John Gibson - Explorer’s Guide 50 Hikes in Coastal and Inland Maine

A Note to the Reader

Every effort is made to provide accurate and up-to-date trail descriptions in this guide. Hazards are noted where known. Users of this volume are reminded that they alone are responsible for their own safety when on the trail, and that they walk the routes described in this guide at their own risk. The author, publisher, and distributors of 50 Hikes in Coastal and Inland Maine assume no responsibility for any injury, misadventure, or loss occurring from use of the information contained herein.

An Invitation to the Reader

Over time trails can be rerouted and signs and landmarks altered. If you find that changes have occurred on the routes described in this book, please let us know so that corrections may be made in future editions. The author and publisher also welcome other comments and suggestions. Address all correspondence to:

Editor, 50 Hikes Series
The Countryman Press
P.O. Box 748
Woodstock, VT 05091

1989, 1996, 2001, 2008 by John Gibson

Fourth Edition

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any electronic or mechanical means including information storage and retrieval systems without permission in writing from the publisher, except by a reviewer who may quote brief passages.

Portions of this book originally appeared in Fifty Hikes in Maine by John Gibson (1976, 1989) and Fifty More Hikes in Maine by Cloe Catlett (1980), both published by Backcountry Guides.

Published by The Countryman Press, P.O. Box
748, Woodstock, VT 05091

ISBN 978-0-88150-796-6
ISBN 978-1-581-57746-4 (e-book)

Distributed by W.W. Norton & Company, Inc., 500 Fifth Avenue, New York, NY 10110

Text and cover design by Glenn Suokko Original trail maps by Richard Widhu; new maps by Mapping Specialists., Ltd., Madison, WI Cover photograph by Jerry and Marcy Monkman, www.ecophotography.com
Interior photographs by John Gibson unless otherwise indicated.

Printed in the United States of America

Remembering
Bessie Hanson Gibson and
John Edward Gibson,
who introduced me to the
Maine woods at a tender age.

Welcome to this updated guide to the finest hiking in Maine. 50 Hikes in Coastal and Inland Maine has long been a useful and popular introduction to the best hiking in all of Maine south of Rumford, Bangor, and Lubec, including many routes on the dramatic Maine coast. With this new, retitled, and revised edition, 50 Hikes in Coastal and Inland Maine celebrates its 33rd year in print in various editions, and includes six new hikes in unspoiled Maine woodlands. This volume continues its easy-to-use format, with helpful maps, travel directions, and detailed trail commentary on points of interest along each route. It is the essential, ready-to-go guide for both beginning and more experienced hikers.

The prospects for Maine as New Englands great hiking state are impressive. Maine trail organizations, government agencies, and area conservation groups are doing much to hold the line against unwise development and to add to protected wild lands. Regional trusts have become the framework of preservation for some outstanding new hiking sites open to the public, particularly in coastal areas. New trails have been opened by local groups in such favorite hiking regions as the Camden Hills and its connected backcountry. Opportunities for hiking in Acadia National Park and on Maines offshore islands have expanded, too. (See also the authors Enjoying Maines Islands and Walking the Maine Coast, published by Down East Books.) This book directs hikers to both long-established trails and newer hiking opportunities, equally.

Pemaquid Point Light

Regional groups tied to river preservation efforts, such as the Sheepscot Valley Conservation Association and the Damariscotta River Association, have also opened up valuable adjacent lands to hikingland that will be preserved in an ever-wild state, supporting both hiking and river quality. The Land for Maines Future program and the Maine Coast Heritage Trust also have added spectacular new hiking and camping opportunities in various regions, including the northernmost reaches of the Maine Bold Coast.

Still, the pressure to pave paradise and put up a parking lot is very much with us in Maine. It is very important that hikers and people who enjoy Maines outdoors, generally, make their voices heard against sprawl and destruction. The Maine backcountry, wherever situated, has come under assault from development pressures, road building, overuse, and aggressive timber harvesting. A recent report entitled Patterns of Change commissioned by the Maine Land Use Regulation Commission shows that about half of all development in Maine in the last 35 years has been in previously wild areas, especially the fabled North Woods. Building is going on at an increased rate in the unorganized territories and, of course, along the coast. Housing doubled in the unorganized territories in the same period. The Natural Resources Council of Maine called the situation wilderness sprawl. Some hikes included in earlier editions of this guide have been dropped because of despoilation by sloppy and unsustainable timber harvesting practices, gravel extraction on mountainsides, and poorly sited second-home development.

If you value unspoiled countryside in which to walk, please support the conservation organizations working to keep Maine green. Work in your community to implement and apply reasonable protections against the sprawl that is gobbling up open countryside. Even now, as this guide goes to press, the largest and most intrusive real estate development ever proposed for Maines North Woods is moving forward, threatening still more wooded land and accelerating the suburbanization of Maines legendary north country. Make your voice heard.

This updated edition of 50 Hikes in Coastal and Inland Maine focuses on a varied mix of hikes and places. Descriptions stretch from the high peaks of western Maine, Evans Notch, and the Mahoosucs to several shorter walks in southwestern and central Maine and to numerous hikes on or near Maines splendid coast. Regardless of hiking experience, ability, and inclination, you will find many hikes here that will delight and challenge. Ascending across Maines unique geography from the southwestern border country to the Cutler Coastal Trail, not far from Americas easternmost point at West Quoddy Head, there are trails in these pages for everyone.