How To Get to (and Go Home from) the Northern Terminus of the Appalachian Trail
Logistics for thru-hikers to get to and from the Appalachian Trail Northern Terminus: Baxter State Park, Maine
June 6th, 2025
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Getting to the northern terminus of the three major long-distance trails is challenging. They’re remote, yes, but they’re not too far out there. To figure out how to get to (or go home from) the northern terminus of the Appalachian Trail, we started by finding the closest airport or train station and took it one step at a time.
After finishing their thru-hikes, northbound AT hikers essentially do the same thing in droves at the end of every thru-hiking season, but they do it in reverse. Whether you're finishing your thru-hike or starting a southbound thru-hike, here is how to get to and from the northern terminus of the Appalachian Trail.
For more AT thru-hike planning, check out our Appalachian Trail Gear List and Strategy guide, as well as Sam’s 5 Favorite Gear Items from the Appalachian Trail and Treeline writer and AT ridge runner Elliot Koeppel’s Favorite Gear from the Appalachian Trail.
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Details
Closest Airport: Bangor International Airport
Order of operations for southbounders: Permit for Baxter State Park -> Fly to Bangor -> Cyr Bus to Medway, ME -> Shuttle to Millinocket
Order of operations for northbounders: finish at Katahdin -> shuttle or get a ride to Millinocket, ME -> Cyr Bus to Medway, ME -> Fly from Bangor (or take the Concord Coach bus to Boston, MA)
Logistics
The northern terminus of the Appalachian Trail is at the top of Mt. Katahdin in Baxter State Park, which is near Millinocket, Maine. Unsurprisingly, Millinocket has a hostel that caters to Appalachian Trail hikers. To get to Baxter State Park, all you have to do is make it to Millinocket, which is only an hour and 15 minute drive from Bangor International Airport. The hostel shuttle service (for a fee) will get you the rest of the way.
Permits
You also need a permit to enter Baxter State Park. You cannot even enter the park without a reserved campsite or parking pass. The parking passes are limited to the number of spots in each parking lot and are available to Maine residents earlier than they’re available to non-residents. Even if you are getting dropped off by a shuttle, you need some kind of permit—a camping reservation or parking permit—to enter the park. The non-resident fee doesn’t count, either.
You can reserve a site online or call the permit office.
Get on reserving a site first. Do this before booking flights, hostels, bus tickets, or anything else.
You’ll want a campsite at either Katahdin Stream Campground or Abol Campground.
Where to fly to get to the northern AT terminus
To get to Millinocket, ME, the closest town to the AT's northern terminus, you can fly to Bangor. Then take a bus to Medway, Maine. From there, you can get a shuttle ride from the Appalachian Trail Hostel. Book your flight and your hostel stay at the same time. The hostel has a SOBO Special (southbounder), which includes picking you up from the bus station in Medway, Maine, and bringing you to the hostel. Then the following morning, they’ll give you a ride to the Katahdin Stream Trailhead in Baxter State Park.
When to buy flight tickets
I booked a flight to Bangor airport about four weeks in advance, and it was surprisingly inexpensive. You can also take the Concord Coach Line Bus to Bangor from Boston. You’ll likely be able to fly to Boston for less than you could fly to Bangor, but the bus from Boston to Bangor is over $50 and takes nearly four hours.
Ground transit between Bangor and Millinocket
Once you’ve reached Bangor, take the Cyr Bus northbound to Medway, Maine. The Cyr Bus leaves the Concord Coach Trailways station (1039 Union St, Bangor) daily at 5:30 p.m. You can purchase a bus ticket in advance on Cyr’s website.
Book your flights or plan your bus ride accordingly because the bus only leaves from Bangor once per day. This is another reason why flying into Bangor is easier than flying to Boston and then taking a bus; once you tack on a 4-hour bus ride from Boston to Bangor, catching that 5:30 p.m. bus out of Bangor gets tricky.
The bus arrives in Medway at about 6:40 pm, and the hostel will pick you up and take you to the hostel. The next morning, or the day after if you choose to spend two nights at the hostel, they’ll bring you to Baxter State Park.
Tricks to get permits
If you’re like me and didn’t reserve a campsite four months in advance, call the permit office and hope you talk to someone helpful. You have to wait on hold for up to 45 minutes. If the hold is longer than 45 minutes, the line automatically disconnects, and you have to start all over again from the back of the line.
After three rounds of waiting on hold for 45 minutes and then getting disconnected, I finally made it to the front of the line and talked to someone very helpful. They can see more available permit options than you can on the website and found me the last bed in the Roaring Brook Bunkhouse. The bunkhouse is in the wrong direction from Mt. Katahdin, but it got me into the park. I hiked Katahdin and then backtracked to the bunkhouse. The next day, I hiked across Baxter State Park until I was outside the park (and no longer needed a permit).
About the author / Why you should trust us
Treeline Review writer Sam Schild thru-hiked the Appalachian Trail southbound in 2025.
You can read his 5 Favorite Gear Items from the Appalachian Trail.
He has thru-hiked the Pacific Crest Trail, Continental Divide Trail, Grand Enchantment Trail, and the Colorado Trail twice. And now he's completed the Appalachian Trail, making him Treeline Review's newest Triple Crowner.
You can read more about Sam on his author page or his website.
In addition to Sam's expertise (and testing that this method works), many of Treeline Review's writers have thru-hiked the Appalachian Trail, including Elliot Koeppel, who shared his favorite AT gear items for thru-hiking on a budget. Our co-founders Naomi Hudetz and Liz Thomas have thru-hiked the AT as well and cite their experience on that trail as one of the inspirations for building Treeline Review.
