the Allagash is, in effect, a state park serves to encourage people to visit there. It’s closer to the interstate than the Saint John.

Left -- It’s a BIG river. Looking downstream from the fork of the South and Northwest Branches

But for canoeists the significant difference between the two rivers is navigability. The Allagash flow is regulated by a dam backed by a large chain of lakes, and the dam makes canoe travel possible on the Allagash at times when one could hike much of the Saint John’s bed. Generally, the Saint John can’t be navigated for much of the summer.

If one is planning ahead for a trip on the upper Saint John and must be sure in advance of enough water to float a canoe, the only choice is to go between ice-out and Memorial Day when the flow is swollen with snowmelt. This is why guided trips run the river in May – when your party consists of individuals who must plan weeks or months ahead, a guide can’t made keep his customers happy with the suggestion that they wait around a few days for more rainfall. The unfortunate part of canoeing the Saint John (or Allagash for that matter) in May is that it’s still really cool in northern Maine. The hardwood trees have barely begun to turn green by Memorial Day, and the water is cold and unlikely to produce decent fishing, if that’s your persuasion. It’s weather for hat, jacket, and gloves.

If, however, there were enough flow in the Saint John to run it a week or two after Memorial Day, then you’d find an abundance of spring greenery, warm and sunlit days, a chance of decent trout fishing, and – this is the main attraction – water not so high that you wondered where the many of the rapids marked on your map had disappeared. In May the Saint John is high and fast but its many smaller rapids are washed over.

Right - Looking west from Foss Brook - the Saint John can be serenely desolate

The Saint John is the river of pleasant canoeing, a small river that becomes a big river along the way, featuring rapids that increase in size and complexity, encouraging your rock-dodging confidence as you paddle along. Every day on the Saint John brings a series of rapids a little more thunderous than the day before. I don’t mean to imply that these are tough and dangerous rapids; they’re pleasant Class II romps that any competent novice can handle. In most cases one can fix a navigational error, such as a broach, by stepping out of the canoe and horsing it back into the channel. Of course, since there are no rangers and few other travelers available to provide assistance one should avoid taking risks in the rapids.

In contrast, the Allagash dumps you directly from lake travel into the Chase Rapids, the heaviest rapids along the whole river, and then stops challenging you until the very short drop at Twin Brooks, the very end of the trip. When you run the Saint John in the moderately low water that is typical of early June you get the pleasure of running lots of rapids every day.

So the advantages of a Saint John trip are interesting canoeing, no portages, a remote and wild setting (fewer buildings and people than the Allagash), and a long trip. But the question is – When to run the river? In May, when the water’s up, the weather’s still cool. Later in the spring and summer, the water flow is unpredictable and conditions are likely to be scratchy.

Here are some ideas for planning a warm-weather trip on the upper Saint John.

First, water flow data are available on the web from the Geological Survey, which can be found at (http://waterdata.usgs.gov/me/nwis/rt). Data from two gauging stations – Dickey (usual end of the canoe trip) and Nine Mile Bridge (mid-point of canoe trip) are available. I’ve kept records of more than a dozen Saint John trips and have compared my direct observations with the survey data, giving me a fair idea of the river’s navigability at differing water levels. I’ve found that if one has decent water-reading skills and isn’t too heavily loaded, one can paddle the upper Saint John when reported levels at Dickey are about 1100 CFS (cubic feet per second) or more. If one can use a setting pole and travels light (soloing would make a big difference), then the river can be run as low as 800 CFS at Dickey.

In the picture at left, Maine Guide Rus Peotter shows how to make progress in low water even with plenty of baggage. This picture was taken near Nine Mile Bridge when flow at Dickey was 980 CFS. Note that he’s traveling solo (less weight means less draft) and has trimmed his canoe almost evenly fore and aft (also for less draft).

One needs to take into account that water levels can drop steadily without rain, so if one decides to start a trip at, say 1200 CFS, one must assume that flow could be halved at the end of the trip if there’s no rain. (My rough estimate is that, barring rainfall, flow declines 15% daily). If you take some time to look at the Geological Survey’s historical data, you’ll get a pretty fair idea of this pattern.

In general, though, if you can employ your poling skills in low water I’d suggest that you’d be safe to begin a trip from Baker Lake at 1200 or more CFS.

The picture at right shows the Saint John from the Big Black campsite on a day that flow at Dickey was 850 CFS. The mouth of the Big Black River is on the left and the main branch of the Saint John is at center behind the island on the right.

Although it looks impossibly bony, the canoe travel was excellent that day, all the way through the Big Rapids to the end of the line at Dickey.

(Illustrating the unpredictability of the Saint John’s flow, the picture below left shows the same place, same day, different year. The dry flat has become easily navigable. Flow at Dickey was 5000 CFS that day.)

So what do you do if you’ve planned your Saint John trip and you find that the water flow is too low for comfort when you’re packed and ready to leave? The answer is to run the Allagash instead. If you’ve hired a commercial outfitter to drive you or to shuttle your car, you’ll have no problem switching to the Allagash at the last minute.

The Allagash is an excellent canoe tripping river, when you can’t run the Saint John.

Access to the upper Saint John region and its campsites is managed by the North Maine Woods, an organization of the area’s landowners. For more information visit http://www.northmainewoods.org/

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Presently I’m compiling a travelogue of the upper Saint John. I’d welcome your questions, comments, or suggestions. Contact us.