DANFORTH, Maine — On a sleepy stretch of Route 1, only a mile from East Grand School is a small sign that marks the trailhead for the newly completed Harlow Trail.
It is easy to miss as the entrance is scarcely wide enough for a truck. Despite its inauspicious appearance, the Harlow Trail leads to the kind of experiences that snowshoers and cross country skiers treasure — a profound sense of peace that comes from being surrounded by natural beauty and the silence of a pine forest in winter.
The trail itself is the very definition of community and is the product of a long collaboration between the town of Danforth, the Baskahegan Company, East Grand School, and CORE (Citizen’s Organization for Rural Education).
Starting with the belief that learning through experience offers unique benefits to students, members of CORE worked with officials at the Baskahegan Company to plan a cross-country ski route through the Harlow Forest. The trail would accomplish two objectives.
Faith Lindsey poses beneath a trail sign. (Courtesy of Dave Conley)
The creation of the trail itself would be an opportunity for project and place-based learning, and the finished trail would provide a venue for winter sports that both the school and the surrounding community could enjoy.
The 3-mile trail leads skiers through stands of old growth trees before looping around the expanse of the Witcher Bog, ending once again at the trailhead. The impeccably groomed trail offers access to the heart of the Harlow Forest. The trail, which avoids land management roads and high-harvest areas, is designed to allow recreation and education to peacefully coexist with the Baskahegan Company’s timber harvesting operations.
This project was funded through individuals, donated equipment and a major grant by the Stetson Mountain Fund of the Forest Society of Maine. CORE will be seeking additional funding to make further improvements to the trail, and to purchase formal grooming equipment for use in future seasons. It is another great example, like the East Grand Highlands Hiking Trail, where an outpouring of community support pushed the project forward, and as a result, the Harlow Trail will open a full year ahead of schedule.
A collaboration between East Grand School’s Outdoor Education Program, the Outdoor Heritage Program, local volunteers and workers enabled construction of the trail to progress at a rapid pace.
Along with administrative and staff support, Tammi Matula, Dave Conley, and David Apgar headed up the East Grand School’s contribution to the project. Students worked alongside community members to clear the route, prepare the trail for grooming, and post signage.
Thanks to the generosity of the Danforth Snowmobile Club, the trail is groomed and ready for use. It officially opens on Feb. 1, with a short public ceremony scheduled for 12:30 pm at the trailhead.
