The sunlight is fading, the temperatures dropping and the leaves turning color. All are great reasons for just about anyone to ascend Quoggy Jo Mountain via a new trail through a previously hidden gorge.
“Part of my goal is to make sure that anybody who ever lives in Aroostook County steps foot in this park at least once in their lifetime,” said Scott Thompson, manager of Aroostook State Park. Better yet if residents can hike Quoggy Jo mountain, walk the ridgetop and take in the views of forest, farmland and towns around Presque Isle.
Until recently, the 1,100-foot-tall mountain could be hiked mainly by two fairly steep trails; one of them, the South Peak Trail, is so steep that even experts are cautioned not to come down on it.
Now, the year-old Notch Trail, offers a safer, more modest incline, following a cascading stream with an adjacent route long used as a snowshoe path and, at one point, a corridor for transporting lumber to a nearby lake-side sawmill.
“This makes it a lot easier for folks to get onto the ridge trail, which is beautiful,” said Thompson, a native of Mapleton. Once you get to the ridge the trail connecting the two peaks is mostly wide and of modest inclines, with a number of lookouts and spots for a picnic.
The Notch Trail offers anyone of any age who can walk a few miles (say from downtown Presque Isle to TAMC) the chance to hike the mountain and appreciate its views, as well as its ecology. The trail winds through a forest of birch, beech, maple, pine, balsam fir, basswood and sassafras, among others, and the stream offers its own interest, changing between pools, channels and and small waterfalls.
“It’s probably one of the prettier areas of the park that nobody ever saw as hikers,” or heard, said Thompson, noting the sound of the flowing, falling water as a natural soundtrack. “It’s all about being out here and relaxing, destressing from everyday life.”
Quoggy Jo, like Haystack Mountain in Mapleton, was formed from the ashes of an extinct volcano. Its bedrock of rhyolitic tuff has been shaped by streams, weather and glaciers over the last 400-plus million years. Along the Notch Trail, those and other rocks rise out of the forest floor, such as a massive moss- and lichen-covered rock, possibly a boulder or an outcropping bedrock.
As the trail ascends, the cascading stream reveals itself as a gorge, punctuated by waterfalls, and the steeper section is aided by a roughly 125-step rock staircase. Coming down, a hiking pole could be useful for old hikers, though isn’t necessary. Thompson said that more than a few senior citizens have been hiking Haystack since, which had similar stair improvements but is still a fair amount steeper than the Quoggy Jo Notch.
When you come to the upper gorge of the notch, you can go left to follow a fairly steep spur to the south peak (notice the huge Chaga growing on a birch right off the trail, but please don’t try to harvest it, Thompson said). To the right, you can follow modestly rising Ridge Trail to the north peak for view of Presque Isle, Mapleton, Easton and beyond. Along the way to the north peak is an Adirondack shelter, built by an Eagle Scout in Mapleton, offering a good spot for a snack, great view of Echo Lake, Easton and Mars Hill. After the leaves fall, look for a bald eagle’s nest in a large pine tree, Thompson said. If there are seagulls or other birds around the lake, the eagles may be hunting.
For a 3-to-four mile round-trip hike, take the Notch Trail, accessed from the campground, then take a right to follow the Ridge Trail to the north peak (or just to the Adirondack Shelter) then retrace your steps back along the Ridge Trail and come down via the Notch Trail.
