Hikes: Maine

Hike Name Baxter Ponds Loop*
Closest Town Millinocket, ME (in Baxter State Park)
Difficulty Level** Easy to Moderate
Distance 3.7 miles round trip
Features Views, several small ponds
Description Walk from the campground back to the A.T. and follow it north for 0.5 mile.  You will be skirting the north for 0.5 mile, the A.T. turns sharply left.  Continue along the shore of Daicey Pond now following the Grassy Pond Trail, which is marked by blue blazes. At 1.3 miles, the Grassy Pond Trail turns away from the shore of the pond to follow an old tote road. Almost 2 miles after leaving the campground, a side trail leads 0.1 mile to the south end of Grassy Pond Pass the outlet of Grasy Pond and continue through a swamp on bog bridges.  At mile 2.2 reach the park's perimeter road, which is about 0.1 mile from Katahdin Stream Campground.  Turn left and follow the A.T. for another 0.5 mile, heading away from the perimeter road.  Here, the Trail skirts Tracy Pond with fine views of the Doubletop Mountains.  In another 0.1 mile you will skirt the shore of Elbow Pond and cross its outlet. From the outlet, hike another 0.5 mile to the junction with the Grassy Pond Trail. Follow the white blazes around the north shore of the pond and return to Daicey Pond Campground.
Directions You will cross the A.T. just before you reach the Daicey Pond Campground, located about 1 mile off the perimeter road in Baxter State Park and about 11 miles from the Togue Pond Gate.  The gate is located approximately 20 miles from Millinocket, via the Baxter Park Road.  You can download a map of Baxter State Park here:  http://www.baxterstateparkauthority.com/miscPages/maps.html 

 

Hike Name Little and Big Niagara Falls*
Closest Town Millinocket, ME (in Baxter State Park)
Difficulty Level** Easy to Moderate
Distance 2.6 miles round trip
Features Waterfalls, river
Description Walk from the campground back to the A.T. and turn left.  A side trail to the right at 0.9 mile leads to the Toll Dam across Nesowadnechunk Stream.  From the late 1800s to mid-1900s, the waterway played a major role in Maine's timber industry, because logs were floated downstream to the West Branch Penobscot River.  The dam, first built in 1879, helped control water flow for the log drives.  A few hundred feet south of the dam side trail is another pathway to the right, leading in less than 100 yards to Little Niagara Falls.  Stanchions, used as part of the 1800s apparatuses to get logs over the falls, are still visible.  Anglers claim the pools just below the falls provide some of the best brook trout fishing in the park. At 1.1 miles into the hike is a short side trail to a spring; less than 0.2 mile later is the Trail, right, to Big Niagara Falls.  Certainly larger than its counterpart upstream, the falls drops noisily into its basin, with large granite outcrops providing grandstand seats from which to watch the spectacle.  Retrace your steps.
Directions You will cross the A.T. just before reaching Daicey Pond Campground, which is located about one mile off the perimeter road in Baxter State Park and about 11 miles from the Togue Pond Gate. The gate is about 20 miles from Milllinocket, via the Baxter Park Road.  You can download a map of Baxter State Park here:   http://www.baxterstateparkauthority.com/miscPages/maps.html  

 

Hike Name Pleasant Pond Mountain*
Closest Town Caratunk, ME
Difficulty Level** Strenuous (gain 1,100 feet in 1.3 miles)
Distance 3.2 miles round trip
Features Views, pond
Description Follow the A.T. northward, coming to Pleasant Pond Lean-to in 0.3 mile.  If you want to take a swim, you can follow the side trail at 0.5 mile, which goes to the right about 300 yards to a sandy beach along the shore of Pleasant Pond.  Beyond this point, the hike becomes a steep ascent, first passing through a mixed forest, then one of evergreens, before climbing above-tree line to obtain the open summit at 1.6 miles.  You might find remnants of an old fire tower as you walk, but also be looking for the geological history of the mountain etched into the rock.  The slate beneath your feet gained its smooth surface as the glacier from the last Ice Age slid across it 25,000 to 14,000 years ago.  The small grooves an notches are where rocks and other debris were ground across the slate as the glacier advanced and then receded. Return the way you came to complete the hike.
Directions From the town of Caratunk, follow Pleasant Pond Road for 3.2 miles and bear left onto a roadway that soon becomes gravel.  Come to another intersection about 1.5 miles later, continue straight, and leave your car in the parking area near the north end of Pleasant Pond.

 

Hike Name Dunn Notch and Falls*
Closest Town Andover, ME
Difficulty Level** Easy to Moderate
Distance 2 miles round trip
Features Waterfalls
Description Walk south on the A.T. from East B Hill Road.  The Trail will cross a brook and enter Dunn Notch.  At mile 0.8, reach the West Branch of the Ellis River. An old tote road leads down to the bottom of the lower falls. By following the river upstream for 0.2 mile, you can reach the upper falls.  Retrace your steps.
Directions The trailhead is 8 miles north of Andover, on East B Hill Road.

 

Hike Name The Eyebrow*
Closest Town Upton, ME
Difficulty Level** Moderate to Strenuous (short but steep hike)
Distance 2.2 miles round trip
Features Views
Description From the trailhead at Grafton Notch on Maine 26, follow the A.T. south.  In 0.1 mile, reach the lower end of the Eyebrow Trail.  Continue following the A.T. for 1.1 miles to the junction with the upper end of the Eyebrow Trail. Follow the Eyebrow Trail and reach the Eyebrow in 0.1 mile. After taking in the fine view, return via the Lower Eyebrow Trail. This section of the trail will lead you back to the A.T. in 0.75 mile. The Lower Eyebrow Trail joins the A.T. 0.1 mile from the parking area.
Directions The parking lot in Grafton Notch is on Maine 26, 13 miles north of US 2 and 7 miles south of the small town of Upton.