QUICK TRAIL FACTS
- Preserve Size: 3,600 acres (in Alfred and Lyman)
- Trail Mileage: My map shows 6.5 miles of trails
- Pets: yes
- Difficulty: easy to moderate
- Sights: sand pits, three-wheeler trails
The Massabesic Experimental Forest in Lyman (it has a twin parcel in Alfred) has one small footpath that I found, blazed in blue. The rest of the trails are three-wheeler and snowmobile paths. There are two long gravel roads that pass through the forest. The main one is called the CC Road — you can pick it up off of Route 5, near the intersection with Route 202.
If you bike or walk down CC Road, you’ll pass the footpath on your left about .33 miles in. It makes a short loop. A little farther along, you’ll come to the intersection with the other main dirt road. If you continue going straight, up the hill, you’ll either eventually come to a dead end (there is a non-ATV path that continues, which I didn’t take), or you can take a left up a steep hill. This quickly gets quite rough. After about half a mile, you can take a right to get to Roberts Pond Road, or take a left and continue along this rocky trail.
About a mile later, you’ll come to an intersection, where you can take tracks to adjacent roads (Wadleigh Pond and Barkers Pond, I think). I didn’t take these, but rather took a left to get back to the CC Road. I’d say the loop is roughly 5.5 to 6 miles.
I saw other tracks headed off into the woods that I didn’t explore. I’ll check them out one day!
Directions: The best place to enter the Experimental Forest and to park is the entrance off Route 5, at the entrance to CC Road (which is gated). It’s about .25 miles from the intersection of Route 5 with Route 202 in Lyman.
