By Paula Roberts
The Camden Hills can be seen from the top of the ledge on Marr’s Ridge Trail in North Whitefield. |
Directions: Marr’s Ridge Trail is located on Hunts Meadow Road in Whitefield. From Route 126 (west) in Whitefield turn on to Cooper Road near St. Denis Catholic Church. Drive 1.8 miles and turn left onto Hunt’s Meadow Road. The trail head is located .7 miles down on the right. Look for small wooden signs posted on a tree. From Route 27 in Pittston, drive six miles and turn left onto Hunts Meadow Road. The trail head is located 1.5 miles on the left.
The four mile Marr’s Ridge Trail is located on a 360 acre property owned by Sandy Benne. Benne donated a conservation easement on the property, called Paradise Green, to Sheepscot Valley Conservation Association in 2010.
The property consists of 158 acres of natural forest, 125 acres of managed forest, and a 67 acre homestead.
The Whitefield Trails committee opened Marr’s Ridge Trail in August 2014.
An active sugar bush is located on the property, and sap collecting gravity fed plastic tubing is visible along the trail.
The trail is open during daylight hours. Dogs are welcome, but must be kept under control of their owners at all times. No fires are allowed on the property.
The blue blazed Marr’s Ridge Trail is well marked, but care should be taken to make sure you follow the blazes. There are many woods roads that cross the property, so vigilant eyes are needed to stay on the trail. While hiking if you have not seen any blue blazes in 50 yards, retrace your steps to get back on track.
From the kiosk a wide, well-maintained trail goes off to the right on a slight incline. The trail opens up onto a woods road, before turning sharply left. Hikers will have to duck under a couple of sap collecting tubes as they head sharply uphill. The wide trail is nicely terraced with switch-backs making for a comfortable ascent.
Soon hikers will cross under a maze of crisscrossed tubing, and should look for a narrower trail off to the left.
Although there is a Whitefield Trail sign pointing the way, it is easy to miss this turn,
because the eyes are drawn to the massive amount of sap collecting tubing all around the trail.
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Most of the trail at Marr’s Ridge is wide and follows old woods roads. |
The trail comes to a woods road. Turn left and hikers will soon be at the overlook and granite sun dial. The overlook is of the Sheepscot Valley, with views of Camden Hills on a clear day. The unique sun dial is made of three perpendicular granite rectangular blocks, with a giant granite slab on top.
Perched atop the slab is a chair with a granite seat. There is a small wooded ladder to the top. A sign clearly states to climb at your own risk. Located under the granite slab is a metal sculpture of a knight in armor.
Look in a nearby dead pine tree and a lucky hiker may see an immature bald eagle surveying the land below for a tasty treat. The area is abundant with other species of wildlife.
Walking to the sundial lookout and back to the parking area is 1.6 miles round trip. For a longer hike (four miles total) take a .24 mile spur trail to a loop trail and return on the same path.
To hike the loop trail in a counter-clockwise direction, stay right when the trail branches off to the left. The blue blazed trail turns left just before a muddy spot in the trail and rejoins the old woods road on the far side of the mud. This is a good spot to look for animal tracks.
Do not be surprised to see horse tracks on this section of the trail.
The trail comes to a metal gate, and turns sharply to the left and follows an old stone wall. The trail then turns left onto the discontinued old Nelson Road. The trail follows the Nelson Road for .35 miles, then turns sharply left onto a narrow path. This intersection is very easy to miss, so keep a keen eye out for blue blazes.
The trail comes out to a pile of rocks blazed in blue and a wooden sign pointing the way left to the parking area. Hikers will soon walk past a vernal pool on the left, that looks like a moat surrounding a mound of green grass.
The trail turns right, then left up over a small hill and back to the lookout. Follow the blue blazed trail back under the sap collecting tubes and back to the parking area.
Plan on an hour and a half to two hours to walk the full four miles of trail.
