Swapping ski boots for hiking boots in the spring is always a bittersweet feeling.

Bitter because it marks the beginning of the end of one very special season, and the camaraderie of buddies and family enjoying Maine’s magnificent mountains in the snow. Sweet because the change in gear matches the change in gears from ski muscles and the adrenaline rush of a swift run down White Nitro, to hiking and biking ones, and the meditative pace of a long hike in the woods.

I always make the segue from winter to summer with a relatively easy hike or two before I assault the more difficult ones, and I’ll often, as I did this year, opt to explore some new territory. Living as I do down on the coastal plain, such hikes and haunts aren’t hard to find. The amazing thing for me, after decades of tromping the trails of Maine, is that right in my own backyard are places I’ve not yet visited.

This past week, in the backyard (or front yard, if you will, as I face the Atlantic) I headed toward Boothbay to check out a portion of the 30 miles of coastal and woodland trails owned and maintained by the Boothbay Region Land Trust in its plethora of preserves spread across the region.

I’d spent countless hours over the past several years paddling the nooks and crannies of the Sheepscot and Damariscotta rivers, Linekin Bay and Boothbay Harbor itself, but I was so enchanted with playing around in the kayak in such an idyllic setting that I never took the time to explore the on-land opportunities in the area.

Well I’m happy to say that now I know first-hand why so many people wax eloquent about the meadows, forests, wetlands, scenic vistas and natural beauty that abound, and are available thanks to the work accomplished by the Land Trust since its creation over 35 years ago.

The biggest problem I faced was making a decision about which of the nearly 20 trail options I’d settle on for my inaugural hike. My decision was aided in part by the recommendations of hiking friends, and son Jake who has knocked off a lot of them. And the Land Trust’s website and printed materials helped further my familiarity from afar.

Eight of the trails are rated as easy by the Land Trust, six as intermediate and three as challenging. The Trust also maintains trails on Damariscove and Indiantown Islands.

My decision was made somewhat easier because one of the preserves, Ovens Mouth, appeared from my research to combine a variety of scenery and degrees of difficulty within its 146 acres bordered by tidal water, coves and salt marsh.

The name derives, we’re told, from the fact that early English explorers thought that this particular piece of coastal topography with its narrow passage from the Sheepscot and Back rivers to an extensive tidal basin resembled an oven, hence the name.

It’s a bifurcated destination with a reasonably flat eastern peninsula along the Cross River served by its own parking lot at the end of Dover Road and an informational kiosk. There’s a trail a little over 1.5 miles that proceeds north along the river, turns west to proceed around the end of the peninsula, and then south back to the parking area. A short distance down the southerly route, there’s a charming bridge that connects the eastern and western sectors of the preserve.

The western sector can also be reached from its own parking lot on the north side of the Dover Cross Road. This sector, bordered by a cove of the Back River to the west, is the larger of the two and features nearly four miles of hiking, which includes some scrambling on pitches leading to a prominent height of land.

Both sectors, with captivating views, pine stands and old stone walls, are home to a wide variety of wildlife, including eagles, osprey, otters and deer.

To get to the eastern sector, turn onto Adams Pond Road 1.6 miles north of Boothbay Center on Route 27, then proceed for just 0.1 mile and turn right on the Dover Road, following it to its end.

Ditto for the western sector, but go only 1.9 miles on Dover Road and bear left on Dover Cross Road for 0.2 mile.

John Christie is an author and year-round Maine explorer. He and his sons, Josh and Jake, write in Outdoors about places to enjoy the beauty that only Maine has to offer. He can be contacted at:

jchristie@fairpoint.net

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