Blue Hill, Maine in the Winter
Blue Hill is located in the town of Blue Hill, Maine – appropriately named! We selected this hike because we didn’t have a lot of time to hike and we wanted to get some while taking in the views. The weather was pretty cold on this particular day, so we bundled up and headed out! This hike is great for great views with not a ton of work. We completed this hike in just about two hours.
Getting There
Blue Hill, Maine is about 45 minutes from Bangor. It’s a coastal Maine town, and it’s pretty sleepy in the winter. There are two trailheads – we chose the second, which has an actual parking lot at the trailhead. I’ve parked at the first cut out parking area and hiked in from there, too – I’d say this trailhead from the parking lot is definitely better.
Trails
We walked from the second parking lot to the trailhead, where we took the Hayes Traill to the summit. We looped back down the Osgood until we hit the South Face trail, and we took the South Face trail back to the trailhead, then back to the parking lot.
According to the Blue Hill Heritage Trust website, the following are trail descriptions:
THE HAYES TRAIL is about 1 mile in length. It begins in an open field, climbs a stone stairway, and ascends through a stand of oaks into mature spruce and fir near the summit. This trail is moderate to challenging in difficulty. While offering open views to the south, the re-routed section of this trail crosses an exposed ledge and climbs a steep rock talus slope as it nears the communication tower. Use caution.n aTHE OSGOOD TRAIL is approximately 1 mile to the summit, taking about 35-45 minutes each way. This trail is easy to moderate and mostly wooded with loose rock, exposed roots and some ledges and several sets of stone stairs.
THE SOUTH FACE TRAIL links the Osgood Trail with the Hayes Trail, creating the opportunity for a loop hike without having to walk along the Mountain Road.
We didn’t record our hike, but a similar recording on All Trails marks this trail as the following:
Miles: 2.0
Elevation Gain: 688 feet
Summit Height: 934 feet
Type: Loop Trail
Time: About 2 hours, ive or take. We met some nice people on the trail we chatted with, and took lots of photos!
Dogs: Yes
Kids: Summertime, or big kids in the winter
The Hike
We hiked in and up – and we hit rewarding views of Acadia National Park and the Blue Hill Fair Grounds after about a half an hour. We did notice a nice trail that sort of went towards the cliffs, but it wasn’t broken out, so we didn’t check it out. After looking at the map, it appears that this is Larry’s Summit Loop.
LARRY’S LOOP is a 1,000 ft extension loop that was completed in April of 2016 and offers another wonderful view from the southern side of the summit.
The trail was pretty well broken out, so we didn’t have to work very hard. It was very wet – so make sure you have waterproof shoes! I just got these Wildcat boots from LLBean, and I’m obsessed- they are incredible. And definitely microspikes. We took in the views at the top of the hill, and then we headed up towards the summit. In the words of Ethan – “This trail has great views for not a lot of work!”. I can imagine that this trail is a great picnic hike during the summer!
We knew that the summit didn’t really offer many views, so we went up to check it out and complete the loop. There’s a letterbox at the top of the hill, part of the children’s Passport to the Trails program. I can imagine this trail is awesome for kids in the summer! A great beginner’s hike.
We kept going past the summit (there’s no summit sign) and picked up the Osgood Trail to make the loop down.
History of Blue Hill
You can read more history on Blue Hill over on the Blue Hill Heritage Trust website! It’s very interesting.
Apres Hike
We had worked up an appetite, so we were stoked for lunch. We checked out Marlintini’s, a place I had been to a few times. It did not disappoint! We had drinks and popcorn while deciding on our lunch. I had my GF salad, while Lindsay and Ethan went for the comfort food. Service was great, too. Definitely will be back!
