In preparation for a presentation at the 10th anniversary celebration of the Northern Forest Canoe Trail, which will be held Saturday and Sunday, July 24-25, in Rangeley, I got to thinking about the allure of long-distance trails. Long-distance trails possess a magic in that from any point on the trail, one can envision the route continuing “just around the bend” for days and days, if not weeks. Around each river bend or summit crest, new discoveries await.
To our benefit, Maine has a number of distinctive long-distance trails to seek out. Perhaps the most well-known long-distance trail in Maine is the Appalachian Trail, which runs from Georgia to Baxter Peak on Mount Katahdin. This footpath, which saw its formation largely in the 1920s and 1930s, travels across more than 2,100 miles of peaks and ridgelines as it winds its way to and through our state.
Grafton Notch State Park, located north of Bethel on Route 26, provides a tremendous point to start exploring the trail. A total of 18 miles of the AT fall within Grafton Notch State Park and the adjoining Mahoosuc Public Lands. Other notable Maine Bureau of Parks and Lands properties farther north along the AT include the Four Ponds Public Lands off Route 17 at Height of Land south of Rangeley, the Bigelow Preserve in the Carrabassett Valley region, and Nahmakanta Public Lands in the remote “100-mile Wilderness” section of the AT between Baxter SP and Monson.
If the Appalachian Trail is the most recognized long-distance trail in Maine, then water trails such as the Allagash Wilderness Waterway and the Northern Forest Canoe Trail are likely the oldest. The Allagash Wilderness Waterway was created in 1966 and added as the first state-administered component of the National Wild and Scenic River System in 1970. The Northern Forest Canoe Trail, or NFCT, is celebrating 10 years of life as a water trail. The routes underpinning these water trails, however, are ancient — serving as travel corridors for American Indian travelers and traders for thousands of years.
The Allagash is a 92-mile wilderness canoe route managed by BPL. It is a remote and wondrous leg of the longer 740-mile, nonprofit managed NFCT, which connects the major watersheds across the Adirondacks and northern New England.
Other places to venture forth on the NFCT for a day or for weeks include Richardson Lake Public Lands, Rangeley Lake State Park, the Bigelow Preserve, Holeb Public Lands (Moose River Bow Canoe Trip), Moosehead Lake — with destinations such as Mount Kineo near Rockwood, Lily Bay State Park, or public lands and publicly accessible campsites along the eastern shore of the lake — and the Penobscot River Corridor, which connects by portages to the Allagash.
Maine’s fresh water is not the only source of long-distance water trails. The Maine Island Trail is a 375-mile coastal waterway extending from the New Hampshire border to Machias Bay. It includes more than 180 islands and mainland sites along the route, available for day visits or low-impact overnight camping. The trail is composed of both public and private islands and is managed by the Maine Island Trail Association (www.mita.org), which performs island stewardship and recreation management activities in addition to putting out an invaluable 250-page guide.
Finally, BPL’s Off-Road Vehicle Division helps manage a vast network of interconnected snowmobile and ATV trails across the state, on both public and private land. This trail network includes, among other trail types, rail beds converted to recreational trails. Trails such as the newly emerging Down East Sunrise Trail from Ellsworth to near Calais, the 28-mile Aroostook Valley Trail that connects the communities of Presque Isle, Caribou, Washburn, Woodland, and New Sweden, and the Whistle Stop Trail between Jay and Farmington, and the Four Season Adventure Trail from Newport to Dover-Foxcroft are links in regional trail systems as well as assets in and of themselves. The efforts of motorized trail enthusiasts and BPL, as well as private landowners, enable Mainers and visitors to ride thousands of miles of trail all across Maine.
Whether paddling a canoe to riverside campsites, crossing an ocean bay in a kayak, hiking ridges and topping peaks, or powering along snowmobile or ATV trails, there are thousands of miles of long-distance trails and trail networks across the state. Maine’s state parks and public lands serve as portals to these routes.
To learn more, visit www.parksandlands.com. And to learn more about the Northern Forest Canoe Trail celebration in Rangeley, visit www.NorthernForestCanoeTrail.org.