Recently, my friend and I took a trip over the summer to Maine, where we hiked a significant number of the Maine 14 4,000 footers, or the Maine High Peaks. The Maine High Peaks, consists of all the mountains in Maine standing at or above 4,000 feet in stature. Maine has 14 of these peaks, some of them are spectacular, while others are sub-par. In this article, you will read about all the Maine 14 4,000 footers, where to hike them, best hiking routes, trail conditions, difficulty, and more.

While my friend and I were in Maine, we stayed in Rangeley, Maine and hiked many of the peaks in that region. During our trip, we hiked, Old Speck, Avery & West Peaks, the Crockers & Redington, Sugarloaf & Spaudling, and Saddleback & the Horn. We are planning to hike Mount Abraham and all the peaks in Baxter State Park, next summer. The peaks we hiked were stunning apart from the Crockers and Redington, Maine did not disappoint. I will write more about our experience later in this article.

Here you will read about the Maine 14, Maine 14 4,000 footers, Maine 14 patch, Maine 4000 footers map, Maine 4,000 footers, NH 4000 footers Club, Old Speck Mountain, Maine 4000 footers hike, Maine 4000 footers difficulty, Maine 4000 footers patch, NY 4000 footers, New England 67 sticker, NE 67, NE 115, NH 48 checklist, and more.

This post is all about Maine 14.

Maine 14:

Maine 14 4,000 Footers

As stated previously above, there are 14 4,000 footers in Maine. They are Old Speck, Avery, West, North Crocker, South Crocker, Redington, Sugarloaf, Spaulding, Saddleback, the Horn, Mount Abraham, North Brother, Hamlin, and the infamous Mount Katahdin. My friend and I hope to end on Mount Katahdin, because it is here where the famous Appalachian Trail ends as well. It would be cool to end here and talk with Appalachian trail thru-hikers and hear about their journey. Also, there is a big Katahdin and end of the Appalachian Trail sign at the top. Before I discuss more, I am going to break this article into different sections, talking about all the peaks individually, starting with the most accessible, Old Speck. For each peak, I will discuss there difficulty level, trail conditions, location, and the best hiking routes.

1. Old Speck

Old Speck is typically the first 14er that people attempt in Maine. Even though it’s very accessible, I wouldn’t say it’s easier than the other 14ers. It isn’t as long as the other high peaks, it’s very straight forward, and it’s a solo peak, which are the reasons why I think people recommend this hike first. For the same reasons, I’m going to recommend this be the first Maine 4,000 footer you hike as well.

Old Speck Mountain is located just outside of Bethel, Maine, not too far from Sunday River Ski Resort. It stands at 4,170 feet in stature and is the fifth highest 14 4,000 footer. I suggest staying in Bethel, it’s about 25 minutes away from the Old Speck trailhead. In addition, if you are staying in the winter time, you could ski/snowboard one day at Sunday River and then winter hike up Old Speck. Old Speck is a total of 7.5 miles with about a 3,000 foot of elevation gain. The best and most simple way to hike this trail is via the Appalachian Trail. This is located in Grafton Notch State Park.

Old Speck Mountain

Technically, you are suppose to pay to park at Grafton Notch, however, it’s more of a voluntary thing. There is a bin next to the trail registration area, where you are suppose to pay $4, but it is okay if you don’t. You will take the trail going to the left to the Appalachian Trail and Old Speck summit. The trail is in really good condition and very easy to follow. Overall, the most difficult part of this hike is the vertical ladder at the summit and the elevation gain. The elevation gain is about 1,000 feet per mile, which is a decent bit. Also, there is a ladder at the summit that leads you to an observation deck. You have to climb this ladder if you want any sort of a view. The ladder is completely vertical and a little higher than your comfort zone. Otherwise, that is the most difficult and interesting parts of the hike. Overall, it’s a pretty standard hiking trail.

2. Avery & West Peak

The two and third high peaks in Maine that my friend and I hiked were Avery and West Peaks. Wow, there was a lot of wind and steepness at one point. Although, both are beautiful summits, Avery stands at 4,090 feet and West stands at 4,145 feet. Making, Avery the 9th highest peak in Maine and West the 7th. I liked Avery a little better, but both are pretty similar. Actually, my favorite part of this hike was the pond about half a mile into the hike. This is where I got the best pictures and felt the most relaxed, pictures are below.

Avery and West are located in Stratton, Maine, about a 40 minute drive from Rangeley, ME, which is where we stayed. Both these peaks together are about 10.5 miles with a little over 3,000 feet of elevation gain. We hiked them via the Fire Warden and Appalachian Trail Loop. This is the AllTrails map we followed, however, we did not hike to the Horns and South Peak, which cuts out about 2.5 miles.

