Hills to Sea Trails volunteers are working to fix 2-mile gap

The Hills to Sea Trails Coalition is working to fix a two-mile gap in its 47-mile system.

The trail relies on the grace of more than 60 landowners, some of whom close their land to public access during hunting season in the fall, then reopen it. This year, one landowner did not reopen two miles of land to public access, according to Buck O’Herin, coordinator of the Hills to Sea Coalition and president of Midcoast Conservancy.

He declined to discuss the landowner’s reasons, but said the coalition is working to reconnect the trail, possibly rerouting it if necessary.

Hills to Sea, which runs from Unity Village to Belfast, is the third longest walking trail, behind the Appalachian Trail and the International Appalachian Trail, in Maine, according to the coalition. Volunteers completed the trail in 2016 and it is free to the public to use.

“Trails have always been a way to get people more connected to the natural world. [With climate change and other factors], it has never been more important to connect people to the land. If we all just connect to our own sections of land, it will all work out,” O’Herin said Thursday.

O’Herin reaches out to landowners once a year via letter inviting them to report any issues they’ve had with people using the trail and encouraging them to contact him immediately if there is a problem.

Approximately 20 volunteer stewards check assigned areas of the trail about four times a year, looking for any issues.

The trail saw some downed trees and extra water from the harsh storms over the winter. Some of the trees were cleared during the winter, while others still need to be moved, he said.

There were no washouts, but the increasingly heavy rains that storms bring may mean the coalition will have to take steps to prevent erosion or install cedar board bridges to let walkers go through wet areas, he said.

Georges River Land Trust and Midcoast Conservancy each had some trails under water from the storms, but they are closer to waterways, O’Herin said.

The coalition is working this year to develop a seven- to eight-mile trail in Lake George State Park that will eventually connect to the Hills to Sea Trail. Volunteers hope it will open this summer.

“The new trail has mature forest and amazing trees,” he said.

O’Herin said conservation groups peripheral to Hills to Sea are encouraged to build trails that connect with the main path too.

The Hills to Sea Trail goes from Unity through Knox, Freedom, Montville, Morrill, Waldo and into Belfast.

The coalition is made up of 10 nonprofits on the midcoast: Belfast Bay Watershed Coalition, Coastal Mountains Land Trust, Future MSAD 3, Georges River Land Trust, Maine Farmland Trust, Maine organic Farmers and Gardeners Association, Midcoast Conservancy, Sebasticook Regional Land Trust, Unity Barn Raisers and Unity College.

Volunteers from these organizations work to maintain the main trail and help develop new ones that can connect to it.