Explore the best rated trails in Jay, ME. Whether you're looking for an easy walking trail or a bike trail like the Whistle Stop Rail-Trail and Papermill Trail. With more than 16 trails covering 92 miles you're bound to find a perfect trail for you. Click on any trail below to find trail descriptions, trail maps, photos, and reviews.
Started at Capitol park entrance enjoying the walkers passing by. All were saying good morning! Great walk paved with asphalt. Follows the Kennebec River. A little disappointed it was by the waste treatment facility.
If you’re going North on 93, don’t go all the way to Exit 40, Route 115. Instead get off at Route 3 East and follow it to Henzel Road as directed. (Note: There is no sign for Henzel Road.) You’ll save about 30 minutes of drive time but miss the quaint village of Bethlehem.
The trail itself is lovely but a little rocky for this 70 year.
Started at Jimtown Rd parking lot in Gorham and biked west on the trail for 4 miles until we reached the beaver pond and then turned around. This section of the trail was wide and in fairly good condition. There were a few areas with gravelly or sandy surface but the three of us did fine on a hybrid, a standard kids bike and a touring bike with wide tires. Grade was steady uphill of 1-2% from parking lot to beaver pond. We biked under tree canopy along a large stream without mountain views for most of this section. There were lovely views of the Presidential range at the pond clearing. Lots of gnats but bugs fine once biking. Overall this was not as easy a ride as the average rail to trail given grade and loose material on the surface.
This trail itself is well maintained and easy to ride on. The views are beautiful! If you start behind the Sugar Bowl .. you get a view at the end of Sugarloaf! We also dipped our feet in the Carrabassett River.. So Fun!!
This is a great trail, and best for those with fat tire bikes, if doing the entire length. Riding from Whitefield to Gorham , the terrain started with gravel, then became varied, which included some short sections of single track. Throughout the ride, we encountered gravel, cinder, and a couple of patches with sand. The views of the Presidential Range along the trail were great. Be sure to stop at the Cherry Pond Observation Deck!
This, so far, has been the roughest trail I have been biking on since arriving in Maine. As stated in other reviews, portions of the trail, especially on the southern end, are tremendously sandy. This makes it very difficult for biking, even with a good mountain bike. I actually was getting bogged down so bad today that I gave up about 4 miles from the end (I started on the north end at Farmington).
In addition, this trail seems to be a "highway" for ATVs. I probably would have dealt with less traffic riding along US Route 2. In some cases, I had convoys of 5 or 6 ATVs passing me at a time. Getting blasted with exhaust fumes, and being pelted with sand and grit as they sped away was not my idea of a good time. Granted, most everyone was friendly and slowed down while passing me (with just a few exceptions). During my ride, I only encountered one other bicyclist.
Finally, the scenery is so/so. For Maine, its nothing specially. There are a couple of nice bridges. And, I did encounter a beaver den and dam. But otherwise, I have enjoyed several of the other trails much more.
Initial trail has a lot of barberry blocking it, then the entire trail became deep mud, and finally it was reasonably clear for the rest of the path. The path had about 5 bridges, 2 were completely rotted through, but I just passed under them since the stream was only a trickle. One area was marked with a Poison Ivy sign, but I did not see any, I think it’s just starting to come out so I may have been lucky and gone early enough to miss it. Evidence that a beaver was munching on some rather large trees. Beautiful view of the river near the end.
Even with a mountain bike, the trail was simply unridable in parts due to the sand. I started about a mile or two north of the southern end and rode north. The first three or four miles were doable but after that, it wasn’t rideable and I had to turn around. Perhaps the trail is rideable based on the time of the year, and maybe the northern section is better. But the southern end wasn’t worth the trip.
There’s a lot to like about this trail: •easy ride and it has some hills and curves to make it interesting •scenic •easy parking •well marked •well maintained with a few bumps But there are a few negatives with the major one being the gap in Hallowell. For roughly 1/2 - 3/4 of a mile, the gap in the trail requires one to ride on busy Water St through the downtown area. It’s certainly not the worst road to ride on, but traffic can be heavy and you need to watch for car doors opening. The trail is also very narrow in spots making it difficult to pass through. But overall a nice trail that is worth a visit.
Beautiful trail! Met a fellow bicycle rider from New Jersey who helped encourage me through the rain!
We began the trail at Miller's Park also known as the Papermill Trail. Nice and easy, great asphalt path
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