Cox Pinnacle, Brunswick

Blazed trails in blue; lesser, unmarked trails in yellow.

Cox Pinnacle is a forested trail system that summits Brunswick’s highest point, a ledge (with no views) 350 feet above sea level. The shortest way to the top from the main trailhead on Hacker Road is ~0.5 miles. The longer route is just about 0.7 miles.

The trails are almost uniformly wide and easy. The ones the town maintains are blazed in blue. If you’re starting from Hacker Road, you will first cross a long, well-made pedestrian bridge. In about 0.3 miles, you’ll reach an intersection and have a choice on how to summit. If you turn left at this junction, marked with a large cairn, you will start climbing, but it is a gentle incline!

For the easier way to the top, swing out wide on the loop around the hill. That means stay straight at the intersection. In approximately 0.4 miles from this point, you’ll see the spur trail to the pinnacle on your left. Walk 200 feet up to a large, picturesque cairn at the top. Here there is a teensy loop that brings you to the lip of a 20-foot ledge where you can look out over the forest.

Other trails intersect with the blazed trails; a few are labeled with handmade signs; e.g. one says the “wet loop,” another “Durham Road.” Some of the trails wander off the town land onto private land.

You’ll also see several long, crumbling stone walls, former enclosures for sheep and other grazing animals, probably from the 19th century (but maybe earlier!). Their munching of shoots and saplings once upon a time kept the view here wide open. You could supposedly see the White Mountains and Katahdin from the pinnacle!

Directions: The trailhead is located on Hacker Road, 0.3 miles east of Durham Road. You can also access the trail from Durham Road, but as there is no safe parking here, it’s best to park at the well-maintained parking area on Hacker Road.