At Borestone Mountain, you’ll have a hiking adventure a touch different — and perhaps a little fancier — than most other hikes in Maine. About 0.8 miles from the trailhead, you’ll arrive at a little nature center, with displays and a small store stocked with guides and gifts, run on the day we visited by
Barren Mountain is the first big peak (2,648 feet) along the fabled 100-mile wilderness section of the Appalachian Trail, the last stretch of the long trail. So be prepared to meet many interesting through-hikers along the way. They can be a chatty bunch. Day hikers can pick up the trail on either side of Barren
This is a great hike to do on a hot day, because the swimming pools you pass along your hike are irresistible. The 1.3-mile trail takes you to a splendid waterfall (which, alas, doesn’t have a pool that lends itself to swimming). For the first 0.8-miles, you follow a blue-blazed side trail that connects to