The first leg of an 84-mile mountain bike trail was built near Monson in Piscataquis County over the summer.
The Elliotsville Foundation Inc. is building the new trail, which will be open to hiking, biking, snowshoeing, cross country skiing and other nonmotorized types of recreation, according to Lucas St. Clair, foundation president.
The initial trails will attract beginner and intermediate mountain bikers, he said. The single-track trail has berms and turns that mountain bikers enjoy.
Piscataquis, Maine’s least populated county, draws thousands of visitors every year to Moosehead, the state’s largest lake, and to other lakes, mountains, ponds and trails within its borders for fishing, hiking, camping and other outdoor activities. The new trail could give the area an economic boost once it is a few miles long.
The trail will be built on the foundation’s Seven Ponds Preserve, which is 10,000 acres that includes Elliotsville Plantation. The Appalachian Trail crosses through the new trail.
St. Clair said he grew up in the Monson area and would ride the old railroad beds because there were no established trails. There are more trails now and the technology used to build bike trails is much improved, making them better able to stand up to storms, he said.
He traveled around the country visiting trail communities, seeking ideas for the foundation’s project. He said one of his favorites was in Bentonville, Arkansas, which was well laid out and had interesting features.
“Mountain biking is so fun and good for the body and the mind, and is good for the community to have,” said St. Clair of Falmouth.
The trail will cost from $30,000 to $50,000 per mile and could take 10 years to complete if the funding continues to come in, he said. About a mile and a half was built over the summer and the foundation plans to build a couple more miles next year.
Money is the limiting factor, he said, and the foundation hopes to interest other groups to partner with the foundation in the project.
St. Clair had started conversations with community members and potential investors from Dover-Foxcroft to Greenville, and involved nonprofits, schools and other groups in the project a while ago, he said. The International Mountain Biking Association’s Trail Solutions, which plans, designs, builds and helps raise funds for single-track trails, is working with the foundation as well.
St. Clair hopes some businesses pop up in Monson because of the new trails, perhaps including a bicycle shop and housing for visitors and trail builders.
“I am grateful to the community for being receptive to the trails,” St. Clair said. “It’s great to be part of a great project.”
This is not Maine’s only dedicated mountain bike trail. There are others in Carrabassett Valley, Bethel and Gorham/Falmouth, to name a few.
