Avery Peak via Safford Brook Trail, Bigelow Preserve

Map shows Bigelow Preserve trails. Avery Peak via Safford Brook Trail is in green.

This is a fabulous way to summit the 4,082-foot Avery Peak, one of six peaks along the Bigelow Mountain range. The hiking distance is about 4.5 miles one way. The only drawback is that the trailhead is quite remote. (On the other hand, the trail most likely will have fewer hikes than other trails in the Bigelow Reserve.)

The route begins on East Flagstaff Road, heading up the 2.3-mile Safford Brook Trail, which brings you through woods and alongside the brook (requiring one crossing). The first half is a gentle incline, and while the second half gets a bit steeper, overall, it is a moderate ascent. A side trail takes you to a viewpoint through trees (I managed to miss this one, unfortunately). Safford Brook Trail ends at the junction with the Appalachian Trail and an impressive array of absolutely enormous boulders. Standing next to some of them, and their underground chambers, is like turning on the air conditioning, the air in these pockets is so cold, even in July.

To reach Avery, take a right on the AT and begin an arduous ascent. There’s a nice viewpoint just off the trail in about 600 feet after the junction. Then the trail climbs steadily and steeply for one mile to Old Man’s Head, an open ledge and fantastic viewpoint 0.1-mile off the main path. Once you pass Old Man’s Head, the path gets just a hair easier. In about 1.1 miles, you’ll reach Avery and its magnificent views.

Swimming: At the trailhead on East Flagstaff Road, you can continue down a 0.3-mile path leaving from the parking lot to Round Barn campsite. Most of the eight or so sites have little beaches, but there is also a day use area with a sandy beach on the west side of the area. Additionally, for those who like history, you can walk along a narrow paved path, once a major road — Route 144, a camper told me — dating back to the 1940s. It is a reminder of what was here before the manmade Flagstaff Lake flooded the area in 1950. You can also see the stone foundation remains of the eponymous round barn (close to the day-use area).

Other mountain trails in Bigelow Preserve: Avery Peak-West Peak-The Horns Loop, Little Bigelow, and Cranberry Peak.

Directions: Take the paved Long Dams Road from North New Portland 17.2 miles to the turn-off with the gravel East Flagstaff Road. You’ll pass the trailhead for Little Bigelow on your right in under one mile; the parking area and trailhead kiosk for Safford Brook Trail is another four miles from this point. I had no problem driving this road in my low-clearance hybrid.