Activities
This is a popular three-season recreation area, with spring being the only time when there are few visitors. Fall foliage can be viewed from the roads and trails. Hunting and trapping opportunities range from easy vehicle access to foot access only in the backcountry areas. Fishing is plentiful in many small ponds and brooks. Winter visitors enjoy snowmobiling and cross country skiing over 20 miles of desigPhoto courtesy of Scott Landry
Scenic Attractions Angel Falls Bemis Road off Rte. 17, Township E. Angel Falls is a 90-foot waterfall on Mountain Brook in Township D – northwest of Houghton – in the White Mountains of Franklin County, Maine. Angel Falls, one of Maine’s tallest and most unique waterfalls. Angel Falls has a 90-foot “hanging” plunge and is comparable in height with Moxie Falls in Forks Township. In high water, the cascading water creates the shape of an
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ues left on a dirt road, and then proceeds up through the woods to Mountain Brook. The trail follows Mountain Brook upstream and crosses three times on rock hops (use caution), then rises sharply on the south bank immediately before arriving at the falls. Length: 1.4 miles, Round Trip Activities: areas for swimming, hiking, picnicking, restrooms
nated trails. Activities: areas for fishing, swimming, camping, cross country skiing snowmobiling, hunting, trapping Coos Canyon - Swift River Rte. 17 Byron Coos Canyon is a roadside park carved out of the Swift River. Erosion has chiseled steep cliffs on both sides of the river. There are pools to swim in, flat rocks to sit on while you sift for gold, 15-foot cliffs to jump from, smooth rocks to slide down. Activities: Swimming, cliff-jumping, gold panning, photography, meandering along the shore
angel’s wing giving the falls its name.
Bigelow Preserve Public Reserved Land
Height of Land Scenic Overlook
From the parking area, walk north along
W Flagstaff Rd, Stratton
Rte. 17, Rangeley
Bemis Road a short way. The trail leaves
Located in western Maine just east of the
A fantastic scenic overlook not to be missed!
Bemis Road at a sign marking the trailhead
village of Stratton about 40 miles north of
Stunning views of Mooselookmeguntic and
and descends along a dirt road into a grav-
Farmington, Bigelow Preserve includes over
Upper Richardson lakes, Toothaker Island and
el pit. Walk through the gravel pit (past a
36,000 acres of public land. The preserve
the richly forested mountainsides. Travelers
large boulder), then continue following red
encompasses the entire Bigelow Range, which
search for moose that frequent the region’s
blazes on an old dirt road. Shortly, the trail
includes seven summits. The highest of these
roadsides feeding on tender grasses, leaves
reaches Berdeen Stream, which must be
at 4,150 feet is West Peak, one of only 10 Maine
and branches. This is also an excellent route
forded. Use caution when crossing streams
summits over 4,000 feet in elevation. Bounded
for viewing foliage in the autumn when the
during high water as stepping stones are
on the north by 20,000-acre Flagstaff Lake,
surrounding mountainsides are painted vivid
often submerged or very slippery. After
the preserve offers many opportunities for
orange, yellow and red.
crossing Berdeen Steam, the trail contin-
outdoor recreation.
www.franklincountymaine.org