Bradbury Mountain State Park

     The next place I went to on the morning of November 5th, was Bradbury Mountain State Park, in Pownal. I'd been here once before, but not for quite a while. When I got there there was a box at the entrance to put the park fee, which is only a couple dollars.
     There are a couple different trails from around the parking area. I took the South Ridge Trail. The trail had some It was one of the longer trails, but still took only half an hour or so to get to the top.
     From the top there is a good view of the area. On this clear day, you could see for a good distance, and see lots of the peak foliage. It's pretty hard to believe it's only half an hour from the states biggest city to get here. The particular day I went there was a pretty good amount of other people hiking too, as it was a pretty warm day.
     I took a different trail to the bottom of the mountain. This trail only took about 10 minutes, it was pretty direct to the parking lot. There was also people getting ready in the parking lot for mountain biking. Apparently most of the paths in the park are also accessible for bikers, but I actually only saw one on the trails.

Dog at the top of Bradbury Mt.

Historical Significance of Bradbury Mountain State Park

     According to the website for the park, it was used for raising grapes by the Cotton family in the 1800's, and apparently you can still see their terraces on the mountain. I must have missed them, or maybe they were on another trail. Their site also says that the area was used to hold stray animals, and in the 20's it was used to mine feldspar for jewelery. In addition to it's land use historically the area is significant for it's park history.

     The park at Bradbury Mountain was one of the first 5 state parks in the state of Maine. In a state that prides itself on it's nature, the fact that one of the first parks in the state (founded in 1939) is still a place many come to visit says a lot about the state. It shows us that much importance is placed on saving land that could have been used to other things, to keep the natural resources of the state intact. In the 90's the park even added land, showing that the interest in keeping Maine's nature secure is still as important as it was when it was first set aside.