Bald Mountain

Mount Chase trail in blue; Bald Mountain trail in orange.

By Sam Shirley

What a fun adventure! Of all the mountain paths described in the Maine Mountain Guide, Bald Mountain (1,686 feet) in Mount Chase has one of the more obscure ones. For those who are experienced trail finders, following the trail with help from the guidebook and scraps of old flagging tape is a fun puzzle, but most hikers will want to follow a GPS track. The description in the guidebook is relatively accurate, except that the second cairn mentioned doesn’t exist anymore (as of 2025), and the best views are from the first ledge (0.7 miles), not from the summit 0.1 mile farther along.

From the trailhead, the route up Bald Mountain starts on the Waterfall Trail. This trail climbs steeply beside a series of seasonal cascades which are usually dry in the summer. The Bald Mountain Trail starts at a junction with the Waterfall Trail between two of the falls, reached at 0.3 miles, and begins climbing northeast. The Waterfall Trail continues up Mount Chase.

Due to it being a relatively new trail, and seeing very little use, there is not a well-established foot bed, which makes the trail tricky to follow. There are also scraps of old flagging tape for assistance on the first part of the trail, but these are not present the entire way to the summit.

The trail climbs, alternating between flatter and steeper sections, before reaching a short ledge scramble. At the top of this ledge is the best view on the mountain. There are excellent views south and west, with Katahdin prominently featured front and center. Above this ledge, the trail passes along semi-open ledges before reaching a second viewpoint. Katahdin is also visible from this viewpoint, and there is an interesting close-up view of Mount Chase. The unmarked summit is just beyond this second view.

The guidebook states that, “an obscure trail continues east … but its condition and destination were unknown as of 2022.” I took that as a challenge, and of course I had to attempt to find the destination of this mysterious trail! The trail beyond the summit is even more obscure than the one ascending from the south. There is no flagging tape or markers of any kind for assistance, and only the most confident of route finders would want to consider following this trail without a GPS track. It was almost certainly the most obscure trail that I’ve ever followed successfully without assistance, and I spent a lot of time searching for the next hint of a trail. There was one spot in an open hardwood forest that I almost gave up, before finally finding the trail again.

The trail descends on the northeast side of the mountain at moderate grades without too many landmarks until it reaches a waterfall and beautiful reflecting pool on Houston Brook. I found this to be a great spot to sit for a while and take a break from route finding. Shortly after crossing the brook, the trail ascends to meet the McManus Tote Road, just under a mile from the summit. The only hint of a trailhead here is a strip of torn washcloth tied to a bush.

Instead of going back up and over the mountain, I made a loop by walking down the McManus Tote Road until it intersected with Mountain Road, which I followed back to the trailhead.

Except for the navigational challenges, Bald is a great little hike that could definitely use some more traffic. The trails are well set-up so that you could hike both Bald and Chase or a larger party could split up with some hiking Bald while the more ambitious hike Chase.

Directions: To reach the Bald Mountain/Mount Chase trailhead from Route 11 in Hersey, take Mountain Road, which heads west from the highway. Mountain Road usually has a road sign and is roughly 6.5 miles north of Patten and 31.5 miles south of Masardis. It is 2.1 miles on Mountain Road from Route 11 to the trailhead. Mountain Road is generally in good condition for most vehicles, but conditions do vary year to year, depending on logging and gravel pit operations. The trailhead can also be accessed from the west via logging roads connecting to Ackley Pond Road and Owlsboro Road, but good clearance is recommended for these approaches. The southern trailhead is the recommended starting point, but the northern trailhead can be accessed by following the McManus Tote Road 1.25 north from Mountain Road. Higher clearance is recommended on the McManus Tote Road, and the unmarked trailhead is very difficult to find.