Two Ways to Hike Rattlesnake Mountain in Raymond

Rattlesnake Mountain is the most common hike done by hundreds of Boy Scouts camping at Camp William Hinds in Raymond, ME each year.  A climb up the mountain can afford some good easy-intermediate hiking and nice views of the surrounding lakes including Panther Pond, Thomas Pond, Crescent Lake and Sebago Lake.  It's also a good family day hike that I highly recommend to anyone spending a few days in the Lakes Region.

This year, I climbed Rattlesnake twice with my youngest son and other boys from troop 817.  We used two different routes to summit the mountain and climbed at two very different times of year.  The two experiences each offered their own unique features, but I thought I'd present them together.  Both trails are depicted on the map below, and a detailed description of our excursions follow.

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Our April hike followed the route marked in blue, while the fall hike followed the Bri-Mar trail, marked in red.

 

The Nubble Pond Trail

We first climbed Rattlesnake Mountain in late April, on a cool, sunny spring weekend before any leaves were on the trees.  We are at Camp Hinds for a weekend camping trip at which we focus on advancement activities for the Tenderfoot and Second Class ranks.  As it happens, a five mile hike is one of the requirements for Second Class.

For our five miler, we started in the parking lot across the street from the Messer Rotary Scout Training Center on Plains Road, and hiked down Plains Road to the trailhead (below). Right away, you notice the snowmobile signs and the sign that indicates the trail is on the property of Kingsley Pines camp.

One of the first things I noticed as I headed down the trail was a small brook to our right, which turned out to be the outlet of Nubble Pond.

Nubble Pond

A little further on, we came to Nubble Pond, which is a beautiful small pond with some very interesting cliff faces along its eastern shore.  We got a good view of them as we hiked along the western shore of the pond. And took a short break to enjoy the view at the Northwest corner.

The real climb began.  The trail, which is used by snowmobiles in winter, is quite wide and begins gradually at first, getting steeper as you continue up the mountain.  At its steepest points, you find yourself grasping trees to help pull yourself up, but nevertheless the hike was manageable for our eleven year olds. 

Overlooks

We ended up stopping short of the summit, which is tree-covered anyway and paused to enjoy the view from a granite ledge close to the summit.  My photos from here are not the best, but you get a door view of Panther Pond and Thomas Pond from here, as well as a view of Sebago Lake in the distance.

 

We hiked back to the Training Center along our original route.  In all we covered about 4.85 miles - close enough for the boys to have completed their requirements. 

 



The Bri-Mar Trail

 

In September, we hiked a shorter trail called the Bri-Mar Trail.  Whereas the Nubble Pond trail is accessible from the Plains Road, this trail is accessed from further north along Rte. 85.  The trailhead is in a hay on your left as you head North, and a sign in the small parking area explains that the land is owned by the Huntress family and the trail is named for Brian and Marlene Huntress, who used to hike there.

 

Hitting the Trail

After the short walk across the field, you enter the woods, and enjoy a nice walk through the trees before. The trail forks a short distance in, affording you the option of a longer, more gradual slope or a shorted uphill climb.  Take your pick, the two trails converge not too far on.

 

After the trails come back together, you come quite quickly upon an extended steep incline.  You gain most of the altitude you're going to climb on this stretch, so take breaks when needed. 

 

As you near the top, things level off almost as suddenly as the incline increased at the bottom.  You do encounter a number of downed trees that need to be climbed over, but for this stretch the inclines are modest and down-hills come almost as frequently as up-hills.

 

Overlook

 

As you near the top there is a fantastic overlook with wide open views of Crystal Lake, Panther Pond and Thomas Pond.  I'm afraid this panorama taken on my iPhone just doesn't do it justice.  If what you're looking for in climbing Rattlesnake is a great view, this route definitely offers the best.

 

 

 

We hiked on a bit further until the our routes converged near the location of the overlook we'd visited in the spring.  It was actually remarkable to note the difference with the leaves on the trees.  We debated splitting up because a few of the boys wanted to hike out on the trail we had used in the spring.  Unfortunately, we lacked adequate adult supervision to split into two groups, so we went back the way we came. 

 

In all, this hike was much shorter than the first - a round trip of about 2.5 miles.  It made for a great afternoon hike however, and was perfect for the time we had available. 

 

Both trails are great.  If you can leave vehicles at each end of the trail and hike the whole thing, I'd definitely try that.  If not, the Bri-Mar trail is probably the one I would do first, since it offers the best overall view and is a shade better marked.

Hiking and Rock-Hounding in Western Maine

Harvard, Tamminen, and Waisanen Quarries

Western Maine is a mineral rich area with rich deposits of amethyst and tourmaline as well as a variety of useful minerals such as mica, feldspar, and quartz.  As a result, the area has a number of interesting sites you can visit if you are interested in geology, history, or just a good hike.

One such group or quarries, owned by the Perham family, are in the area in and around Greenwood and West Paris.  At one time, the family owned a jewelry store at the corner of routes 26 and 219 in West Paris where you could pick up quarry maps and learn about the area's geology in addition to making a few purchases, but sadly the store has since closed.  You can download a pdf copy of the Perhams of West Paris Quarry Map.

We've visited Harvard Quarry, Tamminen Quarry, and Waisanen Quarry several times while camping at Littlefield Beaches Campground.  They are relatively easy to find, if a bit off the beaten track.  We've tried a few times to locate the Nubble Quarry as well, but have had no success finding the trail head. The Whispering Pines Quarry, while closer to the main road than the others, was further from our base camp, and we've never tried to visit it.

Visiting these quarries is a load of fun for young boys.  We've done it as a family outing and later brought Cub Scouts on a day trip here.  Bring a bucket, hammer, and safety classes, and perhaps a small shovel, and let them pick through the waste piles.  The boys bang away at the rocks and find "treasures" of their own. 

Below is a brief description of the three quarries we've visited as well as a few photos.  For more information on the quarries and directions on how to find them, download the Perham family quarry map.

Harvard Quarry

This quarry is my favorite of the three that we've visited for the scenic views available at the site and the short hike to get there - a twenty minute climb.

The trail to Harvard Quarry

View from Harvard Quarry

First developed in 1870, and mined by Harvard University in 1917, Harvard Quarry is known for its deposits of purple apatite, green tourmaline and black tourmaline, garnet, beryl, quartz and cookeite.  After visiting the quarry a couple of times with our boys we visited the Harvard Museum of Natural History in Cambridge, Massachusetts and seen samples  collected at the site.  It was nice for the kids to see the connection.

Waisanen Quarry

This quarry is just off the road, just two or three minutes walk on a gradual downhill.  It's usually filled with water, but the dump pile is fun for the kids to explore. 

Exploring the mine dump at Waisanen Quarry

This quarry was mined for mica and feldspar  starting in 1931.  Smoky quartz, purple apatite, bertrandite, gem quality tourmaline, and more have been found at the site by Frank Perham beginning in 1961. It lacks the great views available at the Harvard Quarry, but is great for its accessibility and the boys still enjoyed banging away at the rocks with their hammers looking for samples.

Tamminen Quarry

Just a tenth of a mile beyond the Waisanen Quarry, the Tamminen Quarry, this quarry is also very accessible. 

Tamminen Quarry was mined commercially for Feldspar beginning in 1930, and is named for the late Nestor Tamminen.  It features some really interesting quartz crystals as well as several other minerals.

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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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.