Saturday June 30th is the long awaited official opening of the entire the Grafton Loop Trail. The eastern half has been open since 2003, but now the western half is open as well! There are eight designated campsites along this 38-mile loop through some spectacular terrain of the Mahoosuc Range. Eight of the trail miles are on the Appalachian Trail and include traversing the Baldpates, which are two of Maine’s great peaks that afford astounding views, and over Old Speck, a 4,000-footer.

The 30 miles of new trail on this loop allow access to some lesser visited but very worthy peaks including Sunday River Whitecap, Puzzle Mountain, and Lightening Ledge. AMC was integral in the planning and establishment of this project, as were many Maine volunteers and organizations including the Maine Appalachian Trail Club (MATC) who all combined contributed thousands of hours to make the trail a reality. The loop makes a great 3-5 day backpack, or explore some of the peaks individually from the trail heads. Check out the AMC web page for more information, as well as maps of the trail system.