The Birches Resort

Spring is on the way

john — Tue, 27 Mar 2012 13:15:14 +0000

The snow is mostly gone now. A bit early this season. We enjoyed a shorter winter season than normal, but while we had snow it was great. The Cross country skiing and snowmobiling was excellent for at least 6 weeks. The lodge and cabins were very busy during that time. Now it is the time of year when the ice has started to melt. The lake will ice- out sometime in the next three weeks. It is a nice time to visit The Birches to relax in a cabin while watching the ice move around and if you are lucky, the ice may blow out and reveal the open lake with its vast open waters. See our specials page for ice out cabin rates. It is a time of change for the 75,000 acre lake and the several smaller lakes and ponds in the area. The Birches has several streams and two lakes on its 11,000 acre land base as well as 70 acre Baker Pond(stocked with brook trout each May). New this spring and summer, we will have ATV (all terrain vehicle) rentals for Birches guests. There is a new trail from Greenville to the south and to Jackman, north from The Birches. While we have concentrated on hiking and mountain biking on our lands, these new 4 wheel drive ATV’s will open up another way for guests to get out and explore a more vast area for day trips.

It is time now to put my airplane on floats to be ready for scenic moose safaris from the air. Our Spring moose safaris will be starting in April by Jeep and in May by boat. Come visit The Birches this spring and watch nature bloom.

Some sad news. Last week Richard (Dick) Billings passed away. Dick was instrumental in developing our winter snowmobile rental and grooming program. He was head of our equipment and operations center at The Marina for 20 years. He was a great employee and a wonderful friend. We will all miss him very much. He enthusiasm for winter at The Birches was contagious.

Dick had some antique snowmobiles which we are hoping to put into a memorial snowmobiling museum in Rockwood, near the snowmobile trial. This museum will be dedicated to his memory. Anyone interested in helping with that project, please contact The Birches.

The next three weeks will be dedicated to doing cabin maintenance. Our Marina will be fully opened when the ice heads out.

Have a great Spring day

John Willard

Dick Billings driving his new Tucker SnoCat in January

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February Snow at Moosehead Lake

john — Thu, 02 Feb 2012 15:44:54 +0000

Hello from The Birches. We have great snow now. All trails are groomed and are good to excellent for all snow sports. The ice fishing is excellent.

Our lodge is fully opened and the restaurant and lounge is operating every day.

I was out the past two days on several snowmobile trails and the riding was excellent. The Cross country skiing today is excellent as well.

Our Yurts are all open and have been fully refurbished.

Our log cabins are fully outfitted and ready for winter.

The ski plane flying is awesome now with good ice and snow just about everywhere in the Moosehead Region.

Check out www.birches.com website for specials and daily snow conditions.

The Birches new groomer out on the trails

I welcome you to visit our beautiful part of the winter world where we always have snow in the winter.

Have a great Maine day.

John Willard

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ICE AND SNOW IS HERE AT THE BIRCHES

john — Mon, 16 Jan 2012 18:12:11 +0000

I am happy to report that we now have ice on Moosehead Lake and snow on our trails. The cross country skiing is good on many trails and snowmobiling is fair to good on the trails headed towards Pittston Farm from The Birches. Riding is good on many unplowed roads north of here.

Ice fishing is off to a great start with good catches reported from guests fishing in front of the cabins.

Our lodge and cabins are opened for the winter season now. We are expecting another snowfall tomorrow.

I am flying my ski plane off of the ice now for scenic rides.

Come on up and get a taste of winter at The Birches.

We rent cross country skis and snowmobiles.

Check out our website at www.birches.com

Have a great winter day.

John

Ice fishing in front of The Birches on Monday January 16,2012

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Happy Holidays

john — Fri, 23 Dec 2011 14:23:41 +0000

Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year to you from all of us at The Birches.

Snowmobiling on Moosehead Lake

Come on up and join us for New Years weekend with live entertainment by “Full Count”from Bangor.

We hope too see you at The Birches this winter.

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Summer is in full swing at The Birches on Moosehead Lake

john — Sat, 16 Jul 2011 18:05:59 +0000

Summer is in full swing now at The Birches.

The weather has been fantastic and the long range forecast is for hot weather with very little rain. Moosehead Lake is beautiful now with warm water for swimming and water sports.

Did you know that we offer water skiing lessons and skiing at an hourly rate for guests?

The moose safaris have been spotting lots of moose and the moose spotting by air have been really good. We spotted a bear and several moose on our last flight.

The Birches log lodge and dining room is opened every day now for three meals. Our lakeside lounge is opened from noon until 10 pm daily.

RVers , we have several lakeside sites available.

The next few weeks are the best of summer at The Birches. Come up and get it while you can. Our full service marina has several sizes of boats to rent, including 90 hp pontoon boats. Canoes, kayaks, and smaller boats are also available.

We have live brook trout to see in our indoor trout pond.

Come soon for a visit to Maine’s greatest lake and enjoy summer at its best. Check out our specials page for last minute savings.

I hope to see you soon.

John

Summer at Moosehead Lake

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Summer is almost here at The Birches

john — Sat, 21 May 2011 23:03:27 +0000

The summer season is almost here

The ice went out on may 4th. The lake is very full due to recent rains. The fishing is excellent and anglers have been reporting consistantly great fishing near The Birches. The photo here was taken just a few days after the ice went out.

