Stevens Brook Trail, Bridgton

Do not try this walk without a map if you are going out for your first time! It is a little tricky following the trail. In fact it feels a bit like a treasure hunt, with you following clues and small signs to go the right way. 

If you do manage to successfully get from one end to the other — a 2.5-mile stroll from Long Lake to Highland Lake, or vice versa — you will enjoy yourself and follow a pretty stream. This is a wonderful way to lace a public trail through a town.

Here are my directions to navigate this trial, which, when I visited, could have used a few more signs. I started on Long Lake. This end of the trail begins behind the power station on Powerhouse Road. If you’re facing the station, the trail is slightly to your left. It passes by some deepish pools in the brook and emerges onto Kansas Road, where it makes a slight detour on the left to look at what I think must be an old dam? Then you continue on Kansas Road, taking a left onto Smith Ave., where you pick up the trail again on the right. Bear to the left when the trail diverges, and you will cross a small meadow and emerge onto Route 302, next to a gas station. Go right, then take a left onto Main Street, and then a quick left on Depot Street. You pick up the trail again behind a blue building that held, in Oct. 2016, a florist shop. When you emerge again onto Depot Street, take a left and look for the trail on your left. Eventually, the trail becomes a boardwalk, passes under a footbridge, and comes out next to the movie house. You cross Main Street again, staying left of the building and to the right of the brook. You walk along a raised berm here until you come out onto the road. Turn left onto Bacon Street, and then turn right after 50 feet or so onto the path, which crosses a little field to the footbridge. You can cross the footbridge here or walk next to the red house (where you have a right of way, I believe) to reach Highland Lake park.

Directions:  To get to Highland lake park and beach, take Main Street through town. If you’re coming from the east, follow the curve of the road, and then take a right onto Highland Road. If you’re coming from the west, the park is to your left before you enter down town. From Highland Road, there is a large parking area on the right, and the path starts to the right of the red house at the far end of the lot. You can also pick up the trail from the small pedestrian bridge the connects Shorey Park.