4 Best Restaurants in The North Woods, Maine

Inside this tidy, well-stocked downtown drug store you can twist on a red stool at the well-kept 1960s-era soda fountain while enjoying a sundae or scoop of ice cream. Hot and cold drinks are also served. In summer, the line stretches down the sidewalk from the Dairy Bar next door, which also sells fast food.

Yummy, freshly prepared to-go fare includes pizza, breakfast and regular sandwiches, and house-made baked goods at this cabin-style "last stop" for gear, supplies, and gas before Baxter State Park. Quality Maine-made gifts and souvenirs, Baxter and Mt. Katahdin art and attire, and Maine- and park-theme books are tastefully arrayed; gear basics, packaged wine and beer, and grocery essentials are also sold.

At the deservedly popular restaurant at the New England Outdoor Center resort—serving lunch and dinner, and breakfast too in winter and summer—wood for the trim, wainscoting, bar, and floors was milled from old logs salvaged from local waters, and diners enjoy views of Mt. Katahdin from beyond rows of windows or the patio. Many dishes feature local ingredients; for dinner, entrees join offerings like sandwiches, tacos, and fish and chips.