The Birches Resort

I’m not sure where to start as there were a few challenges but I’ll start with the critters…
1) There was a RAT under our table. I spotted it whilst looking for a part of the camera. It was big, furry, and recently dead with all four limbs spread out as if the death was a horrendous one. When I flagged it to a waiter, he said it «must be from the rat poison.» That gave me reassurance that 1. There’s a rat problem and 2. There’s poison near food.
2) There were dogs in the dining room. A nice black one called Abby went under our table, sniffed my husband’s privates and begged for steak.
3) numerous flies landed on my broccoli.
Now that’s enough critter talk…
Food:
Crab stuffed mushrooms were greasy and needed herbs, salt snd pepper
Mussels: plentiful, loads of them but the ones in the top half of the kettle were dry and rubbery.
Rib eye: average
Baked stuffed haddock: watery. It sat in a pool of water that was mildly flavoured with wine and lemon
After I pointed out the rat and dogs, I was surprised to see no discount on our bill! I had asked the waiter to please take my main away with less than half eaten because my appetite was lost due to the rat. I went to the manager who took my haddock off the bill and she apologised and advised me that «in maine we have mice.»
It’s a shame about rodent, dogs and flies because their Bloody Mary is awesome

Ever been to those desolate gas stations in the middle of the desert that charge five times as much because if you don’t buy from there you’ll die? The Birches Resort is just that except in the middle of the Maine wilderness. It is the only real renter of atv/​water craft/​snowmobiles in the area. The nearest competition is in Jackman which is nearly an hour away… and this «resort» uses it to their advantage.
So, the rental fees are outrageous. They wanted to charge us $ 60 for a full day for a canoe. When we told them that we only wanted a half day and they charged us $ 50 (and that was after we told them we had bought three tickets for the expensive moose expedition tour via pontoon boat).
Later that evening we went on the moose sight seeing tour via pontoon boat and it was amazing. A bit long if you have small kids, but we got to see moose up close and personal (probably got to within 15 feet). This tour was their only saving grace. We bought a «package» which included dinner afterwards which you would think was a deal, right? Nope. the extra expense to each ticket was $ 30 and it only included an entrée per ticket. Now considering the most expensive item on the menu is the prime rib at $ 26 it seems like a blatant fleecing, but we shut up and paid it because it wasn’t worth the hassle.
Too boot, the prime rib was atrocious. Even my five year old was disgusted at the amount of gristle on the steak. They even botched my child’s spaghetti by over cooking it and we were forced to send it back. WHo ruins a kid’s meal?! Although, an item they did very well was the poutine. Unfortunately, we ate that as our meal because everything else was atrocious. We left the restaurant highly disappointed.
We didn’t stay there so I can’t comment on the rooms/​cabins.
My suggestion is to bypass Rockwood altogether and drive the extra distance to Jackman where the prices are more reasonable.