High Peaks Initiative

MATLT’s conservation focus is the 203,400 acres roughly bounded by the communities of Rangeley, Phillips, Kingfield and Stratton. In this region, there are about 21,000 acres above 2700 feet. It is one of only three areas in Maine where the mountains rise above 4000 feet. The other two are the Mahoosuc Range and Baxter Park. Eight (8) of the fourteen (14) highest mountains in Maine are in this region (Sugarloaf, Crocker, South Crocker, Saddleback, Abraham, The Horn, Spaulding and Redington Peak.) These are all above 4000 feet.

(If one adds the Bigelow Range, across Route 27/16 from Sugarloaf, the region hosts ten (10) of the highest mountains (Avery Peak and West Peak added)).  This area is comparable in size to Baxter Park but has 40% more area above 2700 feet.

As residential development creeps up into the mountain valleys and requests for zoning changes to allow industrial development of the high peaks themselves, it is clear that the Maine Appalachian Trail Land Trust needs a plan for identifying the most valuable and threatened lands and bring about successful conservation, in various forms, of the essential natural components that form the essence of the High Peaks region.

Following the success of our Mt. Abraham and

Saddleback ascquisitions, MATLT has embarked on a High Peaks Initiative to research and document the ecological qualities of the entire region and the role the region plays in a larger conservation vision.

The 32.2 miles of the Appalachian Trail which traverse the High Peaks Region, from Route 4 in Rangeley to Route 16/27 in Carrabassett Valley, is unsurpassed in Maine for high-mountain hiking.  It is the most difficult stretch of hiking in Maine, with an elevation gain that totals more than 10,000 feet.  The Appalachian Trail here passes over or comes close to seven 4000 foot peaks and crosses three other peaks over 3000 feet. 

From the treeless alpine tundra ridges of Saddleback Mountain, Mount Abraham and other mountains, hikers can enjoy some of the grandest vistas of mountain, forest, and lake landscape in the eastern United States.  For more than thirty miles, unbroken by a single public road, the trail passes through a region of spectacular geologic features – glacial cirques, avalanche slides, falls, gorges, and mountain ravines.  Here lie the headwaters of several important rivers – the Kennebec, the South Branches of the Dead and Carrabassett, and the Sandy.  Remote streams, such as Nash Stream and Orberton Stream, drain the area.

The view from numerous points along the Appalachian Trail - including extended above-tree-line walking over Saddleback and the Horn – are of tens of thousands of acres that are devoid of man-made structures and lighting.  From most points along the Trail, the ski areas of Saddleback and Sugarloaf are blocked from view. 

The area provides habitat to rare species of flora and fauna.  The Maine Natural Areas program lists eight rare plants on the summit of Mount Abraham.  The presence of Golden Eagle, Bald Eagle, Peregrine Falcon, Northern Bog Lemming and Yellow Nosed Vole has been noted here.  The Bicknell’s Thrush, a species of “special concern” frequents the area.  The Vermont Institute of Natural Science has mapped suitable habitat for this species and found that the area, including Redington Peak, contains a significant percentage of all the suitable habitat in Maine.

The Western Maine High Peaks Region is, by most anyone’s standards, a very special place.  Its beauty, recreational opportunities and natural resource values have attracted tourists and outdoor enthusiasts of all kinds – not just hikers -  for more than one hundred years.