Hiking Bald Pate
Trail Name: Bald Pate Mountain Preserve
Location: South Bridgton, Maine
Distance: 2.3 miles
Elevation gain: 820 ft
Difficulty: Easy
Pets: Allowed
Well, it happened. We completed our first early morning hike of the Spring/Summer season. We packed our water and backpacks the night before, laid out our clothes, and set our alarm for 6:30 a.m on a beautiful Saturday morning. Man. The things we do just to walk up a mountain.
This hike is located in South Bridgton, about an hour outside of Portland, to the west of Sebago Lake. If you type it into your GPS, it will bring you to a nice size dirt parking lot on route 107, which is perfect. This is where we parked and hiked in. There are about seven different trails throughout the preserve, so I would definitely recommend grabbing one of the trail maps they provide at the trailhead.
We chose to take the steeper, shorter trail up and the longer, more scenic trail down so that we would most likely have the summit to ourselves. We ascended via the Bob Chase trail, which is about 0.8 miles. Three-quarters of the way up, the trail splits into two. We chose to take the scenic route so we could add a bit more length onto our hike and, of course, for the views! It provided a couple of nice lookouts along the way. This trail was quiet, wooded, and fairly easy. It only took us about 20 minutes to get to the summit.
The summit provides lovely views of Southern Maine and the lakes region. On the way down, we decided to make our way around about 1 mile of the South Face Loop Trail until it met up with the 1.0 mile Moose Trail, and then headed back to the parking lot. I would say that our whole hike was about 2.3 miles and took us about an hour.
The great thing about this preserve is that you can decide how long or short you want your hike to be by choosing which trails you take. For instance, we could have completed all of the 1.5 mile South Face Loop Trail, which meets back up with the Bob Chase Trail and then gone back to the parking lot that way. Or we could have cut the South Face Loop Trail in half and taken the Pate Trail back up to the summit, where we could have descended via the Bob Chase and/or the Foster Pond Lookout Trail.
I could go on and on about different trail paths, but the general idea is these trails are welcoming to all abilities and ages, which is great. They’re also dog friendly, which is a big bonus. I also love that they’re four-season. In the Winter, they’re used for snowshoeing, cross-country skiing, as well as back country skiing. Regardless of season, these trails are a great option for a Maine outdoor adventure!
