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07/11/2008
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Staff photo by Joe Phelanfrom the Kennebec Journal
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BY TRAVIS BARRETT
Outdoors Writer
Sometimes, you just don't know where to go. All too often, the best adventures seem like they are hours away.
You have to pack for days, make sure each child has two sets of sneakers and an extra T-shirt or two.
Food and water are as heavy as the rest of the supplies combined.
Local conservation efforts are focused at providing an outdoors experience close to home. It's the very nature of grassroots work.
"It's amazing how deep and broad the connection to the history of the land is here," said conservationist Jym St. Pierre of Readfield, a founding member of the Kennebec Land Trust, which celebrates two decades of existence this year. "Twenty years doesn't seem that long when you're talking about centuries and milleniums, but (enjoying the outdoors) is in our DNA. People who live here or people who have moved here, it's because they want to live here. They want this experience."
As families feel the economic crunch of the 21st century, and as gas prices soar, people work harder at staying closer to home. Here are five of the best outings for families this summer, ones preserved by the Kennebec Land Trust, and all of them in Kennebec county.
DAVIDSON NATURE PRESERVE Vassalboro
* This 97-acre preserve is hard to beat in the summer for families, particularly families with small children. The trails are maintained and easy-to-follow, and they are exceptionally flat. The walking paths cover a variety of terrain, too -- from fields to woods to bog.
The blueberry picking is a draw, with three large blueberry fields that are alternately mowed and cross-pollinated by bees inhabiting an on-site beehive. The fields are open to the public, free of charge, during the picking season.
When done picking the berries, it's a short walk with your bowl or basket to the bog -- where an impressive heron rookery exists. In addition the majestic heron in their nests, Davidson also has a wide variety of songbirds for the avid birders, and moose and deer have been seen on the property.
* DIRECTIONS: Take U.S. Route 201 North from Augusta to Vassalboro. Turn right onto Bog Road and go 2.2 miles. Turn left onto Taber Hill Road, and go approximately one mile to the Kennebec Land Trust sign and parking area on the right.
GOTT PASTURE PRESERVE Wayne
* Pile the kids in the car, but pack the rubber boots. Kids may not think they care about vernal pool ecology but they love the things that call the pools home -- namely tadpoles, frogs and salamanders. The vernal pool at Gott is full of them, particularly early in the summer.
With large rocks to perch on, lots of mud to muck around in and the occasional grunt of a bullfrog, this is heaven for adventurous kids.
The hike from the pool, which is just off of Hardscrabble Road, may be a bit daunting for the smallest of children, but the payoff is worth it. Several hundred feet of shoreline greets them and there's an osprey nest not far from the hiking trail.
* DIRECTIONS: From Route 133 in Wayne, turn left onto Old Winthrop Road. Go 0.7 miles and turn right on Morrison Heights Road for 1.4 miles. Bear left on Hardscrabble Road for 1.3 miles and look for the KLT sign on left after passing George's Road.
JAMIE'S POND
Manchester
* The area is actually owned and managed by the Maine Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife, with assistance from the Kennebec Land Trust. It offers almost everything for the outdoors-inclined family, from hiking and birdwatching, to paddling and fishing.
There are several hiking trails at Jamie's Pond and an information kiosk stands near the pond's edge with a map of the trails. They are mostly easy in their terrain and easy to follow. It's a great hike for beginners -- with great views of both woods and water
The pond is extremely inviting, too. There's a carry-in boat launch canoeists and kayakers and the fish species range from stocked trout and splake to warmwater species like large and smallmouth bass and pickerel.
Best of all, Jamie's Pond is only minutes from Augusta, making these hundreds of protected acres easily accessible without a long car ride.
* DIRECTIONS: From Hallowell, take the Outlet Road to Jamies Pond Road, a dirt road forking off to the right, marked by a small street sign. Proceed 0.5 miles and look for a dirt turn-off on the left that takes you to the pond. There is also access from Collins Road in Manchester.
MT. PISGAH
CONSERVATION AREA
Winthrop
* It seems the first real mountain "climb" for children in Winthrop, Wayne, Monmouth or other surrounding towns is up Mt. Pisgah. It's quick and easy and the hike can be made in a loop.
The payoff, of course, comes at the end of the quick, one-mile hike up the Tower Trail. There, a 60-foot high fire tower greets hikers -- offering some fantastic views of the surrounding lakes and ponds, as well as Maine's western mountains. Heading back down an old fire road turns the hike into a loop. A conservation easement from the town of Winthrop protects the top of the mountain and the fire tower, too.
The summit is a fantastic picnic spot.
* DIRECTIONS: From Winthrop, take U.S. Route 202 toward Monmouth. Turn right onto Old Lewiston Road, and go roughly two miles. Turn right onto Wilson Pond Road, and at the first sign, turn right onto Pisgah Road. It's just over a mile and a half to the trailhead parking lot on the right.
PERKINS WOODS, Wayne
* This is a great opportunity for a family "adventure," complete with paddling, hiking and berry picking, all within the confines of a 14-acre parcel of land.
Starting out in a canoe or a couple of kayaks, families can paddle across Androscoggin Lake and land their boat at a sign marking the Kennebec Land Trust property. A blue-blazed loop trail -- an easy hike, marked by a stately, mature white pine and hemlock stand -- takes you through several good picnic spots.
Along the undeveloped shoreline along Androscoggin Lake, there are wild blueberry bushes galore. You can eat your fill and then head back to the water.
The ease of it all is particularly good for families, because it's not a remote carry-in to deep reaches of the northern woods with treacherous terrain. It's right in town, it's a straight paddle and easy hike -- and you can reward yourself when you get back to town with ice cream from the Tubby's stand in the village.
* DIRECTIONS: From the state boat launch on Route 133 in Wayne, paddle toward the undeveloped shoreline between the cottages at West Acres and the Androscoggin Boys Camp. There is a place to pull up a small boat near the KLT sign.
Travis Barrett -- 621-5648
tbarrett@centralmaine.com
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