Little Spencer Mountain, near Moosehead Lake

Little Spencer Mountain (3,070 feet) is not for the faint of heart, not a hike to bring your cherished pup on, and not to be hiked, if possible, in wet conditions. But it balances its challenges with some of the best views in the Moosehead Lake Region and an exhilarating ascent.

Located off the Spencer Bay Road, in East Middlesex Canal Township on private land, Little Spencer is northeast of Kokadjo and due east of the North Bay of Moosehead Lake. Since only Little Spencer and its (slightly) bigger sister mountain Big Spencer are nearby, these peaks have unobstructed views over Moosehead all the way to Quebec from one direction and to Mount Katahdin in the other direction. 

The Little Spencer trailhead is marked by a couple pieces of long flagging tape at the road. There is no parking area, so you’ll have to park along the road. Make sure you pull far enough to the side to allow any other cars (or logging trucks) to safely get by. The RAM trail (named for its creator, Dr. Richard A. Manson, in the late 1960s) climbs over 1800 feet in just over 1.3 miles. The trail is not blazed but it is marked with a rainbow of flagging tape tied to trees over most of its length. If you don’t see one every 50 yards or so, look up and try to find a ribbon. If you don’t see it, you might be off trail a bit! While the path is relatively easy to follow, there are times we wandered off trail, especially at the rockfall areas.

So, a bit of helpful advice: the trail does NOT go up either rockslide. If you find yourself climbing one of them, backtrack and look for the markers again. A good rule of thumb on this trail is that it generally hugs the base of large cliff for most of the rise; if you follow that cliff, you’re likely to stay on trail. 

From the road, the RAM trail meanders through some lovely woods for the first quarter mile. Enjoy it while it lasts, because soon after the trail begins to rapidly rise. At first, the trail is mostly a dirt and small rock path. However, it quickly gets rockier. Over the course of its steep rise, it crosses (emphasis on crosses! Rather than goes up) two large rock falls, the latter of which is very exposed.

The most challenging part of the trail is a roughly 75-foot chimney, which is about two-thirds of the way up the mountain. The chute, in a narrow wedge between two cliffs, contains a series of three tall sections that need to be climbed. There are a couple of strategically placed ropes that can be used as guides or to assist in hoisting yourself up. (At one point, one hiker in our party felt as if she were leaning backwards as she pulled herself up, her feet braced on the rock. If the rope broke, she was a goner. Scary!) This is manageable for a good hiker, but if it were any more difficult, it would be more of a rock-climbing scenario. We found it easier to go down the chimney on the descent, so once you’ve reached the end of this challenging section on the way up, the hardest work is behind you. Coming out of the chute, the trail continues to rise sharply with many wide-open views toward Moosehead Lake to the southwest. The trail plateaus at just over 1 mile with another meander in the woods before a final, gentler climb to the summit. 

Just before the summit is a little offshoot to the right with spectacular views of Moosehead Lake, Big Moose Mountain, Mount Kineo, and many more distant peaks. The summit itself is marked by a small rock cairn. A short walk eastward from the summit takes you to a lovely eastern viewpoint, from a small ledge encircled by stunted trees, that overlooks Big Spencer Mountain close by and Mount Katahdin in the distance.

Post by Tom Ancona (with some editorialization by Rebecca Goldfine, especially regarding the chimney).

Directions: Expect to drive for a long time on logging roads (a bit more than 11 miles). They were in good shape in 2024, smooth enough for a low-clearance car. (Of course, you’ll be happier in a high-clearance one.) As mentioned above, there is no parking area, so you’ll have to park along the road. Make sure you pull far enough to the side to allow any other cars (or logging trucks) to safely get by. Look for a few pieces of colorful flagging tape at the trailhead. There is no other obvious sign at the trailhead, but a few feet in, there is a small plaque on the right dedicated to the trail’s creator.

It is helpful to download a Google map of Maine onto your phone while you still have wifi! Then you can navigate offline, when there is no cellular signal, and find this trailhead and other challenging ones tucked within labyrinthine, unmarked, and very remote logging roads. Here are my directions to Little Spencer, following Google maps: From Greenville, drive north about 18.8 miles on Lily Bay Road to Kokadjo. Shortly after leaving the tiny village, the pavement will end. Bear left at the fork. At 1.5 miles north of Kokadjo, bear left at the intersection to turn onto Spencer Bay Road. Continue straight at the next four-way intersection, in about 0.8 miles. Keep going straight, passing roads to your right and left. Go straight through the next four-way intersection. At the T-section, go left. You’ll then reach a four-way intersection at about 7.4 miles from the start of Spencer Bay Road. Turn right, toward Spencer Pond Camps. The trailhead will be on your right in about 2.2 miles. I added a screenshot of an area map below. Using a Delorme Gazetteer might also be helpful.

Also, two great guidebooks to invest in, with detailed driving directions and hike descriptions: The 12th edition of the AMC’s Maine Mountain Guide, and North Woods Walks, by Christopher Keene. (You can find the latter in Greenville bookshops and stores.)