As it’s summer, many of us have probably visited a state park. There are 35 state parks in the state of Maine.
This places us near the bottom of the list is as far as number of parks by state goes. There are 3,729 state parks in the United States. California leads with 270 while Rhode Island has the least with only 15. The largest state park in Maine is Mt. Blue State Park in Wilton, boasting 8,000 acres.
However, Aroostook State Park was named Maine’s first state park. It is located five miles south of downtown Presque Isle. The park includes Quoggy Jo Mountain, which is an altered version of the Native American name Qua Qua Jo, which means “twin-peaked.” The park abuts Echo Lake.
In 1938, business leaders from the Presque Isle Merchants Association donated 100 acres of land to the state with the idea that the land would be used as a state park. In 1939, the public recreation area of Aroostook State Park was officially established.
Today, the park totals 898 acres and offers swimming, hiking, camping, canoe rentals, brook trout fishing, bird watching, cross country ski trails, picnic areas and more. The small campground offers 30 sites, showers, and a kitchen shelter.
Quoggy Jo Mountain itself offers testimony to our geological past, with limestone foundations indicating an ancient sea and an outer layer of volcanic rock.
Wildlife is plentiful in the park with visitor sightings of black bear, moose, foxes, squirrels, chipmunks, hawks, owls, woodpeckers and more. Many of Maine’s 65 species of trees can be found there as well, with some of the most plentiful being different types of ash, maple, birch, aspen, beech and fir.
The park offered Presque Isle’s first ski runs, which were built by a 35-member crew from the Works Progress Administration (WPA), the program established in 1935 by President Franklin Roosevelt to help men get back to work after the Depression.
If you look carefully at the north slope of Quoggy Jo from just the right angle, you can see evidence of the ski jump that was abandoned prior to completion. In 1940, a cable ski tow that carried 20 seated skiers at a time was added, followed by a rope tow in 1949. The mountain also featured a 60-foot toboggan chute.
In 1957, skiing was moved out to the Fort Road to the Quoggy Jo Ski Center. The lodge for the center was built in 1986.
Aroostook State Park has been a four season jewel in the crown of Presque Isle for almost 90 years and is well worth a visit.
Kimberly R. Smith is the secretary/treasurer of the Presque Isle Historical Society.