Avery & West Loop

I HIGHLY recommend this loop, it’s easy to find (driving wise), and follow the trail when hiking. Also, it’s a beautiful trail. That being said, this is a TOUGH route. At one point, you gain 1,300 feet of elevation gain in 1.2 miles, that is a LOT. From experience, I can definitely say, this bit was ROUGH. However, it really is only this part that is really rough. There is slight elevation gain the whole way up, but once you get to the trail split with the Horns, that’s when the 1,300 feet of elevation gain begins. Again, there are slight elevation gains near the summits of Avery and West Peaks, but again, nothing like the 1,300 gain in 1.2 miles to get to the col between Avery and West.

Trail condition wise, this trail is in okay shape. There was one point during the high elevation gain, where we had to climb over some fallen trees. Because of that one section, I would say this is more difficult than Old Speck, but not the most difficult Maine 4,000 footer. Other than that, this trail is pretty well maintained. After Old Speck, there really isn’t a specific order that I would hike the rest of these peaks in. However, to have an epic ending, I would save North Brother and Katahdin, for your last peaks.

3. South Crocker, Redington, and North Crocker

Okay, these were the next three peaks we tackled on in Maine, South Crocker, Redington, and North Crocker. These three peaks are located in Carrabassett Valley, Maine, which is about an hour drive from Rangeley. All three of these peaks are about 11 miles roundtrip with just under 4,000 feet of elevation gain. South Crocker is the 11th highest peak (4,050ft), Redington is the 13th highest (4,010ft), and North Crocker is the fourth highest (4,228ft). We hiked these three via Caribou Pond Road and the yellow gate. This road is AWFUL. If you don’t have a four wheel drive or a high under clearance don’t even bother driving on this. This road has potholes everywhere, that you can’t avoid, sewage pipes popping out, sketchy bridges, mini ponds, rocks for days, seriously don’t attempt if you don’t think your car can handle TRUE off roading.

Although, I did see cars parked on the side of the road, so I do think it’s okay to park anywhere on the side. However, this road is 3.5 miles and at the end of it is a small parking lot, where you will see a yellow gate and that is the start of your hike. I don’t think I would want to add 7 miles to this trail, keep that in mind if you park on the side of the road. My friend drove with her Jeep and we did make it to the end of the road. Thank God, I did NOT want to add 7 miles to this hike.

The Crockers & Redington Trailhead

Once we parked, we hiked past the yellow gate and about half a mile in, we turned right to follow a sign pointing us to the Appalachian Trail. We followed this until the summit of South Crocker. This has HIGH elevation gain as well. However, about a mile from the summit there are really cool rocks and views. Also, South Crocker has a really nice view point, it is the only viewpoint out of these three peaks. After South Crocker, we headed straight to Redington. Getting here is a trek. It’s suppose to be a bushwhack, but you can make out the trail. It is very tight, I hated this part.

After Redington, we hiked back to South, then finally, made our way to North Crocker. Again, this was a trek, there is no view but there is a summit sign on North Crocker. I did not like Redington or North Crocker, they were difficult for me. This is the AllTrails we followed. However, we did not do the loop. I advise hiking it the way we did because then you don’t have to hike another bushwhack and you avoid hiking another 2ish miles. This was definitely the hardest hike we did all week. I would never re-hike these peaks except for South but I don’t think my car could make it down Caribou Pond, so I will never be hiking these peaks again.

4. Sugarloaf and Spaulding

We hiked Sugarloaf and Spaulding from the ski resort. We did this because the other way involved driving back on Caribou Pond Road and neither one of us wanted to do that. So, we settled for the ski resort. Sugarloaf is located in Carrabassett Valley, Maine, which is about 40 minutes from Rangeley. In total it is about 10.6 miles with just over 4,000 feet of elevation gain. Sugarloaf is the third highest peak (4,250ft) in Maine and Spaulding is the 14th highest (4,010ft). From the ski resort, you will start at the Sugarloaf Super-quad. From here we were a little confused, we were suppose to find the Binder and or the Tote Road.

It was really unclear where the trail started from Sugarloaf. Eventually, we found a trail and after we hiked for a little bit, we did find we were on the Binder Trail. This way is STEEP. You will gain about 2,500ft of elevation gain in about 2-2.5 miles to the summit of Sugarloaf. The trail is all gravel and STEEP. I am very glad I had my hiking poles.

Getting to Spaulding

After the summit of Sugarloaf, we walked to the Appalachian Trail (beyond the helicopter pad and ski boundary rope). It is a LONG road to Spaulding. It took a good 2.5 miles to get to the summit of Spaulding. However, it is pretty flat until the last part getting to the summit of Spaulding. After, Spaulding, we hiked the 2.5 miles back to Sugarloaf. Then at Sugarloaf, we used the Tote Road back to the lodge.

