Where to stay, where to fish, where the trails go and how long everything takes to reach — from the family that runs Eagles Landing Lakeside Cottages on the eastern shore.
Eagle Lake sits in the St. John Valley of northern Aroostook County, at the bottom of the Fish River Chain of Lakes. The thoroughfare from Square Lake and the Fish River both flow in, and the Fish River flows out toward Fort Kent and the St. John. Much of the shoreline is wooded public land, which is why it still looks the way it does.
The lake got its name in 1839, during the Aroostook War — the border standoff between Maine and New Brunswick — when a party sent north found bald eagles gathered along its shore. Settlers followed the next year.
It's a working lake in the best sense: a town, a marina, a few camps and cottages, and room for all of it. Boaters and anglers have the whole thing; the private beaches and docks belong to the properties along the shore, ours included.
There are really four ways to do it, and the right one depends on the trip. If you want someone else cooking every meal, choose a sporting camp. If you want your own kitchen, a beach and room for the whole family, that's what Eagles Landing is built for.
Three bedrooms, two baths, a kitchen, porch, grill and fire pit, with a private beach, docks and free kayaks. Ten per cabin, or fifty across all five. Three minutes from the village grocery and next door to the marina.
See the cabins →The traditional Maine way: rustic cabins, a dining room and guides on hand, usually farther up the lake and reached by boat or gravel road. Best when you want everything arranged for you.
A handful in the village and more in Fort Kent, about 25 minutes north. Good for a stopover; not built for a week on the water.
Our five lakefront RV lots have 30/50 amp service, water and septic, a picnic table and fire ring, and the same beach and docks as the cabins. $585 a week.
RV sites →Eagle Lake is a cold-water fishery, and the fish that bring people this far north are landlocked salmon, lake trout — togue, to anyone local — and brook trout.
It's also one of the few Maine lakes open to hook-and-line smelt fishing year-round, and it holds cusk and yellow perch for anyone who just wants a bent rod.
The weeks right after ice-out in spring are the classic time for salmon near the surface. Through the summer the togue go deep, so trolling gear earns its keep. There's dock space at Eagles Landing for your boat, fuel next door at Old Mill Marina, and our pontoon for rent if you didn't bring one.
Winter is ice fishing and smelting. Old Mill Marina, next door, rents smelt shacks, and the cabins are heated and a short walk from the ice.
The rest of the Fish River Chain — Square, Cross, Mud and Long lakes — and the remote brook trout ponds of the Deboullie public lands are all within a day's reach.
Anyone 16 or older needs a Maine fishing license, sold online by the Maine Department of Inland Fisheries & Wildlife. Seasons, limits and special rules vary by water, so check the current law book before you go. Want a guide? Ask us and we'll point you to one.
Northern Aroostook is some of the best-known sledding country in the East, and the trail system reaches the property — ride out from the cabin, come back to a warm one.
Eagle Lake is on Maine's Interconnected Trail System, with club-groomed connections toward Fort Kent, Portage and the rest of the St. John Valley. In summer and fall the ATV trails take over.
Sleds and side-by-sides can be rented in the area — Mike and Sons in Fort Kent rents snowmobiles with drop-off and pick-up, and guided rides run out of Edmundston on the New Brunswick side (passport needed). Ask us what's current before you book. Late winter brings the sled dog races, including Eagle Lake's own 100-mile race and the Can-Am Crown out of Fort Kent.
Trail maps, the Thursday trail report and the live snow forecast are in our full snowmobiling guide; ATV clubs, maps and rules are in the ATV guide.
Eagles Landing sits in Maine's Wildlife Management District 3, just across from District 2 — bear, moose, whitetail and turkey country.
Moose permits are issued through the state's lottery; bear and turkey hunts can be booked with local outfitters, and we're glad to point you to one. The cabins have room for trucks, trailers and gear, and a cabin that sleeps ten is an easy base for a hunting party. Fall hunting overlaps with peak color, so bring someone who'd rather take pictures.
Licenses, permits and season dates come from the Maine Department of Inland Fisheries & Wildlife.
Swimming off the beach, paddling, the pontoon out on the lake and long light in the evenings. Weeks run Saturday to Saturday.
Warm days, cold nights, no bugs and an empty lake. Peak color usually lands in the last week of September and holds into early October.
Snowmobiling, ice fishing, smelt shacks and sled dog races — and on the right night, the northern lights over the lake.
Ice-out, early salmon and the quietest weeks of the year. Bring a jacket, and expect black flies by late May.
Eagle Lake is in the top corner of Maine, closer to Quebec and New Brunswick than to Portland. Most people drive; flying in means a rental car either way.
For your own lakefront cabin with a kitchen, a private beach and room for a family or a whole reunion, Eagles Landing Lakeside Cottages has five three-bedroom cabins on the eastern shore at 105 Furlong Road, sleeping ten each. For all meals and guides included, a sporting camp up the lake is the better fit; motels in the village and in Fort Kent suit a short stopover.
Cold-water fishing for landlocked salmon, togue and brook trout; year-round smelt fishing; snowmobiling on Maine's trail system; the Fish River Chain of Lakes; and dark, quiet nights in a St. John Valley town of fewer than a thousand people.
July and August for swimming and boating, the last week of September for peak fall color, and January through March for snowmobiling and ice fishing. Spring, just after ice-out, is the quiet season and a good time for salmon.
By car. It's about an hour from Presque Isle airport (PQI), about three and a half hours from Bangor, about five and a half from Portland and about seven from Boston. Fort Kent is about 25 minutes north.
No. It's a large public lake with a town, camps and a marina along it. Some properties, including Eagles Landing, have private beaches and docks for their guests.
Eagles Landing rents a pontoon from its own dock — $500 a day, sliding to $3,000 for six days, with the seventh day free. Fuel is next door at Old Mill Marina.
Written by Laura and Matt Rode, owners of Eagles Landing Lakeside Cottages. Last updated September 2026.
Book one for your family, or all five for up to fifty.
