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Work on 35-mile heritage trail begins this month

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Volunteers help clear a trail in western Maine.

MADRID – The first phase of construction for a 35-mile trail designed to link Strong and Oquossoc will begin this month, with a pair of volunteer work days scheduled for Aug. 21 and Aug. 28.

The Fly Rod Crosby Trail, named for the noted Maine Guide and Phillips resident, Cornelia “Fly Rod” Crosby, is a proposed, multi-use trail designed to link communities in the western Maine mountains and provide access to local historical societies, museums and other points of interest. The project is being developed on an entirely volunteer basis by High Peaks Alliance and the Sandy River Land Trust.


Devin Littlefield marks a tree near the proposed Fly Rod Crosby Trail.

“We’re all volunteers,” said Ben Godsoe, of the Maine Conservation Corps, speaking of the project. “We want to work together with stakeholders to create open access to the public, one step at a time.”

Step one will be Aug. 21, when volunteers will be asked to gather at the ATV/snowmobile kiosk near the Reed Mills Road bridge over Orbeton Stream in Madrid. The 2.5 segment of trail organizers want to target has been marked out by Devin Littlefield, an aspiring Maine Guide and Mt. Abram High School student of Freeman, who interned with the Maine Conservation Corps. The segment is on the opposite side of the Oberton from a motorized-use trail, and Godsoe and other organizers are hoping the new, foot path trail complements the existing access.

Work will begin at 10 a.m., continuing until roughly 3 p.m. The Aug. 28 meeting will feature more of the same, capped by a cookout at the end of the day.

“Trail users will be able to learn about local history and culture,” Godsoe said, in a prepared statement, “as well as access to the back country which greatly contributes quality of life we all enjoy in this part of western Maine.”

If you would like to help out on one of the volunteer days, please contact Ben Godsoe (Maine Conservation Corps) at bgodsoe.srlt@gmail.com or (207) 578-0306 for more information.

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