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Bog Brook's a hidden gem

The 1,500-acre preserve gets relatively little foot traffic, but is ripe for exploring.The 1,500-acre preserve gets relatively little foot traffic, but is ripe for exploring.

By Deirdre Fleming dfleming@mainetoday.com
Staff Writer

TRESCOTT - The Maine Coast Heritage Trust made headlines recently when Lyme Timber Company saved 3,200 acres next to Acadia National Park from development and named the conservation group as the one to work on the easement.

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Bog Brook Cove preserve in Trescott, protected by the Maine Coast Heritage Trust in 2008, is a vast coastal oasis in a quiet part of Maine. Views of protected islands give it a wild and secluded feel.

Photos by Deirdre Fleming/Staff Writer

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The beaches at Bog Brook Cove are formed in round and beautiful shapes, like this boulder that is shaped like a bench – and it serves as a nice one.

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But the Trust has done a lot of work protecting land Down East. In fact, in the past 10 years it has created a tapestry of land preserves along Maine's wild eastern coastline.

Bog Brook Cove, the largest of the Trust's Down East preserves, is one of its proudest achievements. And the story of the 1,500-acre preserve tells of the Trust's passion for the region.

"MCHT has been around for 42 years, and there are a handful of areas that really had a big conservation impact. The Bold Coast is one of our more proud areas for that," said Trust spokesman Rich Knox.

And yet, two years after opening for business, Bog Brook still gets relatively little foot traffic in this quiet part of Maine.

"It gets just as much usage as our older preserves (in the region) but I never see the parking lot full. But it's just the second year," said trust land steward Melissa Lee.

The inspiration that led to Bog Brook began some 15 years ago, when the trust helped the state acquire its famous Bold Coast Trail preserve that includes a 10-mile loop trail that passes along miles of coastline.

The Trust facilitates the project behind the scenes, getting the Conservation Fund of Arlington, Va., involved to make the purchase and the state committed to taking ownership. It was purchased right before 1990 and deeded to the state.

So it's ironic, but no surprise, that the Bog Brook Cove preserve sits directly beside the Cutler Coast unit, creating a 13,500-acre corridor of wild land and hiking opportunity.

Bog Brook Cove also followed on the heels of the biggest campaigns in the Trust's 42-year history -- a five-year span that started in 2000 and raised $100 million to help conserve more than 14,000 acres and 125 miles of shoreline.

The idea, Knox said, was to "do what we can while the coast is there to protect it."

When the successful campaign ended, the trust decided to keep the momentum going -- and a little parcel near Lubec called Moose Cove came up for sale.

Bog Brook's first 75-acre parcel was acquired in 2005, and the last piece that brought it to a total of 1,500 acres was purchased in 2010.

Today Bog Brook has just under three miles of trails, but the quality of the experience is unparalleled.

Two parking lots that hold a total of 22 cars provide access to the two loop trails. The footpaths bring hikers through varied terrain, through woods, bogs, fields and along the rocky coast.

The trails lead to the ocean outlooks, and up to a rocky hill with a vast overlook of the Down East region, as well as down to the smooth stone beaches that look on Grand Manan Island in New Brunswick across Grand Manan Channel.

Whether you're a young family coming to search for sea stones, or a person with a disability who must use a wheelchair, the trails in Bog Brook are ripe for exploring for all levels of naturalists.

And it's part of a longtime and still growing conservation interest in this region.

"The Bold Coast unit is the biggest and best-known preserve (in the region), but all these preserves feed off each other in a way that I think makes this a special part of the state," said David MacDonald, the trust's director of land protection.

Staff Writer Deirdre Fleming can be contacted at 791-6452 or at:

dfleming@pressherald.com

Twitter: Flemingpph