Caribou-Speckled Mountain Wilderness is an 11,236-acre (4,547 ha)

wilderness area Wilderness or wildlands (usually in the plural), are natural environments on Earth that have not been significantly modified by human activity or any nonurbanized land not under extensive agricultural cultivation. The term has traditionally re ...

under the jurisdiction of the

White Mountain National Forest The White Mountain National Forest (WMNF) is a federally managed forest contained within the White Mountains in the northeastern United States. It was established in 1918 as a result of the Weeks Act of 1911; federal acquisition of land had alrea ...

in the

U.S. The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territori ...

state of

Maine Maine () is a state in the New England and Northeastern regions of the United States. It borders New Hampshire to the west, the Gulf of Maine to the southeast, and the Canadian provinces of New Brunswick and Quebec to the northeast and north ...

. Established in 1990, the Wilderness contains an abundance of geologic features such as

cliffs In geography and geology, a cliff is an area of rock which has a general angle defined by the vertical, or nearly vertical. Cliffs are formed by the processes of weathering and erosion, with the effect of gravity. Cliffs are common on co ...

, slides, notches, and

glacial pothole A giant's kettle, also known as either a giant's cauldron, moulin pothole, or glacial pothole, is a typically large and cylindrical pothole drilled in solid rock underlying a glacier either by water descending down a deep moulin or by gravel ro ...

s among a forest of northern hardwood trees. Streams run out of the area that form tributaries to the Saco and

Androscoggin River The Androscoggin River (Abenaki: ''Aləssíkαntekʷ'') is a river in the U.S. states of Maine and New Hampshire, in northern New England. It is U.S. Geological Survey. National Hydrography Dataset high-resolution flowline dataThe National Map, ...

s. The high point of the wilderness is Speckled Mountain at 2,906 feet (885 m). Mt. Caribou is the second highest at 2,840 feet (865 m). According to the

U.S. Forest Service The United States Forest Service (USFS) is an agency of the U.S. Department of Agriculture that administers the nation's 154 national forests and 20 national grasslands. The Forest Service manages of land. Major divisions of the agency in ...

, "Mt. Caribou got its name after two brothers shot the last caribou in the region there in 1854. Their names are carved on the top of the mountain."Caribou-Speckled Mountain
- USFS

References

External links

U.S. Geological Survey Map
at the U.S. Geological Survey Map Website. Retrieved March 30, 2023. IUCN Category Ib Wilderness areas of Maine White Mountain National Forest Protected areas established in 1990 1990 establishments in Maine Protected areas of Oxford County, Maine {{Maine-protected-area-stub

See also

References

External links