MATLT Staff Visit Grafton Forest Wilderness Preserve

Staff from the Maine Appalachian Trail Land Trust recently paid an annual monitoring visit to the Grafton Forest Wilderness Preserve, a 1,356-acre conservation easement that protects portions of the Appalachian Trail on Old Speck Mountain. Without this critical easement, the landowner could close this section of the A.T. and technically there would be no thru hiking if this happened! But that landowner is the Northeast Wilderness Trust, our frequent partner on A.T. conservation projects, and they would never do that (but we have easements just in case). Like all of MATLT's conservation properties, Grafton lies adjacent to the Appalachian Trail corridor and is critical to protection of the A.T. experience. Unlike several of MATLT's properties, Grafton is accessible by a well-used section of the A.T. from the Grafton Notch State Park parking lot. The hike up to Old Speck Mountain - the 5th highest peak in Maine and the highest in the Mahoosucs region - is about 7.6 miles up and back. It is steep but manageable, making for one of our most popular Community Hikes. The purpose of this trip was for annual conservation easement monitoring and MATLT staff proceeded up to the summit since it was such a nice day. Data gathering included drone photography to capture as much of the easement area as possible, to ensure the conservation values are maintained. MATLT's protected area runs for about three miles from north to south from the Eyebrow (a cliff and ridge), along the west side of the Mahoosuc Range, and ending just above Mahoosuc Notch. The Speck Pond Trail crosses the property in the southern portion and is another great way to reach the summit of Old Speck. Public access on both trails is guaranteed, so be sure to consider this hike in your fall plans!