At long last, the Berry Pickers’ Trail will be opening just in time for the Great Maine Outdoor Weekend!  The Maine Appalachian Trail Land Trust will be having an inaugural hike on Saturday, September 17th at 10am.  Dave Field, longtime MATC volunteer and the man who relocated the Appalachian Trail in Maine to its current location, will be joining us.  There is nobody more knowledgeable about Maine’s Appalachian Trail than Dave and it’s always a fascinating experience to accompany him on a hike.

This trail will be completed in late summer and should be ready for hikers by then.  The trailhead is on a logging road on the Orbeton Stream conservation easement, and proceeds over an ATV/snowmobile trail for approximately 1.5 miles.  From there is climbs a ridge up the east side of Saddleback Mountain and reaching the top of the ridge (and the Appalachian Trail) at approximately 3.2 miles.  The total elevation gain is approximately 1,800 feet.  Their are spectacular views of the valley between Saddleback and Mount Abraham for most of the climb on the ridge (see photo above).  There might not be a trail in all of the mountains of Maine that provides such great views in alpine terrain with only moderate steepness.

The starting time for this hike will be 10am and we will arrange car pooling.  You must RSVP for this hike so we can account for weather changes and cancellation.  Please RSVP by emailing us at info@matlt.org or by calling 207-808-2073.

Directions: