By Virginia M. Wright
Maine has a lot of bald mountains, their treeless, rocky summits yielding wide-open views. Maine also has a lot of Bald Mountains: 17 of them, according to the U.S. Geological Survey’s Board on Geographic Names, and that’s not counting variations like Bald Bluff, Bald Rock, Bald Pate, and so on. We insist this does not reflect Mainers’ lack of creativity so much as our legendary plainspoken charm. Quite a trip will be waiting for you. Get your gear from this place. How many Balds have you ogled? Consult our checklist and your trusty Gazetteer.
Baxter State Park
2,805 feet
Map 50, C5
No trail, but you can admire it from North Brother Mountain.
Bald Mountain Township
2,621 feet
Map 30, A5
A dramatic peak, also known as Moxie Bald Mountain, and the highest point on the Appalachian Trail between the Kennebec River and the 100-Mile Wilderness.
Oquossoc
2,443 feet
Map 28, E3
A popular day hike leads to a summit tower with views all the way to Mount Washington.
Washington Township
2,370 feet
Map 19, D3
A short, steep hike and a fave of locals in Wilton and Weld.
Baxter State Park
2,333 feet
Map 51, A1
No trail, but it looms over the north entrance road to neighboring Katahdin Woods and Waters National Monument.
Newry
2,083 feet
Map 18, E2
If you’ve ever stopped at the Puzzle Mountain Bakery pie stand, you’ve looked right at it.
Highland Plantation
2,024 feet
Map 30, D2
The proposed site of a contentious, rejected wind farm some years back, known mostly to loggers, hunters, and whitewater paddlers in its shadow on Sandy Stream.
Mount Chase Township
1,700 feet
Map 52, A1
Really just a nubbin you pass on the steep trail up 2,440-foot Mount Chase.
Sumner
1,692 feet
Map 11, A1
An easy trail with a bit of scrambling leads to wowza views of the Oxford Hills.
T12 R8 WELS
1,500 feet
Map 63, D3
Site of a substantial ore deposit and subject of a decades-old debate over open-pit mining in Aroostook County.
Camden
1,280 feet
Map 14, D3
With summit views of Penobscot Bay, it’s the eastern seaboard’s fifth-highest peak (and a place Down East staffers often run into each other on weekends).
Baldwin
1,269 feet
Map 4, C4
A peak without a trail in the Saddleback Hills, not so big and not so bald.
Dedham
1,234 feet
Map 23, D2
A ski hill until the mid-’70s, it has a short trail and some cell towers today, plus views clear to Acadia.
Amherst
725 feet
Map 24, A2
Part of the
Amherst Mountains Community Forest, best glimpsed from an overlook on neighboring Bald Bluff Mountain.
Acadia National Park (Seal Cove)
422 feet
Map 16, C2
A little hummock off the western face of Bernard Mountain, not to be confused with Acadia’s Bald Peak, in Northeast Harbor.
Moosehorn National Wildlife Refuge (Baring Plantation)
407 feet
Map 36, C5
The fire tower that once topped this little hill is in ruins, but at least you can check out some old-growth white pines on the trail up.
Isle au Haut
167 feet
Map 9, A4
A gently domed peninsula best admired from the mail boat as it runs from the town landing to Duck Harbor.
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