Turns out Millinocket is red-hot.

Who knew?

Despite seemingly long odds, popular Web site TripAdvisor named Millinocket one of the top 10 up-and-coming travel destinations in the U.S. for 2007.

In a list dominated by warmer, conventional climes, the shrinking mill town landed at no. 6 – above Vail, Colo.

Town Manager Gene Conlogue first heard about the ranking at last week’s council meeting.

“Everybody smiled and had a chuckle,” he said on Tuesday. “We were certainly pretty surprised.”

TripAdvisor spokesman Brooke Ferencsik said the travel forecast, a first for the company, is based on the “collective wisdom of TripAdvisor’s 20 million travelers.” A “proprietary algorithm” measured search activity and comments posted on the site.

“We wanted to get a sense of the destinations that are really gaining steam,” he said. “These destinations have seen a significant jump in searches.”

Also in the top 10 were Eureka, Calif., Macon, Ga., and Kailua, Hawaii.

Ferencsik said he’s never been to Millinocket, but knows Baxter State Park is a draw. There’s camping, fishing, hiking: “It’s really kind of a paradise for those who love the outdoors.”

Under the header “Things to do,” the only thing TripAdvisor lists is Baxter. A “Dining Scene” page has seven restaurants with one visitor comment apiece. Under lodging: a total of eight sports camps, hotels and bed & breakfasts.

In comparison, under just the Performing Arts header, the site lists seven art centers and festivals in Vail, which comes in at No. 7 on the Web site’s list. Thirty-three restaurants are posted.

In the “Millinocket Forum,” travelers swap advice on popular hikes, how to ward off black flies (head nets) and where to find moose (Golden Road).

That sort of TripAdvisor exposure can only help, Conlogue figures.

He said the top draw to the area, hands down, is snowmobiling, with miles of groomed trails. Second is Baxter, followed by sightseeing – moose watching – in the woods and white water rafting.

The town is still trying to recover economically from the loss of Great Northern Paper, Conlogue said. A vacant Ames is looking for tenants, but Millinocket does have art galleries, a gift shop and restaurants. It’s got a Dunkin’ Donuts inside a convenience store.

The quiet and slower pace are part of the attraction, Conlogue said. He suspects the low crime rate is also a draw: “You’re safe. When you come to Millinocket, you’re not worrying about being accosted on the street.”

Phil Savignano, senior tourism officer at the Maine Office of Tourism, said the ranking validates the state’s new effort to pilot a nature-based tourism program. One of three to-be-highlighted regions is Moosehead to Katahdin.

Millinocket – and particularly the land to its west – is rural and remote. You can drive for miles and not see houses, and really see the sky at night, he said. Not everyone has that.

It’s not a Hollywood-version of the outdoors, Savignano added. “I think we still have a pretty good lock on authentic.”