Friends of Katahdin Woods and Waters

Tekαkαpimək Contact Station

Visit

Tekαkαpimək Contact Station (pronounced deh gah-gah bee mook) serves as the welcome center to Katahdin Woods and Waters National Monument. The building is generally open from Memorial Day Weekend through Indigenous People’s Day Weekend, and all visitors are encouraged to confirm hours on the National Park Service website before visiting.

Current Hours

SUNDAY 10am – 4pm
MONDAY 10am – 4pm
TUESDAY Closed
WEDNESDAY Closed
THURSDAY 10am – 4pm
FRIDAY 10am – 4pm
SATURDAY 10am – 4pm

Tekαkαpimək is in the monument’s Southern Section. From exit 264 on Interstate 95, turn north on Maine State Route 158. After 0.2 miles, turn left on Maine State Route 11 (also known as Grindstone Road.) Follow Route 11 for 6.2 miles. Continue straight onto Swift Brook Road for 5.1 miles. Turn right onto Contact Station Road and continue driving until you reach Tekαkαpimək Contact Station.

Monument roads are unpaved and cell service is limited; drive slowly and carefully. Be alert. Logging trucks always have the right of way. Visitors are always advised to check the National Park Service website and download the National Park Service app before traveling to the monument.

  • Tekαkαpimək Contact Station
  • Tekαkαpimək Contact Station
  • Tekαkαpimək Contact Station
  • Tekαkαpimək Contact Station
  • Tekαkαpimək Contact Station
  • Tekαkαpimək Contact Station
  • Modern wooden interior featuring curved walls, art displays, and visitors exploring an exhibit space.
  • Wooden interior with curved desk and patterned ceiling; a person walks past artistic wall designs.
  • Lifecycle of the Atlantic salmon by Tim Shay, Penobscot, Credit: James Florio
  • Interior of a wooden space with curved walls, art displays, and visitors exploring the area. Warm, natural light illuminates.
  • Tekαkαpimək Exterior Detail with Maine Cedar Shingles Credit: James Florio

About

Tekαkαpimək Contact Station is a stunning 7,900 square-foot building and 23-acre site atop Lookout Mountain created to welcome the global public to Katahdin Woods and Waters National Monument. The monument is located within the present and traditional homeland of the Penobscot Nation. The land and waters hold special significance to the Penobscot Nation and is inextricably linked with Penobscot culture, ceremonies, oral traditions, language, history, and Indigenous stewardship which continues the respectful relationship with the land and waterways that has gone back more than 11,000 years. Katahdin is a culturally significant place to the Wabanaki people where connecting watersheds provide important travel routes for Wabanaki people of Maine, comprised of Maliseet, Mi’kmaq, Passamaquoddy, and Penobscot Nations.

Tekαkαpimək is a Penobscot language word for “as far as one can see”, pronounced deh gah-gah bee mook. Architectural, landscape and exhibition designs for Tekαkαpimək resulted from a process between Elliotsville Foundation, representatives of the Wabanaki Nations, Saunders Architecture, Reed Hilderbrand Landscape Architecture, WeShouldDoItAll, Tuhura Communications, Erin Hutton Projects, and the National Park Service. The design process began in 2019 and construction will be completed in 2024, with regular public hours to be announced after National Park Service assumes ownership and operations for the 2025 visitation season.

Tekαkαpimək’s waysides and exhibits orient visitors to the monument, inspiring them to experience Katahdin Woods and Waters from its peaks, trails, and rivers to its ever-changing foliage, brilliant night sky, and abundant wildlife. Interpretation is through a Wabanaki lens in a contemporary context, honoring the past and showing vibrant communities moving sustainably into the future. All Wabanaki Cultural Knowledge and Intellectual Property shared within this project is owned by the Wabanaki Nations – the Houlton Band of Maliseet Indians, Mi’kmaq Nation, Passamaquoddy Tribe, and Penobscot Nation.

  • Interior of a modern wooden building featuring curved walls, art displays, and a large window with greenery outside.
  • Tekαkαpimək Exterior Detail with Maine Cedar Shingles Credit: James Florio
  • Wooden interior with curved desk and patterned ceiling; a person walks past artistic wall designs.
  • Eastern Gathering Circle with Wabanaki double-curve, Credit: James Florio
  • Lifecycle of the Atlantic salmon by Tim Shay, Penobscot, Credit: James Florio

Katahdin Woods and Waters National Monument spans 87,563 acres in north-central Maine. Tekαkαpimək lies at its southeastern corner. The contact station building features vistas across the expanse of the monument to Katahdin and up the East Branch of the Penobscot River while hidden from paddlers below. An eastern lookout and gathering circle allow visitors to greet the day’s first light, reflecting traditions of the “People of the Dawn” and providing views to all Wabanaki homelands. Handicapped parking and pedestrian routes throughout the site are designed to make areas accessible.

State-of-the-art green technology in the building demonstrates a significantly reduced carbon footprint relative to other buildings of its scale. Tekαkαpimək utilizes local materials in every possible instance, is fully off-grid, solar and thermal powered, and maximizes passive design strategies for heating and cooling. Innovative use of nominal lumber casts a light on the emerging sustainable bio-economy.

Funded through a capital campaign by Friends of Katahdin Woods & Waters, Tekαkαpimək will be donated to the American people and operated by the National Park Service. Lead philanthropic support comes from Elliotsville Foundation, the Roxanne Quimby Foundation, Burt’s Bees, National Park Foundation, L.L. Bean, NorthLight Foundation, and an Anonymous supporter, among many other generous contributors.

Lead philanthropic supporters of Tekαkαpimək Contact Station
Media inquiries

Please contact Brian Hinrichs, brian@friendsofkww.org, for all media inquiries.

Media Resources:

Note on usage: Any publication using these materials must include the following statement: All Wabanaki Cultural Knowledge and Intellectual Property shared within this project is owned by the Wabanaki Nations.