About the Community Hikes Program
The Maine A.T. Land Trust’s Community Hikes program provides free guided hiking trips to the general public from May to October and then from January to March. There are typically two to three hikes per month (depending on weather) and trips are guided by trained trip leaders. The program has been enormously successful at bringing individuals to the A.T. landscape but they can fill up quickly! The limit for participants is usually 5-8 individuals. If a hike you would like to attend is currently filled up, please email us at info@matlt.org to get on the waiting list. Summer hikes will be listed in May, winter hikes will be listed in December, so check back if you don’t see any!
Fall 2024 Update
We typically have 3-4 hikes in the fall season but due to some trip leader travel and downtime, we will probably be offering fewer this fall. But please continue to check back and sign up for the MATLT newsletter to make sure you know when new hikes are posted!
Our next A.T. community hike will take place on January 12th – we will be tackling Little Bigelow, the long, lower peak at the east end of the Bigelow Range. We just hiked this mountain in October but it’s so awesome that we wanted to do it again in the snow! This hike is approximately 6.2 miles in length and should take at least 6 hours start to finish. It features spectacular views of the Bigelow Range, Flagstaff Lake and Maine’s High Peaks. Maine Trail Finder rates it as a Moderate to Advanced hike.
The trailhead can be reached by taking Maine 16 to North New Portland, where Long Falls Dam Road begins. Take Long Falls Dam Road for 17.4 miles, and then take a left onto East Flagstaff Road. After 0.7 miles take the left fork to continue onto East Flagstaff Road (the right fork, Bog Brook Road, dead ends at Flagstaff Lake). There is parking in the gravel pit on the right just before the A.T. crossing 0.1 miles after the fork. The road is usually plowed to the split or just beyond – we’ll park there if it’s not plowed to the A.T.
Please read up on Little Bigelow at Maine Trail Finder and at the Bigelow Public Reserve Land website (which has a printable map in the sidebar). And as always, please contact us with any questions.
We will be meeting in the parking area at 9:30am on Saturday, January 12th. You must RSVP for this hike below or by contacting us at info@matlt.org or by calling 207-808-2073!