Since the establishment of the Appalachian Mountain Club (AMC) in 1876, AMC members have been exploring, enjoying and caring for Maine. In fact, AMC members were the first to map Mt. Katahdin in 1927. In 1956, the AMC established the Maine Chapter that currently has an active membership of over three thousand members who volunteer to maintain trails, teach others about the environment, lead hikes, manage AMC facilities and support conservation initiatives.

In Maine, AMC operates Echo Lake Camp on Mount Desert Island, Knubble Bay Camp on Georgetown Island, and Beal Island Campground in Georgetown. It also operates Little Lyford Lodge and Cabins, and Medawisla Wilderness Lodge and Cabins, in the Moosehead Lake region as part of its Maine Woods Initiative. All AMC camps, campgrounds, and lodges are open to members and non-members alike. Maine is also th ebackdrop for several of AMC's Teen Wilderness Adventures summer programs. AMC's Maine wilderness lodges also host summer Family Adventure Camps, and fly-fishing, photography, and winter skills programs.

AMC promotes outdoor recreation in Maine by publishing regional guidebooks and narratives. Current AMC Books titles include the AMC Maine Mountain Guide, AMC River Guide Maine, Discover Acadia National Park, Discover Maine, Quiet Water Maine, The Wildest Country, and Katahdin: An Historic Journey.

Well-known for its work on trails, AMC trail volunteers and professional trail staff work in partnership with private landowners and the Maine Bureau of Parks and Lands. AMC volunteers and staff also participate in weeklong volunteer trail crews to maintain trails in Acadia National Park and Baxter State Park. The AMC played a significant role in the construction of the 39-mile-long Grafton Loop Trail, working hand-in-hand with the Maine Appalachian Trail Conference, Hurricane Island Outward Bound School and the Maine Conservation Corps, the Maine Bureau of Parks and Lands, and private landowners. The trail was completed in 2007. AMC manages more than 212 miles of recreational trails in Maine, including more than 55 miles of trail on its Katahdin Iron Works property, all of which are open for use by the public.

The AMC is involved in working to protect the entire Northern Forest, stretching from upstate New York to Maine, through its leadership role in the Northern Forest Alliance (NFA). Through the NFA, the AMC has partnered with Maine Audobon, the Natural Resources Council of Maine and the Trust for Public Land, among others. The AMC was a founding member of the Tumbledown Conservation Alliance (TCA).

AMC research staff have monitored pending wind power projects in the state, weighing in on various proposals and promoting appropriate siting policies for wind power projects. AMC has developed a set of science-basd wind power siting guidelines, and was a member of the Governor's Task Force on Wind Power Development in Maine.

AMC maintains a policy office in Brunswick, and a Maine Woods Initiative operations office in Greenville.

Major Milestones of AMC’s History in Maine

1881 AMC’s Appalachia, the oldest, continuously published journal of mountaineering and conservation in North America, describes the Katahdin wilderness.

1887 AMC holds its first August Camp at Katahdin Lake.

1923 AMC establishes Echo Lake Camp on Mount Desert Island.

1927 AMC members map Katahdin for the first time.

1939 AMC publishes history of Katahdin Iron Works in June Appalachia.

1939 AMC August Camp is held in the Katahdin Iron Works area.

1956 AMC founds a chapter in Maine, which today has more than 3,000 members.

1961 AMC publishes the first AMC Maine Mountain Guide.

1969 AMC establishes Beal Island Camp in Georgetown.

1977 AMC establishes the Saco River Camp in Fryeburg.

1988 AMC completes the field research in a carrying capacity study of Isle au Haut, part of Acadia National Park.

1989 AMC completes an analytical evaluation of backcountry management techniques and visitors’ experiences in Baxter State Park.

1989 AMC co-hosts the first regional conference of New England environmental organizations and timber companies to discuss strategy to protect the region’s forestlands.

1990 AMC begins chairing the Northern Forest Alliance, composed of 23 regional and national conservation organizations, to protect the Northern Forest.

1991 AMC develops an inventory of the Acadia National Park trails system. The AMC continues to work with the National Park Service on a cooperative trail maintenance program at Acadia.

1991 AMC publishes The Wildest Country: A Guide to Thoreau’s Maine by J. Parker Huber.

1993 AMC works in partnership with the Maine Audubon Society and the New Hampshire Audubon Society to publish “An Inventory and Ranking of the Key Resources of the Northern Forest Lands of Vermont, New Hampshire and Maine.”

2000 The AMC helps establish the Androscoggin Watershed Council and sponsors the inaugural Source to the Sea Canoe Trek, an annual event designed to promote the understanding and protection of the Androscoggin River as an ecological and economic resource.

2001 AMC helps found the Tumbledown Conservation Alliance. The Tumbledown Conservation Alliance, the Trust for Public Land and the Maine Department of Conservation are working together to protect 30,000 acres of special places, including mountaintops, popular recreation trails and habitat for rare wildlife species.

2001 Tumbledown Conservation Alliance assists with the protection of an additional 2,468 acres in Mount Blue State Park, including Hedgehog Hill.

2002 Tumbledown Conservation Alliance assists with the protection of an additional 376 acres at Mount Blue State Park’s Webb Lake.

2002 Tumbledown Conservation Alliance assists with the protection of 4,200 acres adjacent to the Mount Blue State Park.

2003 The east side of the new Grafton Loop Trail opens, the result of partnership efforts by AMC, the Maine Appalachian Trail Conference, Hurricane Island Outward Bound School, the Maine Conservation Corps, the Maine Bureau of Parks and Lands, and private landowners.

2003 AMC purchases Little Lyford Lodge and Cabins, a traditional Maine sporting camp in the 100-Mile Wilderness Region.

2003 AMC releases a report titled "An Ecological Atlas of the Upper Androscoggin River Watershed," and receives the prestigious Achievement in Publications Award from the Natural Resources Council of America.

2003 AMC announces the Maine Woods Initiative and completes the purchase of the 37,000-acre Katahdin Iron Works tract from International Paper.

2004 AMC conducts an ecological inventory on its Katahdin Iron Works property.

2004 AMC creates a long-term timber management plan focused on sustainable harvesting and conducts its first timber harvest on the Katahdin Iron Works property.  

2005 AMC completes construction of more than 10 miles of new trails on its Katahdin Iron Works property. 

2006 The Nature Conservancy, Plum Creek, the Forest Society of Maine, and the AMC announce a Conservation Framework agreement to conserve nearly 345,000 acres in the Moosehead Lake region. 

2006 The Piscataquis County Economic Development Council, University of Maine Cooperative Extension, and AMC create and publish the Southern Piscataquis Regional Recreation Map and Guide. 

2006 AMC purchases Medawisla Wilderness Camps.

2007 The entire 39-mile-long Grafton Loop Trail opens. 

2008 AMC establishes the Moosehead Area Schools Project, offering outdoor learning opportunities to every elementary school, middle school, and high school student in Piscataquis County at least three times over the course of his or her school career. 

2008 AMC completes construction on a total of 55 miles of trail on its Katahdin Iron Works property. 

2009 AMC purchases the 29,500-acre Roach Ponds tract, which had been the missing link in a 600,000-acre stretch of contiguous conservation land extending for 63 miles from the southern boundary of AMC’s Katahdin Iron Works property to the northern boundary of Baxter State Park.