Our Base Camp is a remote island on West Grand Lake in Washington County, Maine, known as "The Birches". The island is accessible only by boat or by seaplane. The Birches has been a traditional summer campsite since time immemorial. Beginning in the mid 19th century the island was used as a base for local lumbering operations and it was later developed as a private sporting lodge. It was purchased by the Darrows in
1956 and the Camp has been in continuous operation in the same location since 1957. Many of the original buildings are still in use and the forest remains much the same as it was 100 years ago. Most of the buildings are clustered on the north shore of the island, commanding a superb view of the lake, the forested mountains to the north, and the wild shoreline.

Buildings include indoor dining and kitchen facilities, food and equipment storage, canoe maintenance and repair, and living quarters for campers and staff. Campers are housed in single-sex lean-tos or tents and can relax by the fireplace, browse our extensive library of wilderness books, or meet in any of several comfortable gathering spaces. There is modern plumbing, wood heat, propane lighting, cooking, and refrigeration, and we generate our own electricity as needed.

The Birches is located at the hub of an exquisite wilderness area of over a million acres, bountiful fish and wildlife, 60 major lakes, and hundreds of streams and ponds spanning the headwaters of the Machias and the St. Croix River watersheds. Most of this area has recently been permanently protected under the stewardship of the Downeast Lakes Land Trust and extensive areas to the west and north are owned by the Passmaquoddy Tribe. Our local waters are world renown for their superb landlocked salmon, smallmouth bass, and lake trout fishing. The Birches is 25 minutes by speed boat from the village of Grand Lake Stream, an epicenter of traditional wood canoe building and the home of several famous fishing lodges established in the 19th century.

Our Base Camp provides the perfect setting for training and for outfitting canoe trips, and the network of numerous lakes and streams in our local waters offers an ideal training ground for the younger sections to explore. The St. Croix River has more runnable rapids per mile than any other river in Maine and provides a safe, controlled environment for beginning whitewater paddlers.