Maine Trails - Appalachian Trail

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#1

I am going to be a Freshman at the University of Maine Orono and I am not from Maine. Can anyone give me the name of a few good trails in the area?

Bob

#2

C’mon, you know you want to hike the “100 mile wilderness”. I know I decided to do it this year, But I dont plan on stopping my hike until GA. But, that is a minor point. It’s fun.

Ridge Rat

#3

There’s the Gulf Hagas loop which follows the AT for a while near Chairback Gap. Pretty good road access right to the AT and an 8 mile loop, very pretty area. Thats about an hour from Orono. You’re also not very far from Baxter and all it’s trails. Acadia is also only an hour or so up the coast. There’s lots to choose from in Maine. Garunteed you’ll meet some hikers on campus who’ll know the area very well. Good luck and enjoy Maine!

Cheers

Cheers

#4

I’d second the vote for Acadia and Baxter. Acadia is pretty unique – lots of hiking, but nothing super high in terms of height. Still, it is a beautiful spot and many of the trails have beautiful views of the ocean and the island from the top. Baxter is another wonderful spot. Katahdin is hard to beat!

There is a lot of other hiking to be had in Maine too. Along the Appalachian Trail up near Rangeley, passing over Sugarloaf and Spaulding, and hitting the Bigelows is beautiful, but tough. Check out www.viewsfromthetop.com for trail condition reports, and also the AMC Maine Mountain Guide is worth it if you’re going to do a lot of hiking! Have fun and Happy Hiking :slight_smile:

-Sparkplug

Sparkplug

#5

Arcadia National Park and the 100 Mile Wilderness leading to Katahdin.

The Woods of Maine are idyllic.

The forests of Alaska are impenetrable.

Conan

Conan

#6

The Grafton Loop Trail has about 20 some miles completed. Check it out on MATC’s website www.matc.org

Kineo Kid

#7

Bob, First of All…Welcome to Maine! The outdoor possibilities in Maine are limitless and the advice you have gotten so far is right on point. I climbed “Old Speck” day before yesterday in Grafton Notch and the trails in Maine are in good shape already this year. The loop trail around Grafton Notch is good for hiking right now if you want. There is a little bit of ice and snow, but we didn’t have as much snow as normal this winter and the trails aren’t bad right now. Living in Orono will put you within an hour and a half from many trails in Maine so good luck to you and happy hiking!!

Just Jim

jim chambers

#8

Backpacker just had an article on the Grafton Notch Loop. They implied that it was scheduled to be 100% open in June. I was wondering if any one has any beta on this?

Big B

#9

Forgot to give the Camden Hills a mention, another beautiful spot to day hike, right on the water like Acadia, just not as popular. I’d guess it’s about 2 hours south of Orono. Camden also has a great outfitters. nothing you can’t get in Bangor but still handy if you need something whilt visiting.

I’d also b e interested to hear the latest on the Grafton loop.

Welcome to Maine.

Cheers

Cheers

#10

UM Orono has an Outing Club and fair sized chunk of land with hiking and biking trails.

TJ aka Teej

#11

I went to UMO! Yay! Just get a room at hilltop and every trip to class will be a pretty good hike. Also, I second the outing club idea. At UMaine it’s called Maine Bound. They take lots of trips to Gulf Hagas, but if you’re a very experienced hiker, I’d go on your own. The last UM group I saw up there took an hour to ford the Pleasant river. Besides Gulf Hagas, you’ve got Baxter a couple hours north, and Acadia an hour east, but both are a pain to break into in the winter. There’s a short trail at the Audubon Fields Pond Center in Holden, which is really close to campus. If you feel like getting up really really early and driving for an hour or so, you can catch a ferry to either Isle Au Haut or Monhegan and spend the day on some moderate hikes with great views. Again, the ferries are a pain to break into in the winter. Hope this helps, and let me know if you need directions! Welcome to the family, and stay away from Prof Wilson. He’s crazy.

Grace

#12

Just a few links from some of the less obvious things I talked about:

Maine Bound: http://www.umaine.edu/locator/BuildingDisplay.asp?BldgName=Maine%20Bound-UM%20Outdoor%20Education%20Center

Fields Pond NC: http://www.maineaudubon.org/explore/centers/fpond.shtml

Isle Au Haut: http://www.isleauhaut.net/index.htm

Monhegan: http://www.steppinoutmaine.com/archives/2003/jun_04/side2.html & http://www.monhegan.com/042306.html

Prof. Wilson: http://www.h-itt.com/users_jack_wilson.html (Don’t be fooled by the Santa look. He will eat you alive.)

Grace

#13

i would take anything grace and cheers have to say about maine to heart. they were two of the most excellent hosts when i was visiting a couple of years ago. they showed me coastal maine like no one else could. if you have any questions about maine/hiking/the coast, you should definitely ask them. don’t mind the fact that grace is a little crazy, though

grizz

#14

Hey you all-

The Grafton Loop Trail is essentially complete, BUT BUT BUT!!!

The land that the recently constructed piece sits on is going to be given over to the State.

UNTIL THAT TIME - the current landowner wants NO press, no official opening ceremony (like National Trails Day), until the landswap is a done deal. Yes, the Backpacker article is pretty much accurate, but unfortunate, because MATC and other oganizations could not pull it in time. :eek:

So, if you want to get more of this, contact MATC and ask them. I just attended the annual meeting, and there was discussion on this very subject.

So again, until further notice (like, from MATC), no matter what you read or hear, the Grafton Loop Trail is NOT finished.

Incidentally, the landswap should be complete by mid-summer.

Kineo Kid

#15

Thanks Kineo Kid, for that. I was about to respond if no one else did. I was not happy with the BP article touting that this guy hiked a closed trail…they got a piece of my mind for that (and I actually got a response from both the article’s editor and the author). West side still closed til further notice. I am eagerly awaiting its opening, have done the Eastern loop twice now.

To the original poster Bob: you might want to check out the Bold Coast loop in Cutler ME - we met some Orono students when out on it a few weekends ago. It’s a spectacular stretch of coastline trail, 10-11 miles with 3 backcountry sites. I try to go up there very spring for a bp. Could be done in a day easily, but who doesn’t want to practically sleep on the ocean?? But don’t tell anyone else about it. :wink:

BB

#16

Damn, I wanted to do it over memorial day weekend. It sounds beautiful.

Big B

#17

Heard today on NPR that Katahdin lake is now part of Baxter with a 2000 acre parcel adjacent for public use, ie hunters and such. Anyone else hear this? Not being local to Baxter i wonder what type of impact this has on the park and its use. Any thoughts?

Cheers

Cheers

#18

Cheers,

 What has happened is that the land in and around Katahdin Lake will now be incorporated into Baxter State Park.  It was actually what Percival Baxter wanted when he gave the park to the state of Maine.  It will fall under the same rigid guidelines as the rest of the park and will be protected as such. However, there will be an additional parcel of land that will be set aside for "Multiple Use" purposes to keep the snowmobilers and ATV'rs happy as well.  Everyone wins I guess!!

Just Jim

Jim Chambers