Family backpacking trip in Maine.

Hello,
I am planning to take my four kids on a three day backpacking trip over the Memorial Day weekend this May. The children range in age from three to twelve.

All of the kids have been hiking before, and the twelve year old has been on several backpacking trips as well. However, I have not taken all of them on an overnight yet.

I am looking for favorable destinations where the terrain is still exciting but not overly challenging. Three to five miles per day would be acceptable, and moderately easy terrain shouldn't be a problem. (1,000 to 2,000 feet of elevation change per day).

Does anyone know of an area in the southern half of the state that might offer these conditions? Obviously, there needs to be camping locations for the overnights.

You dont have many options in southern maine as there are not a lot of trail systems in place that are long enough for overnights. I suspect that the wild river area in the Me side of the white mountain national forest might be a good option. Just dont plan to use the shelters. Be aware that memorial day weekend can be right in the peak of bug season. Plus a lot of other folks have the same idea as you so the popular areas will be crowded.

The other option would be to try a backpack from the York Pond fish hatchery in the Kilkenny region of the northern whites. There is a nice loop that runs up to Unknown pond on the unknown pond trail, then east on the Kilkenny ridge trail, then south on the Mill Brook trail. (you would have to walk down the road to get back to the car). This area has a lot less use, plus you can check out the fish hatchery while you are there.

Tumbledown Pond

I would recommend Tumbledown Pond. Hike is from Byron Notch Road on the Weld Map. You pass a waterfall en route and there are beautiful campsites along the lake. If it is warm enough you can take a dip. The climb itself is 1500 feet in two miles. This would make a beautiful base camp. Then there are a number of short hikes you could do from the tarn. (Little Jackson, Tumbledown Mtn.) Do not go up or down the Tumbledown trail as it would be extremely hard and even treacherous for the 3 year old. If your oldest is responsible, I suppose you could let him/her go a bit ahead to scout things out and not cramp their pace or curiosity. The trail is straight forward and easy to follow. The area is a great place to scout around.

How do you keep a 3 & 12 year old reasonably close on a hike. When my daughter was 3 she was able to hike her age. (3 miles) So she could do this hike to the pond in about 4 hours. By the way, how old are the middle children? If over 8 and you leave the 3 year old home, then i would recommend ascending the Tumbledown Mtn. Trail. It is alot of fun.

Reminder: Bug dope is a must!!!!

re hiking with family

Let us know when you are going. We are going up with a homeschooling group May24-27th for hiking but may be up to more after that...depending on if we get in shape or not...It's been a lazy cold winter.

But if not then, maybe another time. We are always looking for other kids to go hiking with. My kids are 9 and my son just turned 12. They have done alot of hiking. Last year we finished our NE 4000 Footers and our Hundred Highest. This year we want to get into more overnights. But we are up for anything. Just getting out there is fun.

Dianne

It is a bit too early for us to have nailed down exact dates or weekends, but here is a general list of the hikes we are considering. We will be doing more than half of these for sure, and the ones near the top of the list are more definite locations.

1. Dayhike Speckled and Bald Mts. late April or early May.

2. Overnight on Speckled: May 22-23?

3. Memorial Weekend: Bigelow

4. Saddleback 4 day AT section: July 7-10?

5. Katahdin: Roaring Brook reservations to be made for a weekend in mid August.

6. Mt. Washington: Late september?

7. May 8-9 Mt. Adams, NH: one night stay?

8. Single overnight on AT from Height of Land (rte 27?) to Saddleback (rte 4?).
14 miles, flat terrain. A late June trip would minimize blackflies and thru-hikers.

9. Dayhike or overnight Crocker Mtn (just south of Bigelow)

10. 3-day hike from Katahdin Iron Works to Crawford (?) Pond north of Boardman Mtn.

11. Day hike from GooseEye to the state line.

Skiddah said:

It is a bit too early for us to have nailed down exact dates or weekends, but here is a general list of the hikes we are considering. We will be doing more than half of these for sure, and the ones near the top of the list are more definite locations.

1. Dayhike Speckled and Bald Mts. late April or early May.

2. Overnight on Speckled: May 22-23?

Click to expand...

1. May 1, 2004 - Speckled and Bald Mts. We have done the dayhike on Speckled and Bald mountains several times before, and have found it most pleasant to drop a vehicle at the Bald end of the trail and drive around to the Pasture trail to ascend Speckled.

We usually do this hike as a warmup to the hiking season. We don't hike in winter with the children, so for us hiking starts when the mud starts to dry out. Also, this year we will be paying special attention to the campsite that is to the northeast of the Speckled summit as the camping spot for the overnight to come.

The warmup hike is also a great time to give any new gear a test-run. The terrain varies quite a bit over the short 5 miles. There are many great places to stop for breaks if needs be, and the views are wonderful.

2. May 22-23, 2004 - Speckled Mtn. overnight with young children.

The hike up from the trucks will be a short one at less than 1.5 miles. But since even the smallest child will be carrying an appropriate backpack, it will be enough. As time permits, we may leave our full packs at the campsite and hike to the summit to catch the VFTT.

The hike out on Sunday will be short and easy, leaving plenty of time for exploring and having fun before heading home.

My children are ages: 3, 6, 10, and 12 though I will probably not bring the three-year old since I really don't want to pack out all the messy diapers.

My good friend Bowstring will be joining us on this hike with at least one of his sons. If anyone else is interested in joining us, there should be plenty of space to camp, I could even take photos of the area on the preliminary hike. The hike is so short that you could even join us for the day and hike out in the afternoon!

The main thing to keep in mind when hiking this mountain is there is no water to be had on the mountain. Pack in all you will be needing.

Happy hiking.