Our fleet of boats are in the water and the Lodge is opened for meals every day.

We are already seeing many moose on our jeep tours and the moose safari by boat will be starting next week.

My plane is on floats and is ready for scenic tours of the beautiful Moosehead Lake region.

This has been an exceptionally wet spring which hopefully, will lead to a dry summer. The whitewater rafting should be exceptional this summer due to the high water storage in the lakes which flow through the dams. We offer whitewater rafting packages including lodging and meals. All of our rafting rivers are dam controlled which makes the rafting season last until October. The Kennebec, Penobscot and Dead Rivers are a reasonable drive away from The Birches.

Our lakeside cabins and private homes are already booking great for the summer season. If you have a favorite cabin or home, you may want to reserve it soon.

The Birches started with a small lodge and a couple of log cabins in 1930. The buildings were all constructed from trees cut on the property. The large stone fireplace in the dining room was built in 1935 and is estimated to weigh 35 tons. It will burn four foot logs.

We try to keep the place looking the same as it was in 1930 with constant updates on furnishings etc.

The entire staff at The Birches looks forward to seeing some of you again this season. Come see us.

John

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Spring at Moosehead

john — Fri, 22 Apr 2011 15:34:39 +0000

Spring is coming to Moosehead Lake very fast now. The days are getting longer and the added sunshine per day will melt the ice on Moosehead lake quickly during the next two weeks. I predict that the lake will be ice free sometime during the first ten days of May.

Spring fishing will be in full swing just after the ice goes out. The region had a record winter with excellent snow and great weather for XC skiing, snowmobiling and ice fishing. All of our lakes will be full after the snow melts which will allow great boating.

We now look forward to the forests blooming with light green spring foliage.

The birds and geese will be back and our loons will once again be here with their cheerful calls.

Our cabins and lakefront homes are available for rent 365 days of the year. If you have never watched Ice Out on Moosehead this spring would be a good time to try and see it go. First it turns very black and then when ready in one day it usually moves out with a large wind. It looks like snow cone ice when it washed up on the shore.

Our boats will be available to rent as soon as the ice is gone. The Lodge and restaurant will be opened the weekend before Memorial Day.

Soon we will be ice free once again

My float plane is ready to go just as soon as the ice in out.

Come visit us this spring

John

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A Successful Day on the Ice

admin — Thu, 27 Jan 2011 15:56:56 +0000

Hi Everyone!

Winter is in full swing here at The Birches Resort. The snowmobiling is excellent on all trails with recent grooming and more to take place over the week-end. Cross country skiing trails have been groomed and have 3 inches of light powder today. Groomer will be going out again this week-end.

For all of you who like to ice fish take a look at this. One of our staff members treated a friend to a day of fishing through the ice here at The Birches. Looks like it they had a successful day!

Success on Moosehead!

The Birches Resort has ice shacks for rent and the fishing is obviously good. Give us a call to reserve one and come spend the day or the week with us. Our ice shacks are conveniently located right out in front of The Birches Main Lodge so you can easily come in for a nice hot lunch and a warm -up by the fireplace. The winter scenery surrounding Moosehead Lake is quite spectacular. Don’t miss the opportunity to see it!

Looking forward to hearing from you!

John

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We have snow and good ice now

john — Mon, 10 Jan 2011 02:48:49 +0000

Hello,

Winter is in full swing now. We had over two feet of snow until the New Years warm spell. We lost considerable snow, however it has been cold and we did hold onto a good frozen base. We had two inches of new powder last night. The cross country skiing should be good after the storm predicted for Wednesday this week. The lakes are frozen pretty well now, but you should always check with local people before venturing out on the ice. The trail From The Birches is marked to Mt Kineo and people are using it now with snowmobiles.

The riding is actually really good from The Birches via Mt Kineo and north and west of Kineo.

The photo of the ice was taken just after Christmas on Moosehead Lake. The areas that look like cracks are just darker colored ice.

Our YURTS are ready for skiers and the lodge is opened now in full swing for the winter. We are opened every day for three meals and the lounge opens every day at noon.

I hope to see you soon at the lodge.

Happy New Year

Interesting Ice with snow blown off two weeks ago on Moosehead Lake

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Major Snow is here now for the Holiday Season

john — Thu, 09 Dec 2010 15:57:19 +0000

Well folks, we have been blessed with 20 inches of new powder. Three groomers are out on the trails getting them ready for the season. With the cold weather predicted for the next couple of weeks, it looks like a white Christmas and New Year.

We have live entertainment lined up for New Years eve(Friday) and Saturday(the next night) at the lodge. What better place to bring in the new year than in a cabin on the shore of Moosehead Lake. You can watch the lake freeze in for the winter season. It usually freezes between Christmas and New Years. When that happens, we will have a 75,000 acre front yard to play on. Skiing, snowmobiling and ice fishing.

My ski plane will be flying again as soon as the ice is safe.

The Moosehead Region is a most amazing winter playground. When the lakes, streams and bogs are frozen the woods become much more accessible.

Come on up and get a great taste of winter while you can.

Great start to the snow season

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