Pemadumcook Chain of Lakes

Pemadumcook Chain of Lakes
Evening light, South Twin Lake
Location	Penobscot County, Maine Piscataquis County, Maine
Coordinates	45°42′N 68°57′W / 45.700°N 68.950°W / 45.700; -68.950Coordinates: 45°42′N 68°57′W / 45.700°N 68.950°W / 45.700; -68.950
Type	Natural Lake
Basin countries	United States
Max. length	14 miles (23 km)
Max. width	2.5 miles (4 km)
Surface area	18,300 acres (7,400 ha)
Average depth	35 feet (11 m)
Max. depth	103 feet (31 m)
Shore length1	65 miles (100 km)
Surface elevation	492 feet (150 m)
1 Shore length is not a well-defined measure.

The Pemadumcook Chain of Lakes are a set of large lakes in north-central Maine in the United States.

Thoreau's Pamadumcook or Joseph Chadwick's Bennedumcook is rendered by the United States Geographical Board in an 1897 decision as "Pemadumcook Lake".

The Pemadumcook chain of lakes forms the largest body of water in view as one gazes south from Mount Katahdin. If one takes a landscape picture from that summit, these lakes span the distance from the Piscataquis Mountains in the west to North Twin dam on Elbow Lake in the east. It is the fifth-largest lake system in Maine, exceeded only by Moosehead Lake at 74,890 acres (303 km²), Sebago Lake at 28,771 acres (116 km²), Chesuncook Lake at 23,070 acres (93 km²), and Flagstaff Lake at 20,300 acres (82 km²). The Pemadumcook Chain of Lakes occupy 18,300 acres (74 km²). Individually Mooselookmeguntic Lake is larger than Pemadumcook, but it is not larger than the chain.

The series of lakes are named Ambajejus, Elbow, North Twin, Pemadumcook and South Twin Lake. The lakes are part of the West Branch of the Penobscot River. The West Branch enters the northwest corner of Ambajejus, and the current flows south through that lake. The channel passes Deep Cove on the east and Porus Islands to the west. The river channel then passes east through the east end of Pemadumcook into the head of North Twin Lake at Indian Point. The channel then follows a southeasterly course across North Twin Lake, staying between Perrow Point and Spring Island, and then veering eastward past Snake Point in sight of the settlement of Norcross. The channel then passes due east through the Elbow to North Twin dam. The length of the channel is about 11.5 miles (20 km). The combined length of the lake from the North Twin Dam, following the channel in reverse to the Porus Islands and thence to the northwest corner of Pemadumcook at Nahmakanta Stream, is nearly 14 miles (23 km). There is a large boulder in Nahmakanta Stream where the Appalachian Trail appears on the south bank of the stream. It is not prudent to take a motorboat west of the boulder.