An Appalachian Trail Day Hike to Piazza Rock

The highlight of our weekend in the Sugarloaf and Rangeley Lakes region was our afternoon day hike on the Appalachian Trail. There are a number of day hikes available as the AT passes through the area; we chose Piazza Rock.  Piazza Rock is an unusual overhanging horizontal boulder that's part of a glacial deposit of granite deposited on the slope of Saddleback Mountain.  The hike in is approximately 1.8 miles of fairly easy terrain, although it naturally gets quite a bit more vertical - and challenging - for the last quarter mile.

Trailhead

You'll want to park your car at the Maine Appalachian Trail Club's parking lot on Route 4, which 4-5 miles south of Rangeley on the right hand side.  Cross Route 4 and head east on the trail.  For the most part, you'll be following the main AT trail - a white blaze with a dark colored box around it, only branching off in the last quarter mile on the side trail for Piazza Rock, marked with a blue blaze.

You're greeted almost immediately with the first (and biggest) of several water crossings on the trail.  The water here rushes through a channel that appears to have been the site of an old mill wheel.

Appalachian Trail river crossing near Route 4.

Following the Trail

After crossing the river there is quite a steep incline with log stairs which were washed out when we were there.   This made for a fairly difficult start, but after this initial rough spot the trail ascends more gradually through the forest.  It's shady, and quite a comfortable hike which was welcome on the unusually warm Columbus Weekend that we were there.  For the most part, it's an easy walk.  There are, however, a number of minor brooks crossing the trail and some rather long muddy, swampy areas which the trail crosses with log bridges.

Log bridges keep your feet dry on the AT.

For the most part, we found that these were in good repair, and we were thankful for this work by the Maine Appalacian Trail Club.  These areas do seem to go on forever at times, though, and they stop and re-start a couple of times.  The brooks, in most cases, had to be crossed by picking your way across on stones - in some cases this made for some amusing family moments.

The trail crosses a dirt road at a point between two of these log - bridged areas, so it's possible to shorten your hike in if you're more interested in the geological formation itself than the hike.  We didn't research this so I don't know the name of the road.

Appalachian Trail Stop-Over

The trail to Piazza Rock splits off from AT about a mile and a half in.  You can go in several directions at this point, including Piazza Rock, the peak of Saddleback Mountain and more.  One feature of this trail junction that is worthy of a pause to mention is the Piazza Rock campsite - another project maintained by the M.A.T.C.  The site features a number of tent platforms that groups can use when hiking along the AT, as well as a lean-to for use by through hikers and most importantly for the day hiker, a clean toilet facility.  The site is a few hundred feet past where the Piazza Rock trail splits off, but it's worth pausing to check out, even if you're not in need of its facilities.  I'd especially recommend visiting the lean-to and browsing through the site log, where day hikers and through hikers alike have written about their visits to the site.  Please be sure to leave the log where you found it, and the site as you found it!

The Piazza Rock campsite lean-to.

Piazza Rock

The final hike in to Piazza Rock gets steeper almost immediately after the side trail breaks off from the AT, but it's a short climb.  Yet another brook babbles along the side of the trail here.  I indulged in a brief movie of it on my phone:

Piazza Rock itself is something to see.  It's a giant slab of granite cantilevered horizontally out from the mountainside.   There are even a number of small trees growing on top of it.  It's possible to get on top of the stone, but we didn't try for safety reasons with our kids.

Piazza Rock

Like many similar deposits of granite boulders, the area around Piazza Rock features a number of crevices that kids can climb through and explore.  My boys had quite a bit of fun in them.  Remember though that there are a lot of steep places where you can fall, and keep a close eye on children as they explore.

We had to climb through this crevice to access the top of Piazza Rock.

The boys didn't want to leave, but we hiked back out in the same direction from which we had come.  I definitely recommend this hike for families visiting the Rangeley area.

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A Fall Weekend in the Rangely Lakes Area

Over Columbus Day weekend, our family made a visit to the Sugarloaf/Rangely Lakes region of Maine.  We stayed for the weekend at my father-in-law's hunting camp, a short distance from Sugarloaf mountain and made a couple of day excursions to enjoy the foliage season and hike the Appalacian Trail. 

