Mica Mine and Lady Slipper Trails

Mica Mine Trail and Lady Slipper Trail in green; Sprague Pond Trail in red; Denny Reed Trail in blue and New Meadows Trail in lilac.

The 1.8-mile round trip Mica Mine trail is part of The Nature Conservancy’s Basin Preserve, a vast tract of conserved land around a protected harbor, “The Basin,” off the New Meadows River. The roads are unpaved throughout the Basin Preserve, strengthening the feeling of being in a remote park.

The Mica Trail is a glittering trail covered with mica and quartz that winds up a hill, passing old pits of former mica mines to a pitch pine forest. The first half mile to the 0.5-mile loop climbs slightly. The trail is wide and easy to follow. The trailhead is off Meadowbrook Road, marked with a kiosk set into the woods. At the trailhead there is a small area to park, large enough for four or five cars.

Across the street, you can head down a moderately steep hill on the Lade Slipper Trail to a view of the Basin. The trail is very short — just 0.15 miles one way — but exertion is required to get back up the hill!

A little history note: Mica mining was common in the early 20th century, as the substance is heat resistant and was once used for electrical insulation and heat shields in furnaces. It was also common in the transportation industry around 150 years ago. A visitor to this site told me it was known as eisenglass (German for iron glass). Mica, or eisenglass, can be mined in broad sheets that flake apart into thin, translucent sheets. “In old carriages,“ this knowledgeable person told me, “mica was used as window material—glass was too breakable, but mica can bend somewhat. From the musical Oklahoma!, the surry with the fringe on top has eisenglass curtains you can roll down in case there’s a change in the weather.” They also told me that “old wood stoves had eisenglass windows in their doors—you could see the fire inside, and the mineral could take high heat, unlike the window glass in those days, which could shatter if exposed to sudden temperature changes (like when opening the stove door).”

There are lots of other trails in this Basin area, which I’ve marked in different colors on the map. They’re connected by dirt roads that people and four-wheelers tend to drive quite fast on!

Directions: The Mica Mine trailhead is on Meadowbrook Road, the rough gravel part. If you’re coming southbound on Route 209, turn right onto the Basin Road (about 0.7 miles south of the intersection of 209 and Parker Head Road). Go roughly 1.4 miles to the intersection with Meadowbrook Road on your right. About .3 miles, you’ll see a little pull-off on the right side of the road where you can park. The trail heads into the woods from here.