A favorite Baxter hike is a sweet trip to Blueberry Ledges. This three and a half mile round-trip hike starts out of the park, near Abol Bridge, rather than from the Tote Road.
The walk starts on the Appalachian Trail, across a bridge over Abol Stream offering a great peek of Katahdin, and along the confluence of West Branch of the Penobscot to a kiosk (sign in). I spent this first quarter of a mile seriously reconsidering my position on DEET.
At the kiosk, the trail branches right, up the hill and away from the river. We found handfuls of strawberries along this section, so we were surprised when we turned the corner and found ripe blueberries. The trail meanders along through Birch and Aspen succession growth after a fire in the 70s.
There are some teaser ledges along the way, and the sound of the hidden stream cascading through the woods builds anticipation, but is no preparation for the awe of the open ledges and the tumbling stream over smooth rocks.
The day was blue and sunny and we had the place to ourselves; we spent a relaxing afternoon splashing our feet in the stream, picking billions of blueberries, and resting on the smooth, sun-warmed rocks.
Getting there is half the fun:
From Millinocket center, follow the signs to Baxter State Park, just about 8 miles North on Millinocket Lake Road, the Big Moose Inn and North Woods Trading Post will be on your right, turn left onto cut-through to The Golden Road. Take a right on to the Golden Road and follow just shy of ten miles. Keep your eyes open along the ride, we often see moose in the ponds along this stretch! Just before Abol Bridge (campground and store) on the right is a dirt road that goes up a small but steep hill (if you miss this, turn around at the store, and the road is much more obvious from that direction) and follow the power lines for a couple hundred feet and take the left into the sand pit (there are two brown sheds in the pit). Park here and follow the white-blazed Appalachian Trail away from the road. I would suggest a good map of the area, I don't see any good ones online; we have a deLorme that is very detailed.
