WILLOW CREEK — The long-discussed Mattawamkeag River Trail will open in a pilot capacity this May, giving hikers, bicyclists and cross-country skiers access to a 14-mile corridor along the river’s west branch.
The trail, which follows the route of an old logging rail bed from the Thorne’s Bend boat launch north to the Aroostook County line, has been in development for three years under a partnership between the town, the Maine Department of Conservation and the Aroostook County Trails Association.
First Selectman Arthur Pendelton said the pilot program will test the trail’s viability before any permanent improvements are made.
“We’re not cutting ribbon on a finished product,” Pendelton said. “This is a chance to see how the trail handles spring runoff, how the town handles visitors, and whether the economics pencil out before we commit to gravel surfacing and formal parking areas.”
The pilot will be managed by the Willow Creek Recreation Commission using a $12,000 grant from the Maine Outdoor Heritage Fund. Trailhead parking will be limited to the existing lot at Thorne’s Bend, with overflow space at the former mill parking area.
Jed Thorne, town historian and great-great-grandson of town founder Ezra Thorne, said the rail bed traces the same ground that loggers used to move timber to the mill in the 1880s.
“Walking that trail is walking the town’s memory,” Thorne said. “Every tie bed in that rail bed carried wood that built this community.”
The pilot runs through October. A report to the Board of Selectmen is due in November.