A one and a half mile long hiking trail is located at the CLC YMCA, located on Bus. Rt. 1 in Damariscotta. The trail links to the GSB School trail, making a nice 30-40 minute walk.
The trail is fairly flat and goes through wetlands, so be prepared to get your feet a little wet. From the CLC Y parking area, the trail starts on the right hand side of the Y building and behind the playground. Enter the woods and turn left on a wide mowed path. A short distance down, the mowed path splits. Turn right and walk out to the power lines. At the power lines, turn left and walk downhill about 50 feet and a narrow trail enters the woods on the left by a moss covered stump. The path is marked by a blue blazed tree.
The narrow trail is a challenge to follow, as the blue blazes (some faded to white) are far apart, and there are numerous blow downs of branches and trees. With a good eye and patience the trail is navigable. The trail skirts around a boggy area on the right and comes to an old woods road. Hike straight across and pick up the blue marked trail.
The trail narrows and crosses a boggy area on a deer path through alders. Deer tracks are plentiful in this area. On the other side of the small wet area is a huge pine tree, over 40 inches in diameter.
The trail continues through the woods, then joins the other branch of the wide mowed path by a second large pine. Turn left and return to the YMCA, or turn right to join the GSB School trail.
Turn right and follow the wide path for a couple of hundred yards. The trail narrows by a boggy area with five foot high weeds. Push through and the trail widens again. When the trail closes in again with no path in sight, turn left into a narrow clearing, and the school trail can be picked up on a knoll. The school trail is not flagged, but is easy to navigate, as it gets plenty of use during the school year.
Turn left onto the school trail and head slightly uphill into a small clearing and follow the trail to the right in the clearing. The trail branches out with the left branch going to the school and the right branch going to a clearing with two large boulders and then out to the cemetery on Back Meadow Road. The trail to the left comes out at the GSB Schools’ Christmas tree farm. Turn left on the mowed grass to the baseball backstop and follow the tar along the side of the school. Turn right after the softball dugout and walk on the tarred path to the CLC YMCA ball field and back to the parking area.
Because this section of trail is on school grounds, it is not open to the public when school is in session. The trail on CLC YMCA property is open.
