Located in Carrabassett Valley, where the Sugarloaf ski resort is, Maine Huts & Trails aims to design trips through the most remote and vast region of New England, and yet provide creature comforts at the level that will attract families with kids who might even coax along a grandparent and maybe even the family pooch.
The ultimate goal of this nonprofit outdoor destination is to build 12 huts in this pristine setting strung along about 180 miles of trail, from near the New Hampshire border to the Baxter State Park region, where Mt. Katahdin soars nearly to the summit height of Mt. Washington.
In about four years of operation, Maine Huts & Trails has built three “huts,’’ with a fourth to come within the next two summers. The trail is now about 45 miles, and open for cross-country skiing or snowshoeing in winter, hiking and biking in summer. But no portion of the trail is shared with snowmobiles in the winter or such things as motorcycles in the summer.
“There’s no timetable to complete the project,’’ said MH&T spokesman Conrad Klefos, citing the vicissitudes of fund-raising in a roller-coaster economy. “We started building the huts in ’08. We put up three in three years. We’ll get our fourth built either this summer or next.’’
The trails are far from meanderings through the fern.
“The trail we just opened is not insignificant,’’ said Klefos. “It’s 12.2 miles going from Grand Falls Hut to The Forks. We had to construct seven bridges because of the six major tributaries that go into the Dead River. So that’s quite a bit of engineering and a lot of hard work and [it’s] expensive.’’
A typical bridge over a stream is made of hemlock reinforced with steel I-beams. In winter the snow on the bridges is track-set along with the trails, and in summer they are used by hikers and mountain bikers. The snowmobile track-setter is the only motorized vehicle ever allowed on the trails.
