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Mount Zircon
Access to this trail is from a gated dirt road just off South Rumford road. The road proceeds through Poland Spring land also part of the Rumford Water District. There is active logging going on at this time, watch out for skidders! The road gently climbs south and eventually passes the old Mount Zircon Spring House, which is still standing and fenced in. From the Spring House, a water pipe goes under the road and brings spring water out to a brook. The water was ice cold! Just a bit further up, the trailhead leaves the road on the left and climbs moderately. It was in the 90s today and having the trail largely sheltered form the sun definitely helped. Toward the top, the trail gets a bit steeper on rock slab and finally reached the top. At the summit, the old 1922 fire tower steel is still preset, though the Maine Forest Service toppled it in the mid-70s and it has been here ever since. There is a large rock summit cairn here as well. Although there are not 360 degree views from this bare rock summit, there are enough rock outcrops to get views in most directions. With today’s heat and humidity, views were limited, but still pretty good for a short hike.
Streaked Mountain
A bit south of Zircon is Streaked, a pretty quick hike to another bare rock summit. This trail head leaves the Streaked Mountain road as an unmarked trail next to a small dirt parking area about .5 mi down. The trail starts and runs along the power lines which go up to the top of the mountain. Streaked is a major communication site with at least 7 radio towers. Shortly after it leaves the woods, the trail opens up and climbs steeply up wide slabs of rock. I wouldn't want to descend these if they were wet! Near the top, the trail enters a maze of radio towers, buildings, power and communication conduits screwed to the summit rock, and guy lines. The fire tower on this summit was moved here from Speckled mountain in the WMNF back in 1987. It still stands and serves as a radio tower as well. The summit is open rock but years of growth has blocked some of the views. The best views were to the west.
Photos -
Streaked - https://picasaweb.google.com/BillDC3/StreakedMountainME6222012?authuser=0&feat=directlink
Zircom - https://picasaweb.google.com/BillDC3/ZirconMountainME6222011?authuser=0&feat=directlink
Access to this trail is from a gated dirt road just off South Rumford road. The road proceeds through Poland Spring land also part of the Rumford Water District. There is active logging going on at this time, watch out for skidders! The road gently climbs south and eventually passes the old Mount Zircon Spring House, which is still standing and fenced in. From the Spring House, a water pipe goes under the road and brings spring water out to a brook. The water was ice cold! Just a bit further up, the trailhead leaves the road on the left and climbs moderately. It was in the 90s today and having the trail largely sheltered form the sun definitely helped. Toward the top, the trail gets a bit steeper on rock slab and finally reached the top. At the summit, the old 1922 fire tower steel is still preset, though the Maine Forest Service toppled it in the mid-70s and it has been here ever since. There is a large rock summit cairn here as well. Although there are not 360 degree views from this bare rock summit, there are enough rock outcrops to get views in most directions. With today’s heat and humidity, views were limited, but still pretty good for a short hike.
Streaked Mountain
A bit south of Zircon is Streaked, a pretty quick hike to another bare rock summit. This trail head leaves the Streaked Mountain road as an unmarked trail next to a small dirt parking area about .5 mi down. The trail starts and runs along the power lines which go up to the top of the mountain. Streaked is a major communication site with at least 7 radio towers. Shortly after it leaves the woods, the trail opens up and climbs steeply up wide slabs of rock. I wouldn't want to descend these if they were wet! Near the top, the trail enters a maze of radio towers, buildings, power and communication conduits screwed to the summit rock, and guy lines. The fire tower on this summit was moved here from Speckled mountain in the WMNF back in 1987. It still stands and serves as a radio tower as well. The summit is open rock but years of growth has blocked some of the views. The best views were to the west.
Photos -
Streaked - https://picasaweb.google.com/BillDC3/StreakedMountainME6222012?authuser=0&feat=directlink
Zircom - https://picasaweb.google.com/BillDC3/ZirconMountainME6222011?authuser=0&feat=directlink
