Bald Mountain Preserve

Bald Mountain trail in orange. Ragged Mountain trails are blue and purple-blue. Spruce Mountain and Mt. Pleasant trails are green.

A beautiful, popular and short hike to a 1,280-foot summit with gorgeous views from open mountain ledges with fragile subalpine ecology. The 583-acre preserve is protected by the Coastal Mountains Land Trust.

The hike is about 1.4 miles one way, with an elevation gain of 625 feet. For a longer hike, you can continue on to the summit of Ragged and Spruce mountains.

The trail to Bald Mountain’s summit leaves from the southern end of the parking lot and quickly crosses Barnestown Road. (Right before the road crossing, you can read an information panel that says on this exact spot once stood a farmhouse from the 1790s owned by the Barnes family.)

After crossing the road, the path circles a field, offering nice views of the little mountain, before entering the woods. In 0.3 miles, you’ll reach a trail on the right that connects to the Ragged Mountain trail system (Ragged Mountain will play a prominent role in the coming views!).

After this junction, the trail starts to climb more steadily; thankfully it doesn’t take long for the views to start opening up. You’ll have a short reprieve from climbing before hitting a steep stretch up a rocky section. When you get close to the summit, the trail swings around to the south before hitting the mountains’ famously expansive ledges, expansive views, and probably — if it is a nice day — a lot of people exclaiming over the beauty. Follow the blue blazes and cairns to a panel with information about the mountain’s subalpine community and a map identifying visible landmarks. From here, the path continues a bit farther to the actual peak. But the best views are below the peak.

Directions: From Route One in Camden: Take John Street (0.8 mi.) to Hosmer Pond Road (which becomes Barnestown Road after the Ragged Mountain Recreation Area). Follow 3.5 miles to the preserve parking lot on the left, just past the Gillette Road. The lot is large but it can fill up on nice weekend days! Note that the trail crosses Barnestown Road.

Posted on October 7, 2015 and last updated on October 25, 2026