| Hiking Trail Conditions Report |
 | Peaks |
Durgin Mountain, Speckled Mountain, Spruce Hill, ME |
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 | Trails: |
Haystack Notch Trail, Miles Notch Trail, Great Brook Trail, Red Rock Trail, Bickford Brook Trail, Spruce Hill Trail, Route 113 |
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 | Date of Hike: |
Saturday, October 11, 2025 |
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 | Parking/Access Road Notes: |
Parked in the small pull-off just south of the Haystack Notch Trailhead on 113. There is room for maybe 3 cars there. |
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 | Surface Conditions: |
Dry Trail, Mud - Minor/Avoidable, Leaves - Significant/Slippery |
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 | Recommended Equipment: |
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 | Water Crossing Notes: |
There are about 12 crossings on the Haystack Notch Trail. Because of the current severe drought, all of them were easily rock hoppable. There were a couple others on the Miles Notch and Great Brook Trails, and I don't recall them being particularly challenging. |
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 | Trail Maintenance Notes: |
A couple blowdowns here and there but they were all easily navigable. Haystack Notch definitely had the most, but even those weren't too bad. |
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 | Dog-Related Notes: |
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 | Bugs: |
No bugs |
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 | Lost and Found: |
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 | Comments: |
I had a great day in the Eastern Whites today! I'm currently working on redlining, and I needed Haystack Notch, about half of Miles Notch, and Great Brook.
Haystack Notch Trail: I was a bit nervous about this one at the beginning because pretty much every trip report I've read states how the water crossings are pretty rough and the trail is often very hard to follow. Heading eastbound, I did not have many navigation issues up to the height of land. The five water crossings I encountered were also pretty tame. Once I began to descend from the height of land, the trail became a bit harder to follow in places with the leaf litter. I had to check Gaia a few times to confirm I was still on trail. The six or seven water crossings on the east side of the notch were all reasonably rock hoppable, though a couple of them appeared as though they wouldn't be if we weren't in a drought. After a little over 5 miles, the trail opens up into a large field with expansive views. Overall, I really liked this trail and feel like I picked a very good day to do it.
Miles Notch Trail: After doing a quick out-and-back of the northern gate, I started heading southbound toward Miles Notch. The beginning of this trail is more of a woods road, but after about a mile, it turns into a more "proper" trail. Even with the freshly fallen leaves, I found this stretch of trail very easy to follow all the way up to the Red Rock Trail junction. The trail became a bit tougher to follow after the height of land, but I had done this stretch a few years ago, so it wasn't bad at all. There was also some very nice foliage throughout this stretch, probably some of the best I saw the whole day.
Great Brook Trail: Once I made it to the Miles Notch Trailhead on Hut Road, I made my way down the dirt road and eventually began to ascend the Great Brook Trail. The first mile or so is another woods road with good footing, then the trail bears left and starts to climb more significantly. The stretch of trail from here to the Red Rock intersection was probably the worst leaf litter I encountered all day; it felt like November. Ironically, I had far more difficulties following this trail than Haystack Notch. There were a couple of times I veered significantly off trail when it began to ascend more steeply. This was probably the most difficult climb of the day, but luckily there was no part of this route that climbed super aggressively.
Red Rock Trail: I traveled westbound on this trail for about 2 miles before I reached the summit of Speckled. I had done this stretch of trail before a few years ago, and it's a lot nicer than I remember. It travels between softwoods and hardwoods quite a few times with some really nice singletrack sections. In the last half mile before the Speckled summit, it climbs very steeply, though not for very long. The summit of Speckled was quite busy (especially considering I saw only 3 people for the first 16.5 miles), but the views were beautiful. I think this was my 10th time climbing Speckled, but not 100% sure on that.
Speckled Descent (Red Rock/Bickford Brook/Spruce Hill/Route 113): The run down to my car from the summit of Speckled was pretty quick, though the freshly fallen leaves were a bit treacherous in places. I easily encountered 20 people on this stretch, though that was partially due to there being one very large group. All things considered, I can't really complain considering it's a holiday weekend. Route 113 was busy, so I ran pretty quickly to get back to my car. The time spent on the road was only about 1.3 miles. |
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 | Name: |
Colin Smith |
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 | E-Mail: |
colinsmith0427@gmail.com |
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| Date Submitted: |
2025-10-11 |
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 | Link: |
 https:// |
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Disclaimer: Reports are not verified - conditions may vary. Use at own risk. Always be prepared when hiking. Observe all signs. Trail conditions reports are not substitutes for weather reports or common sense. |
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