Thursday, September 30, 2010

Outings

Maine Bureau of Parks and Lands/Maine Forest Service Fall Foliage Hikes
The beauty of Maine's fall foliage will be highlighted in the next few weeks with seven fall foliage events--including six hikes and a river paddle--presented by the Maine Bureau of Parks and Lands and the Maine Forest Service.

Events will be led by both a BPL park manager/ranger and a MFS district forester. This year's series of hikes will range from easy to moderate difficulty. New this year is the inclusion of hikes at two public reserve land units, which should give participants an experience of these multi-use, wilderness areas managed by BPL.

The paddle will take place at the BPL's newest park, the Androscoggin Riverlands State Park, north of the Lewiston-Auburn area and is sponsored by the Androscoggin Land Trust.

Hikers should wear sturdy, appropriate footwear, with enclosed toes, and comfortable clothing, preferably worn in layers. Paddlers will need to bring their own boats, life vests, and gear. Participants should bring cameras, binoculars, snacks and water. The BPL and MFS especially thank Poland Spring for donating bottled water for this program.

The events will take place:
10 a.m., Saturday, Oct. 2, Mt. Blue State Park, Weld;
10 a.m., Sunday, Oct. 3, Sebago Lake State Park, Casco;
10 a.m., Sunday, Oct. 3, Bald Mountain Public Reserve Land, Franklin County;
10 a.m., Sunday, Oct. 3, Bradbury Mountain State Park, Freeport;
10 a.m., Sunday, Oct. 3, Androscoggin Riverlands State Park, Turner;
10 a.m., Saturday, Oct. 9, Shackford Head State Park, Eastport;
1 p.m., Sunday, Oct. 10, Camden Hills State Park, Camden.
For more specific information about the hikes/paddle, including difficulty and meeting places, go to: parksandlands.com.  Or call, Melissa Macaluso, BPL, at (207) 287-4960.