Hiking in Maine

The Great Back Lots and Valiant Trail Loop is part of the Small-Burnham Conservation Area in Litchfield, Maine, managed by the Kennebec Land Trust (KLT), who has a great website and map. The area itself is on a conservation easement by the landowners. I hiked this in late August 2024, navigating the 2.3 mile loop using AllTrails, easily completed in under an hour. The trails and parking area were very buggy, even on a dry sunny day. A small parking lot and kiosk are located off Pine Tree Road, with a sign-in station shortly down the trail.

The Small-Burnham Conservation Area is open for hiking, nature observation, cross-country skiing, and snowshoeing. Contact the landowner for hunting permission, and snowmobiles are allowed on designated trails. Dogs are allowed on a leash or under voice command, as long as you clean up after them.

The yellow-blazed Back Lots Trail follows the edge of a small ridge through deciduous trees overlooking a small, quiet stream. The slow flowage, bounded by ferns, looked fairly exotic by Maine standards in the late summer light. At a unique, twisted evergreen with five trunks, the trail turns hard left. At 1.4 miles I turned right on the main trail to do the loop counterclockwise.

This trail was wide, open and shaded, a winding walk past a marsh and field of ferns. At a little over a mile, it opened up onto a wide meadow full of black-capped chickadee, cardinal and crows. On the opposite side of the loop, shortly before making the turn back towards the parking lot, I saw a large brown raptor by a low-lying marshy spot, but it flew away through the trees before I could identify it.