The 2024 Total Solar Eclipse is projected to draw 40,000 visitors to rural Aroostook County and as of Friday, most Houlton area motels are booked for the April 5 to 8 weekend.
Still, there are some lodging options the farther north one travels.
“There certainly are not a whole lot of options left,” said Sheena McNally of the Maine Department of Tourism on Friday. “They are booking fast and the list is fluid at this point. They are going quickly.”
McNally has been keeping a live list of available accommodations in the County. She said that when she hears of vacancies they are quickly booked. McNally suggested that visitors look farther north.
“The Caribou Inn and Convention Center is reporting, as of today, 15 rooms available,” she said.
In Houlton, Ivey’s Motor Lodge is reporting a couple rooms available at $652.91 a night with a two-night minimum stay.
And the Shiretown Inn has a waiting list in case there are cancellations.
Surrounding towns like Island Falls, Linneus and Patten have no vacancies.
But Greenland Cove Cabins on East Grand Lake in Danforth, about an hour south of Houlton, has two, two-bedroom cabins and one, one-bedroom cabin available over the eclipse weekend. The cabins rent for $100 per person per night, with a four-person minimum in the two bedroom cabins.
Camping sites like Hipcamp, with a detailed eclipse availability list, and Vanly are showing multiple RV camping locations available close to Houlton. There is Smith Farm in Bridgewater, Savage Flats, Hideout Camp and Sunnyside Flats Farm in Linneus and others.
Farther north, SureStay By Best Western in Presque Isle has only two rooms available on April 7 and five rooms available for April 8. Best Western hotel staff believe the rooms will be going fast leading up to the eclipse.
Airbnb options for Presque Isle have a few places between $120 to $468 per night as of March 14, but are quickly being rented out as the eclipse date approaches.
On Airbnb, it appears the only rental unit available in Caribou for the eclipse weekend is located at an undisclosed address near downtown.
In Limestone, The Bunker Inn, located on the former Loring Air Force Base, has available rooms. Four are available for a minimum of two nights each for the eclipse weekend. The Inn has 40 rooms total, said co-owner Sandy McCabe.
There are still plenty of rooms available on Monday, April 8 and the preceding weekend in the St. John Valley area, which is about a two-hour drive from Houlton.
In Wallagrass, Trackdown Lodge and Cabins has 10 motel rooms and three cabins available on April 6 and 7. Eight rooms are available on April 8. The 3 Bears Inn has six rooms available on April 8, but it is completely booked on the 6th and 7th.
In Madawaska, Martin’s Motel has nine rooms available on April 6, 7, and 8. Gateway Motel has 14 vacancies for April 6, 7, and 8.
The Aroostook Hospitality Inn in Van Buren, according to its online listing, has 13 vacancies on April 6, and 10 vacancies on April 7 and 8.
In Eagle Lake, the Overlook Motel has 10 rooms available on April 6, 7, and 8. The Eagle Lake Inn has four suites available for Saturday through Monday. Lugdon Lodge has five cabins available for each of the three days.
Long Lake Motor Inn in St. Agatha has two rooms available on April 6, five rooms on April 7, and seven rooms available on April 8.
The Northern Door Inn in Fort Kent and the Inn of Acadia in Madawaska, are completely booked for April 8, the day of the eclipse. This, however, is because officials with Hannaford will be staying in the area as each town’s Paradis Shop ‘n Save Stores are converted to Hannaford businesses. The stores in each community will be closed for three days as the facility makes its transition.
Leading up to the eclipse, the Northern Door Inn has 32 vacancies on April 6 and 20 rooms available on April 7. The Inn of Acadia has 12 vacancies on April 6 and 14 rooms available on the 7th.
There are 24 Airbnb listings available for Saturday, April 6. Seven listings are in Madawaska, five are in Fort Kent, three are in St. Francis and three are in Eagle Lake. Two are in Sinclair and two are in St. Agatha. There is one listing each for Grand Isle and Wallagrass.
On Sunday, April 7, there are 22 Airbnb openings in the St. John Valley. Seven of these openings are in Madawaska and four are in Fort Kent. There are three openings in both St. Francis and Eagle Lake, two openings in Sinclair, and one each for Grand Isle and Wallagrass.
There are 39 Airbnb listings available on April 8 in the St. John Valley for April 8. Eleven of these listings are in Allagash, however four of these are vacant camper/RV lots and one is a hot tent. There are six listings in Madawaska for April 8, four in Fort Kent, four in Sinclair, three in Saint Francis, three in Eagle Lake, two in Wallagrass and two in St. Agatha. The towns of Portage Lake, Grand Isle, St. John and Van Buren have one opening each for April 8.
Reporters Paul Bagnall, Chris Bouchard, and Melissa Lizotte contributed to this report.