At the lodge, we ate one of the best meals I’ve ever had at a ski resort. D’ellies is SO good, it’s located at the bottom of the ski resort of Sugarloaf. We had some of the best sandwiches and desserts we had throughout our entire trip. It is worth the stop. I believe they are open until 2pm and then on the weekends 3pm in the summer months. This was a difficult hike because of how steep getting to Sugarloaf and how long it took getting to Spaulding.

5. Saddleback and the Horns

Saddleback and the Horns was my FAVORITE hike we did in Maine. I am so happy we ended on these because both of them are stunning. I would re-hike these two peaks in a heart beat. They are easy to get to, very easy to follow, and stunning. They are both located in Rangeley, Maine. Saddleback is the eighth highest peak (4,120ft) and the Horn is the twelfth highest peak. Again, we hiked these via the ski resort.

We hiked this via the ski resort, but it was SO much easier to find where the trail started, Saddleback literally has signs telling hikers where to go. I don’t think it’s like this in the winter, because skiers will be on the trails, but in the summer the resort is very hiker friendly. It is STEEP getting to the summit of Saddleback however, it is NOT gravely like Sugarloaf. Also, once you get to the summit of Saddleback, the elevation gain levels out for the rest of the hike. Round trip, this hike is about 7.5 miles and almost 3,000 feet of elevation gain. These peaks aren’t super difficult. These would be nice second peaks to hike. However, my friend and I like getting the harder trails out of the way first, then relax on prettier hikes. So, maybe save this one for later in your journey.

6. Mount Abraham

Okay, sadly, Mount Abraham was on our list when we went to Maine, however, due to weather we did not get it done. But, we do plan on hiking it when we come back next summer. Abraham is located in Denmark, Maine, a little over an hour drive from Rangeley. Mount Abraham is the tenth highest peak (4,050ft). Mount Abraham round trip is about 9.5 miles with about 3,000 feet of elevation gain. People we met hiking said Abraham is beautiful and it’s very similar to Avery and West peaks with rock top summits. I believe there is a nice ridge line above tree line for the last mile or so. We want to hike this via the Fire Warden Trail.

7. North Brother

This starts our hikes within Baxter State Park. North Brother is the sixth highest peak in Maine (4,151ft). North Brother is typically hiked with South Brother, which is not a 4,000 footer. Round trip it is about 10.5 miles with about 3,600 feet of elevation gain. Most people hike it via the Marston Trail with South Brother. I can’t wait to hike Baxter State Park, it looks absolutely breathtaking. I will say Baxter State Park is in the middle of nowhere, so my friend and I are planning on camping when we hike here. You do need reservations to hike Mount Katahdin because it is so popular.

8. Hamlin and Katahdin Loop

Okay, the last 4,000 footers in Maine, yay! They are also located in Baxter State Park and you will need a reservation to hike Katahdin. Hamlin is the second highest peak (4,757ft) and Katahdin is the highest peak in Maine (5,269ft). Typically, these two peaks are hiked together. These can be hiked as a loop hike from Baxter State Park, being a total of 10.5 miles with about 4,500 feet of elevation gain, which is a lot. This will probably be the most difficult hike we do all throughout Maine. Good thing the views will be well worth it. This is how my friend and I plan on hiking these two peaks. However, many people hike Katahdin via the Knife’s Edge. The Knife’s Edge looks stunning but horrifying at the same time. What makes it so horrifying is following a TINY rock path with STEEP drop offs on both sides of the trail.

Maine 4000 Footers Patch & NH 48 Check list

Unfortunately, there is no Maine 14er patch, however, there is a New England 67 Patch and a Northeast 115 patch. The New England 67 includes all the 4,000 footers in New Hampshire, Vermont, and Maine. You can find more information about these and how to obtain your patch, here. One step further, you can hike ALL the 4,000 footers in the WHOLE Northeast, the Northeast 115 (use to be 111). You can find more information about this here. Lastly, if you want to start with the NH (White Mountains 4,000 Footers) 48, you can find more information about that here as well.

Overall

Overall, Maine doesn’t have super long hikes, but it is much more remote than the New Hampshire 48 trails. It’s very similar to hiking the Adirondack 46ers however, the Maine hikes aren’t nearly as long in mileage. I really liked my experience hiking in Maine, I thought it was difficult, but very rewarding (for the most part) with the views. I can’t wait to go back and hike in Baxter. Hopefully, this article was helpful to you, thank you so much for reading, and take care!