First Time at Mount Agamenticus

In September of last year, Jill and I took a day off from work to go on a hike, just the two of us. It was some much needed time away from work and spending it on the trail seemed like the most logically way to unwind and relax. We were looking for something close to home to avoid a long drive but also wanted to try something new that we hadn't hiked or explored previously. For that reason, we chose Mount Agamenticus (Mount A) in York, Maine. It's very accessible from the seacoast region of NH and everyone I know that has hiked the Mount A trails has great things to say about it.

When doing my pre-hike research, I found they had a great website! They also had a PDF pamphlet that could be downloaded which contained an extremely clear and detailed map.

Kiosk at trailhead

Ring Trail

 Signage

Detailed trail signage regarding wildlife

We decided to park at the first trailhead off from Mountain Road which Ring Trail (also part of "Turtle Loop") which loops around the base of the mountain. The trail was wide and had a lot of roots. We noticed right away that there were signs that displayed photos of the wildlife in the area with a detailed description. We came to a split in the trail pretty quickly and headed to the left.

Blueberry Bluff Trail

The trail then passed over the auto road, which ascends to the summit, and curved to the left. After passing the auto road, we soon came to a junction where the Blueberry Bluff Trail went up to the summit on the right. This trail was more like a hiking trails we are used to, ascending over ledge and slabs. It wasn't super steep, but we definitely gained some elevation pretty quickly. It wasn't long before the views opened up and we were on the top of the mountain.

Pawtuckaway Mountains to the west

Cell tower on summit

Welcome sign on summit

Learning Lodge on summit

Fire tower on summit

Mount A has large summit area. It has a Learning Lodge, barn, fire tower, multiple radio towers and observation deck and more. You could see 360 degrees off the mountain to the White Mountains and to the ocean. It was pretty impressive!

The observation deck was a very cool as it had you look toward the Whites. It had a really cool viewing chart of the skyline so that you could find notable mountains including Mount Chocorua and Mount Washington.

 Observation deck

 Skyline legend

 Mount Chocorua on the skyline

Mount Washington in the "hazy" distance!

Once Jill and I were done taking in the views and relaxing a bit, we headed down the northeast side of the mountain via the Witch Hazel Trail. One cool thing about this trail is that it was part of an old ski slope/return that was in service on Mount A in the 1960's and 1970's. We saw a lot of old equipment including a snow packer and many ski lift structures. Anyone who knows me knows how much I love seeing these historical structures preserved in the woods.

Old ski machinery and snow packer

Old ski lift equipment

 Ski machinery in a forest

 Ski machinery in a forest

Garter Snake on the trail

At the bottom of the Witch Hazel Trail, we took a right onto the Ring Trail. We continued on that and it brought us back to the original trailhead we started at. I believe in all, we only hiked 1.5 miles but it was a great time. From this point on, Mount A will be on the list of local mountains we'll visit often!

Us on Mount A!

First Time at Mount Agamenticus