AT Day Hikes - Andover (ish) area

[teachergal]

Hi All!
Next week I'm embarking on a 2 week motorhome vacation in Maine! I'm so excited! :-) I'd hoped to get to Baxter State Park, but my parents visited there a few years ago and informed me that there was no way my 24ft MH would get in there and since I won't have another vehicle that's not going to happen! I just stumbled upon Grafton Notch State Park and it looks great! I'm thinking I'd go up that way for my 2nd week - I'm going to Acadia Sat the 11-17 and I have to return the MH in Rockport ME and Fri the 24 - so I have a little under a week. Anyway, I'm thinking of camping in Andover and finding some day hikes, AT or otherwise - do you all have any thoughts on good places to pick up the AT? Places where I can easily park my MH? Are there places other than the AT that have interesting day hikes? What about into NH? I have been looking at Google Maps and the Maine State Park page, but I wanted some BTDT type stuff....

[Doc]

Glad that you are coming to Maine. You are right about Baxter. There are length regulations and you are over. You could check with some folks in Millinocket such as the AT Lodge (207-723-4321) about possibilities including car rentals. Acadia has some great hikes and super bike trips on the carriage trails. You can stay at Blackwoods in the Park. I usually stay at the Bar Harbor Campground and drive in during the day. Be sure and go to Jordan Pond Tea House for lunch. Have Lobster stew and popovers and forget about the cost. My favorite part of Acadia is Schoodic Point. There is a campground very close in Birch Harbor which is right on the loop road. I'm sure others will chime in about possibilities, but have a great time.

[teachergal]

Thanks for the reply Doc! I'm all set for my Acadia portion of the trip - I have 7 nights reserved at Blackwoods!

What I was asking about is day hiking near Andover. I just made a reservation for 4 nights at South Arm campground near Andover - it's only a few mins from the AT! Am planning to go to Grafton Notch, even considering a day trip to Gorham NH and at least driving up Mt. Washington....do you know of any excellent day hikes in that area?

Thanks! :-)

[Slo-go'en]

From Grafton Notch, you can go to either Old Spec (a good huff) or Baldpate. Baldpate is a little shorter and easier and good views, though there is a fire tower on Old Spec.

No way you could drive your motor home up Mt Washington. Even if you could, you'd be crazy to. Take a shuttle.

There are a zillion miles of trail around here, so there are pleanty of places to hike! Get a White Mountain trail map when you get here and pick a place. A good overnight hike is to the RMC Crag Camp cabin, stating on RT 2 in Randolph. Park at Lowe's garage and take the Lowe's path trail up.

[kizzybean]

I concur with "Slo-go'en. Old Speck is a good hike with great views from the tower at the top. You'll have to go up and back the AT trail, or if you want you could take the "Eye-Lash" trail up for different loop for few miles then continue to summit on AT. Don't consider coming down "eye-lash trail loop" too steep and rocky. Bald Pate is nice with great views and open summit. If you have an option for shuttle you could do a day hike from Grafton Notch parking lot across Bald Pate to East B Hill Road on the AT. Its a 10 mile day hike. Grafton Notch has good parking areas, East B Hill road parking lot is small and would not fit a camper. Other areas to check out not far from there is the Rangeley area. Take Rt 17 to the "Height Of Land" where from the road you have a great views west, the AT trail crosses near the pull off there. Again you could hike from RT 17 to Rt 4 on the AT, parking lot on Rt 4 is good, smaller lot at the bottom of the hill on Rt 17 would be tight with camper. You'd need a shuttle around. That is real moose country and good chance of seeing a Moose in and around Rangeley on the roads. Also from Rt 4 AT parking lot in Rangeley you could hike up Saddleback, nice views from top. Rangely lake is very nice and there is a state park there that may have camper sites there to camp at.


I live in Rockport so if you're looking for non-AT hikes there are some great loop hikes in Camden Hills State park from 1 - 5 hours I'd be happy to share if you want any hiking ideas for that area.

That just gives you a few more options if you're over in that area. It's been extremely rainy so far this year and the trails are real wet. Hope the weather improves for your visit.

Kizzy
aka - Pokey Princess

[peakbagger]

The "Cataracts" off of East B Hill road are a nice hike on their own and if you keep going, the trail goes up and intersects the AT just north of the Baldpates. There is also Andover Whitecap which is south of Andover off of Rt 5. Its not a major climb up but, it is a very open summit with 360 degree views (loaded with blueberries later in the month, but you might get lucky). If you want easy views thats the one. Both of these trips are in the Maine Delorme road Atlas which is worth the money as it shows all the local roads and has a couple of sections in the front that show all sorts of interesting places to go. Do note, the trails in the area arent as well marked as some folks would expect so you do need to pay attention hiking.

Fartther south is Goose Eye via the Wright Trail (but the access may be sketchy with a Motor home). Or for a quick hike, The Mt Will trail a few miles north of Sunday River Brewing has nice views of the river valleys.

Not sure if you are into boating but there are a couple of nice stretches of easy paddling on the Androscoggin river south of Andover. There are a couple of rental spots that will rent you the boat and pick you up in the afternoon or shuttle your vehicle.

[Dogwood]

Check out the Grafton Notch Loop for some great dayhiking.