Lake George Regional Park, Canaan

My GPS acted up a bit here, so my map is not too, too precise.

This public park attracts swimmers and beachgoers, who have to pay a fee to use the small lakeside beaches, and also hikers, who can explore the land for free!

There are two sections of the park with separate entrances on the east and west shores of the lake, separated by 600 hundred feet or so. The majority of hiking trails are on the east side. These are also groomed in the winter for skiing. Once you turn into the east side drive, you’ll see a large lot on the right with a sign for “Trail parking.” Three trails leave from this point — a biking trail and two hiking paths, Townsend Family Trail and the Pinnacle Trail.

The official map does not contain distances, and since my GPS was acting oddly, my distances are approximates. But it’s roughly 1.4 miles from the parking area to the pinnacle, and the Townsend Loop is about 4 miles.

While there are many (many!) little side paths (really an alphabet soup of them, since they’re all named after letters), I recommend most visitors stick to the two main trails, Townsend and Pinnacle. They are easy to follow and well-blazed, in purple and red, and bring you to where you want to go, the pinnacle and the lake. Albeit, when I visited, the pinnacle offered no views due to tree growth; Pinnacle Trail follows a moderate grade to a small ledge at the end. Townsend Trail, which makes a large loop, including a section along the lake, has some rocky sections, but is otherwise moderate. The park map has contour lines that help indicate the difficulty of the trail.

Additionally, a pleasant trail to explore is the green-blazed Canaan School Trail, which brings you through old, dark forest and is wide and mostly flat.

On the other side of the park, the west side, there is a well-blazed system of trails that seem less visited. If you do the perimeter loop, the orange Warren Trail, expect a stiff climb up Foster Hill, which, while it makes for a pretty view from the opposite side of the lake, is tiring to hike up! There are no views, just good cardio exercise through woods. Additionally, some of the trail portions along the lake are a bit rocky.

When the Warren Trail comes out on private land and a driveway, you can hike down to the park access road, or turn into the Hemlock Trail, though beautiful forest. It might be difficult to find the Hemlock Trail here, but if you walk by the entrance to the social hall, you’ll see the trail leading into the woods.

Directions: From downtown Skowhegan, follow Water Street/Route 2 east for 7 miles to the park. If you’re coming from Canaan, follow Route 2 about 1.5 miles to the park entrances.