Ragged Mountain Trails

Ragged Mountain trails in blue. Round the Mountain Trail in purple. Spruce Mountain and Mt. Pleasant are green. Bald Mountain is orange. Goose River bike trails in light blue.

The small mountains behind Camden and Rockport are ideal hiking spots. They are small, so not intimidating, and offer much exposed ledge, making for breathtaking views — often as far as the sea and, on the other side, to Mt. Washington and the White Mountains. The mountains in Camden Hills State Park are very popular, but Ragged, Spruce and Bald mountains are almost as gorgeous and less visited, I believe.

Ragged is a mountain of many hiking trails! (Some built by Coastal Mountains Land Trust, others by Georges River Land Trust.) So you have a choice on how to reach the 1,305-foot summit. Ragged Mountain’s trails connect to the trail systems of Spruce and Bald mountains, as well as to the bike/hiking trails known as the Goose River trails. so you can also go for a long walk here. The trails are occasionally steep, and it can get confusing, especially on the east side of the mountain where the downhill ski area is.

There are four good choices for your hike up Ragged Mountain, including the Georges Highland Path (GHP) Route 17 trailhead and the Thorndike Brook trailhead on Hope Street. These two trails ascend Ragged Mountain from the west, avoiding the Camden Snow Bowl. Or you could start from the pullover on Barnestown Road, also avoiding the Snow Bowl. (The nice part of starting from Barnestown, despite the limited parking, is you get a chance to hike past Buzzards Ledge.) If you do start from the Snow Bowl, I recommend taking the hiking-only Hosmer Brook Trail rather than attempt an ascent via one of the bike paths or ski trails.

The hike to the summit of Ragged Mountain from the GHP Route 17 trailhead is about 2.4 miles. The first 1.2 miles are fairly easy going. Once you reach the true ascent, you’ll have a steady climb with a couple of viewpoints. When you reach a trail intersection with the cell tower spur, the trail begins to get really glorious! It briefly heads down open ledge, with a beautiful view of the sea and Mirror Lake, before circling around the tower’s west side for a great stretch hiking up more open ledge, with views of Grassy Pond. (This section includes a brief dip back into the woods.) When the trail reaches the end of the expansive ledge, keep your eye out for a red-blazed trail to your right. This will bring you to the true summit in 0.1 mile, with easterly views.

The hike in from Thorndike Brook trailhead is perhaps the easiest way up? There’s about 0.8 miles of steepish climbing, the rest is gentler. The total distance is about 2.3 miles to the summit of Ragged Mountain, with a nice stretch of about 0.6 miles along the mountain ridge. You don’t really get stupendous views, though, until you swing west around the cell tower. On this section, you’ll have a nice long stretch down open ledge, including a short interlude in forest, before the trail re-emerges on ledge and heads up again. You’ll come to the intersection with the cell tower spur on your left. This will bring you to the tower and a little herd path around the east side of the tower that will connect you to the summit trail. The summit is another 0.1 miles.

If you are starting from the Snow Bowl, I recommend hiking up the 1.2-mile Hosmer Brook Trail which connects to the the GHS Ragged Mountain trail, for a total ascent of about 2.4 miles. (Otherwise, I find it confusing to try to find the best hiking trail up the mountain among all the downhill ski trails, x-c ski trails and bike trails.)

Hosmer Brook Trail is quiet, offers a moderate, steady climb, and doesn’t appear to get a lot of foot traffic. You’ll find the start of the trail at the north end of the Snow Bowl parking lot. I think it’s easiest to locate by heading up the alpine ski trails (either Spinnaker or Northeaster) and look for a trailhead kiosk. The path is behind the kiosk, overlapping with a bike trail called Jibe. In 0.4 miles, Hosmer Brook Trail breaks off to the right (Jibe heads back toward the downhill ski trails). In about 0.1 miles, you’ll reach the start of a little loop. Stay right, and you’ll reach the intersection with the GHP Ragged Mountain Trail in 0.7 miles. Go left. In 0.4 miles, you’ll reach a little open ledge (no great views yet). You’ll see a blue-blazed trail ahead, on the right, and a red-blazed trail ahead on the left. If you want to get to the summit quickly, go left and follow the red-blazed trail 0.1 to the nice summit, with views east. But if you go right and follow the blue-blazed trail as it swings wide around the tower, you’ll get some of the best views of the mountain from open ledge. The trail heads down, and includes a brief interlude in the woods, before re-emerging on ledge and heading up again toward the cell tower. You’ll reach an intersection with a spur trail to the cell tower on the left. Take this and you’ll find a little herd path around the east side of the tower. This will bring you to the summit trail, which you can follow to the mountain’s true summit in about 0.1 miles, which has views to the east.

A 5.5-mile section of the Round the Mountain Trail takes you below the craggy ridge of Ragged Mountain and curves around the northeast side of Mirror Lake. While there are some rolling hills, you don’t summit any mountains on this trail; it’s fairly easy and has nice views (in the winter through trees) despite not reaching higher elevations! It is also popular with fat bikers. I believe it is gravel-based, and there is a short wheelchair accessible portion at the start, near the Thorndike Brook trailhead. Occasionally in good winter conditions, the length of the trail is groomed, a local user told me. Groomed or not, it is popular with Nordic skiers.

On the south side of the mountain, you’ll find NEMBA’s Goose River trail network, which is a system designed for mountain bikers but hikers are welcome. The best place to access these trails is from the Rollins Road parking area. The network of paths connect to the Round the Mountain Trail loop and blazed 5 Brooks Trail via a tightly switch-backed connector trail. I’ve included some maps and links to help newcomers find their way around this sprawling system. (It can be easy to get turned around in here, especially in winter, since the trails aren’t blazed, albeit trail sign names abound.) I found that the two most delightful trails in this system to hike are Lower Goose Brook (LGB) and River Run, as they follow a picturesque stream. Other scenic trails are the Apple Tree Trail spur to Main Street, which runs along a serene section of Goose River, and Bob’s Chase trail from the Rollins Road parking area, which runs above a stretch of Goose River that tumbles over rocks, creating small falls.

Directions to the trailheads: You can plug in Camden Snow Bowl into your GPS — it’ll get you there! The ski area is on your left if you are driving away from Camden on Hosmer Pond Road. There are at least three other trailheads that hikers can use to access Ragged Mountain: Barnestown Road (north), Hope Street (west), and Route 17 (south). The Barnestown Road trailhead also serves the Bald Mountain Trail. The parking lot here is 1,000 feet south of the intersection of Barnestown and Gillette Roads in Camden. The western trailhead, also known as the Thorndike Brook Trail, is on Hope Street in West Rockport. From the intersection of Routes 17 and 90 in West Rockport, travel 2.5 miles north on Route 17 and turn right onto Hope Street. Travel 0.5 miles to the parking lot on the right. The Route 17 trailhead also serves the Spruce Mountain and Mount Pleasant trails to the west of Ragged Mountain. The parking lot here is 2 miles north of the intersection of Routes 17 and 90 in West Rockport. Additionally, there is a parking area on Rollins Road.