Big Moose Mountain (Big Squaw)
A 1,700-foot Maine mountain above Moosehead Lake whose upper chairlift failed in 2004 and has stood idle ever since; volunteers keep the bottom half of the hill running.
- Region
- Maine
- Country
- USA
- Status
- partially abandoned
- Year opened
- 1963
- Year closed
- 2004 (upper mountain)
- Reason for closure
- The chairlift serving the upper mountain failed in 2004, injuring four people. The upper half of the mountain has not reopened since. The area ran on a limited basis from 2004 to 2010 before a community group took it on.
History
Big Moose Mountain rises on the north side of Moosehead Lake near Greenville, in the unorganised territory of northern Maine, and is one of the larger lost-or-half-lost areas in New England: 1,700 ft of vertical from a 1,300 ft base to a 2,920 ft summit. It opened in December 1963 with a Hall T-bar climbing 600 ft over four trails, and in 1967 a Thompson double chair by Stadeli opened the summit. It was known as Big Squaw Mountain until 2000, when the mountain and the area were renamed Big Moose to drop a slur. In 2004 the upper-mountain chairlift failed and injured four people. That lift has never run again. The area limped along on a limited basis from 2004 to 2010, and since then the community non-profit Friends of the Mountain - formerly Friends of Squaw Mountain - has renovated and operated the lower mountain under a contract running to December 2027, while the summit terrain and its idle chairlift remain out of use. The chairlifts were advertised for sale in 2021 and the property was back on the market in 2024 after a redevelopment proposal failed. This is a partial abandonment rather than a closure: skiing continues on the bottom half of a mountain whose top half has been shut for two decades. Trail names are not compiled in accessible sources.
Lifts
| Name | Type | Manufacturer | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Unnamed lift | Chairlift - Double - Fixed | Stadeli | A Thompson double installed in 1967, which opened the summit and raised the vertical to 1,700 ft. It failed in 2004, injuring four people, and has sat idle since; the chairlifts were advertised for sale in 2021 |
| Unnamed lift | T-Bar | Hall | The original lift from the December 1963 opening, climbing 600 ft and serving four trails |
Sources and further reading
More in USA
Location
45.5042, -69.7056