In anticipation of the acquisition of a conservation easement over the Redington Forest property, Maine A.T. Land Trust Vice President Pete McKinley, board member Claire Polfus and Executive Director Simon Rucker visited the property in order to collect GIS and scientific data for the baseline documentation of the property.  There have been several previous visits – mostly on foot or in a pickup truck – but this time the means of egress would be more innovative for a Maine woods project: mountain bikes.

As you can see from the video, the logging roads were somewhat bumpy but the crew was able to cover significant ground.  Many of the old roads are either closed off to vehicular access or have been out of use for so long that they are more trail than road these days.  By taking the bikes, we were able to get onto terrain that has not been visited since the roads were closed off by berms.  The views of the Nash Stream valley from the slopes of Black Nubble were spectacular – mostly unbroken forest from the Crockers over to Mount Redington and down to the stream valley.  This area is cooler and more densely forested than other areas of the Redington property.

The weather was nice if a bit hot, but any rain held off and we were able to visit three separate locations.  Everybody agreed that this is a special place and that conservation of it will be an enormous gain for the A.T. corridor.  And as you can see, there are plenty of recreation opportunities of all kinds in Redington Forest.