Over the weekend, Marc and I visited the fire tower on Williams Mountain in Maine, which is about halfway between Jackman and Rockwood. Using Christopher Keane's Northern Woods Walks as a guide, I now have the following suggested revisions for reaching the trailhead:
First of all, the book starts the route description from Rockwood. For coming from Jackman, drive east fourteen miles on Route 6/15. A little east of the town line for Sandwich Academy Grant, you'll get to a four-way intersection, where Williams Mtn. Road comes in on the right (at this point there's also a large wooden sign with paper company information on it). Turn right here. Follow Williams Mountain Road 0.8 of a mile, and you'll come to an older overgrown road on the right. Turn right here. People with lower cars or not much experience driving dirt roads might not like this road very much, since it's narrow and overgrown, but having tried it out myself, I found that other than some potholes, and maybe a very obvious rock or two, this road isn't in bad shape. As long as you drive slow, you should be fine, and there's no pot hole or rock that can't be driven around. Anyway, follow this road for 2.3 miles, and you'll see a logging road come in on the left (if you overshoot this spot, you'll quickly come to a bridge, the second one you would encounter once departing Williams Mountain Road). Anyway, park on the shoulder at this intersection (you might first want to take a moment to scout where the flat ground is in the tall grass). Turning left on this logging road, you then pretty much follow it a mile and a half up to the fire tower. The trail description mentions how there's a point where the logging road ends in a clearing and the trail for the rest of the way picks up on the left, but what we found is that by staying on the main old logging road/trail, it led us straight to the tower. There is a spot or two where it can be a little tough to see where the trail is going, but this never lasts very long. Obviously, the tower is well worth the easy hike, since it has gorgeous views on a clear day.
First of all, the book starts the route description from Rockwood. For coming from Jackman, drive east fourteen miles on Route 6/15. A little east of the town line for Sandwich Academy Grant, you'll get to a four-way intersection, where Williams Mtn. Road comes in on the right (at this point there's also a large wooden sign with paper company information on it). Turn right here. Follow Williams Mountain Road 0.8 of a mile, and you'll come to an older overgrown road on the right. Turn right here. People with lower cars or not much experience driving dirt roads might not like this road very much, since it's narrow and overgrown, but having tried it out myself, I found that other than some potholes, and maybe a very obvious rock or two, this road isn't in bad shape. As long as you drive slow, you should be fine, and there's no pot hole or rock that can't be driven around. Anyway, follow this road for 2.3 miles, and you'll see a logging road come in on the left (if you overshoot this spot, you'll quickly come to a bridge, the second one you would encounter once departing Williams Mountain Road). Anyway, park on the shoulder at this intersection (you might first want to take a moment to scout where the flat ground is in the tall grass). Turning left on this logging road, you then pretty much follow it a mile and a half up to the fire tower. The trail description mentions how there's a point where the logging road ends in a clearing and the trail for the rest of the way picks up on the left, but what we found is that by staying on the main old logging road/trail, it led us straight to the tower. There is a spot or two where it can be a little tough to see where the trail is going, but this never lasts very long. Obviously, the tower is well worth the easy hike, since it has gorgeous views on a clear day.
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