Dad's camp was a true old fashioned Maine hunting camp: a one-room cabin with gas lights, range and fridge plus a woodstove for heat. More spacious and comfortable than a tent, but still roughing it without the benefits of electicity or running water.  It served as an excellent home base for our weekend travels, which extended from Sugarloaf Mountain on Route 27 to Saddleback Mountain on Route 4, about 44 miles away.  Much of the weekend was about sightseeing and enjoying the foliage, but we did get in a really nice day hike on the Appalachian Trail to Piazza Rock that will be the subject of my next post.  For now, I'd just like to share a few photos we took over the weekend.  The area is really beautiful, and offers some great opportunities for skiing, hiking, fishing and camping.

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Sugarloaf

We arrived late in the day on Saturday, but set out to explore Sugarloaf Mountain anyway. As it turned out, Columbus Day Weekend is the ski resort's "Homecoming Weekend" when Sugarloafers come back to buy their season passes for the upcoming ski season.  This meant that the mountain was very busy, and it took some time to find parking, but it also gave us the opportunity to enjoy a free ride on the Quad.  It was a great way to enjoy the mountian views in the late afternoon, when we didn't have time for a hike.

Looking east from the Quad lift at Sugarloaf.

Flagstaff Lake

The next morning we started out on a drive to the Appalachian Trail parking lot on Route 4, where we had a day hike planned to Piazza Rock.  We made a few stops along the way to enjoy the scenery and take a few pictures including this one from the western end of Flagstaff Lake.

Rangely Lake

Our next stop was in the town of Rangely, where we stopped for a few minutes in the public park by the boat launch.  The park features some great views of Rangely and the lake and has a well maintained boat launch which we're planning to come back to next summer.  Signs on the bulletin board near the launch indicate that the lake is overstocked with Landlocked Salmon, and I'm looking forward to landing a few next year.

Our next stop was a scenic overlook on Route 4 with a great view of the lake.  I spliced together a couple of shots below to try and capture the panoramic view from this spot:

Panorama of Rangeley Lake from the Scenic Overlook on Route 4

We pressed on about 4 miles from here to the Appalacian Trail parking lot on Route 4 where we stopped briefly for lunch before making the 3.6 mile round trip day hike to Piazza Rock.

Buck's Ledge and Lapham Ledge: Two Family Friendly Hikes in the Western Maine Mountains

We camp frequently at Littlefield Beaches Campground in Greenwood, Maine.  In fact, we camped seasonally there for seven summers before selling our trailer last year and going back to tenting.  We fell in love with a pair of short hikes near Littlefield Beaches a couple of years ago, and I wanted to share them with you today:  Lapham Ledge and Buck's Ledge.  Each has beautiful scenic views of the surrounding lakes and countryside and at 1.1 and 1.2 miles one way respectively they are very manageable for a family with children in a morning or afternoon.

The trailhead can be found on Route 26 across the street from its intersection with Mills Road. 

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For the first half of either hike, you'll be traveling on a logging road reaching an intersection with a snowmobile trail after  about 0.6 miles.  This tends to be the sunniest, hottest part of the hike in the summer, but in other respects it's an easy walk.

Lapham Ledge

A right turn onto the snowmobile trail brings you up a gradual incline at first through a shady and well groomed trail.  The trail naturally gets steeper near the top.  When you reach the three overlapping ledges at the top of the trail you'll be treated to some georgeous views of Lake Christopher, Bryant Pond village, and the surrounding countryside.

View of Lake Christopher from Lapham Ledge

Buck's Ledge

The trail to Buck's ledge is another couple of hundred feet along the logging road on the left.  The trail here is narrower, more winding, and steeper.  I prefer this hike in spite of its larger challenge due to the exceptional views it offers of North, South, and Round Ponds, the Mt. Abram Ski Area, and the surrounding countryside.
 

View of South Pond (Left) and North Pond (Right) from atop Buck's Ledge
Mt. Abram and Round Pond can be seen in the background.

North Pond from Buck's Ledge

You can pretty easily do both of these hikes in one day if you like.  As beautiful as they are, we almost never run into anyone else on the trails or at the summit.  It makes for a nice quiet outdoor experience, right off a main road.  Enjoy your hike!

If you're planning to go, download a printable Lapham Ledge and Bucks Ledge Trail Map.