Exploring Maine: Grafton Notch State Park

Most of the hiking I do is in the White Mountains due to it's convenient location and proximity to where I live. I don't often venture far from the usual stomping grounds, but this weekend I decided to explore a lesser known, but equally gorgeous and rugged wilderness. Leaving from my family's cabin in southern Maine, it was a 2 hour drive over winding back roads full of frost heaves to Newry, Maine.

Grafton Notch State Park is located in western Maine between the town of Bethel (think: Sunday River) and the White Mountains; it contains some of the most rugged terrain on the AT and is home to Old Speck, the 4th highest mountain in Maine and the tallest peak in the Mahoosuc Range.

Table Rock: The boy and I decided to do a short, but fairly challenging hike up to Table Rock, which offers fantastic views of the notch. The trail starts out gradually before rocketing up the mountainside. A large majority of the trail was an endless series of carefully placed rock steps; the rest of the trail was made of a jumble of boulders and roots, and even some iron rungs on the larger slabs of rock.

Despite it being the beginning of July, we encountered cloudy skies and temperatures in the low 60s, which paired with the steady wind (20+ mph) felt unseasonably cool. When we came out on to Table Rock, my fear of heights paired with the gusty wind, kept me a good distance from the edge. Even on a grey day, the views were impressive. Directly across the notch stood Old Speck, a solid imposing mountain, and farther below to the left is the rock formation known as The Eyebrow. After a few minutes atop, it got pretty chilly, so we headed down the trail 'til it joined the AT and returned back to the floor of the notch.

Moose Cave: We pulled over into a small parking lot with a sign the read Moose Cave. I'm not sure what I was expecting, but the name was enticing enough to peak my interest. Turns out it was a deep gorge that had be carved out by glacial meltwater; the name comes from an unlucky moose who had fallen into one of the many granite caves.

Screw Auger Falls: Our last stop of the day was to a large set of falls that had also been a product of the glacial meltwater. Glacial potholes had been carved out of the granite riverbed through which the Bear River now flows.

And to top off a great day of exploring, we found a roadside pie and baked goods stand!