Telos lake, part of the Allagash Wilderness Waterway, is the headwaters for the Allagash River. Covering about 2,276 acres with a maximum depth of 86 feet, it is located south of Chamberlain Lake. It is approximately 6 miles in length and up to 1 mile wide in some areas. Telos Lake is accessible via a private road just west of Baxter State Park. Along its shores you will find 6 primitive campsites equipped with picnic tables, fire pits, ridgepoles and privies.
In the 1830's, Amos Roberts and the Strickland brothers purchased land that contained the watershed areas for both Webster Lake and Telos Lake. In 1838 they hired Shepard Boody to devise a way to make Chamberlain Lake flow against its natural current so logs could be driven down to Bangor via the Penobscot River. He proposed that dams be built on Chamberlain Lake and Telos Lake, along with a canal between Telos Lake and Webster Lake. This would force the water to flow southward enabling logs to be driven into the Penobscot River basin. By the fall of 1841 both of the dams along with the canal were completed. The canal between Telos Lake and Webster Lake became known as the Telos Cut. The dams on both Chamberlain and Telos Lake have been rebuilt or replaced many times since 1924. In 2000, the dams, along with their associated structures were purchased by BP&L. Today the water levels are managed consistent with the waterways management objectives.