Forest Heritage Days returns to Greenville
GREENVILLE — Forest Heritage Days will return to Greenville Aug. 6–8 for its 35th annual celebration of the Moosehead Region’s working forest heritage.
This year’s event will include three days of programs and activities, including an Appalachian Mountain Club presentation connected to AMC’s 150th anniversary, a Steamship Katahdin Happy Hour Cruise, a special Friday “By Water and by Land” experience and a free public community day on Saturday featuring the Colby College Woodsmen, AMC family programming, a trail-rigging demonstration, a lumbermen’s breakfast and a chicken barbecue.
On Thursday, Aug. 6, AMC will present “Working Forests, Thriving Communities” at the Center for Moosehead History, 6 Lakeview St., from 4 to 5:15 p.m. The program will mark AMC’s 150th anniversary and share the story of its working forestlands, including how sustainably managed private forests support healthy ecosystems and local communities through forestry, recreation, conservation, fish passage, public access and ways people can connect with the land.
BY WATER AND BY LAND — The Steamer Louisa at the Lily Bay Storehouse, early 1900s. Steamers once carried freight, supplies, workers and passengers across Moosehead Lake to Lily Bay, where goods continued into the North Woods. Forest Heritage Days 2026 will reconnect visitors with that old lake-and-woods route through the Friday “By Water and by Land” experience.
Following the presentation, the Steamship Katahdin Happy Hour Cruise will leave the Greenville wharf at 5:30 p.m. Attendees of the AMC presentation will be eligible for a 20% discount on the Happy Hour Cruise.
On Friday, Aug.7, the “By Water and by Land” experience will take 100 participants into the story of the Moosehead Region’s working forest by both lake and land. One group will travel aboard the Steamship Katahdin, while the other group will travel by bus through working timberlands. Both groups will meet at the historic Lily Bay Storehouse for lunch and a short program featuring several event partners.
The Katahdin’s trip to Lily Bay will be a special part of the day. In the 1920s and 1930s, steamers regularly served the Lily Bay Storehouse, which operated as an important supply point on Moosehead Lake. For this event, the Katahdin will dock there again — something that has not been common for decades.
Boarding will begin at 9:15 a.m., with both the Katahdin and the bus leaving at 9:30 a.m. from the municipal parking lot and dock area next to the Katahdin. The two groups will meet at the historic Lily Bay Storehouse at noon for a chicken barbecue lunch and program. During lunch, Jim Ferrante, district forester with the Maine Forest Service, will give a talk on the history of white pine. Other partners will also help connect the day’s experience to the region’s working forest, land stewardship and history.
Following lunch the groups will switch routes, with one group returning to Greenville by water and the other continuing by bus for a woods tour. Participants are expected to return to Greenville by approximately 4 p.m.
STEAMSHIP KATAHDIN — The Steamship Katahdin at the Lily Bay Storehouse during a June test trip. The test confirmed that the Katahdin can safely reach Lily Bay for Forest Heritage Days. On Friday, Aug. 7 participants in the “By Water and by Land” experience are expected to arrive at the historic storehouse by both lake and land, echoing a route once central to Moosehead’s working forest history.
Friday’s “By Water and by Land” experience is limited to 100 participants. Tickets are $60 for adults and $25 for those under 18, available at katahdincruises.com/cruises.
Saturday, Aug. 8 will be the free public community day, with activities centered around the front lawn of the Greenville Consolidated School, 130 Pritham Ave.
The day will include Tree-mendous Trees Family Exploration, presented by AMC’s Education Team from 10to 11 a.m. and again from 1 to 2 p.m. The morning program will help families identify common Maine trees by leaves and bark, connect with trees using their senses and explore a tree’s lifecycle. The afternoon program will include “tree treasures” and a construction-paper birchbark-inspired basket activity.
AMC’s Trails Team will also present “Timber & Trails Work,” a rigging demonstration from 10 to 10:30 a.m. and again from 1:30 to 2 p.m. The demonstration will show how lengths of timber can be lifted off the ground and moved across a distance using a high line.
The Colby College Woodsmen demonstration will take place from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. on the front lawn of the Greenville Consolidated School. The demonstration will showcase traditional woods skills and remains one of the most popular public parts of Forest Heritage Days.
Saturday will also include the Lumbermen’s Breakfast at the American Legion Post, 218 Pritham Ave., from 7 to 10 a.m. and the Masonic Lodge chicken barbecue.
Forest Heritage Days is made possible through the work of local and regional partners, including the Appalachian Mountain Club, Weyerhaeuser, Moosehead Marine Museum, Moosehead Historical Society & Museums, community organizations, volunteers and supporters.
“This year’s event is really coming together,” sLuke Muzzy of the Moosehead Historical Society said. “Friday will give people a special chance to experience the working forest by water and by land, including a return by the Katahdin to Lily Bay and Saturday will bring the community together for a full day of free public activities. With AMC also marking its 150th anniversary, it is a good year to celebrate the many ways people have worked in, traveled through, cared for, and enjoyed this landscape.”
More information is available at ForestHeritageDaysMaine.com or by contacting Muzzy at 207-695-2909 or director@mooseheadhistory.org.