Windham Community Forest's New Accessible Trail Opens Into Its Most Shared Month

The lot at 189 Falmouth Road has a new name, Atherton Hill Trailhead. From there, a path of compacted stone dust climbs at a gentle grade toward a view of the White Mountains. It was built so wheelchairs and strollers can make the trip, and it opened with a ribbon-cutting on Saturday, Oct. 17.

Two weeks later the woods around it change. Maine's Resident Only Day for deer is this Saturday, Oct. 31, and the firearms season runs Monday, Nov. 2, through Saturday, Nov. 28. Hunting is allowed throughout Windham Community Forest. So the newest and easiest trail in town gets its first full month of use while the forest is shared most heavily. A November walk there depends on the hunting calendar as much as the trail map.

What changed on Falmouth Road

On Sept. 8, the Windham Town Council voted to rename two neighboring preserves as one property: Windham Community Forest. The Bangor Daily News reported that the Council created an 11-member East Windham Steering Committee in January. The committee narrowed the possible names to four, put them to a FlashVote survey in mid-August, and passed the results to the Council.

The two entrances got new names too:

The combined forest covers 1,104 acres. The Town of Windham owns it, and the Presumpscot Regional Land Trust holds a conservation easement and helps manage it. PRLT also says the forest is part of a conservation corridor of more than 2,000 acres, larger than any state park in Southern Maine. A 30-mile trail network links it to North Falmouth Community Forest and Blackstrap Hill Preserve.

Town Council Chair Mark Morrison told the Bangor Daily News he hoped the new name would "help promote this area as a recreation hub, bringing more visitors to Windham to experience this outdoor destination." That goal is one reason the November rules matter. More visitors on Falmouth Road means more people arriving without knowing the forest's hunting policy.

The trail built for the widest range of visitors

The Universal Access Trail runs from Atherton Hill Trailhead to the White Mountains Overlook. The Bangor Daily News reported that it was designed "with a low grade and smooth path so wheelchairs, strollers, and other users with mobility concerns have access to the outdoors," and that the Land and Water Conservation Fund paid for part of it.

Sources give slightly different lengths. The Bangor Daily News calls it a one-mile trail. PRLT's property page lists it at 1.13 miles each way, all compacted stone dust with gradual elevation changes. If you're planning around a stroller nap or limited energy, count on a round trip of a little over two miles.

The trail joins a network that was much harder to use before. Last summer, the Windham Eagle quoted Windham Parks and Recreation Director Linda Brooks describing the planned trail as "a fully compliant mile of compacted stone dust trail" that would reach the overlook. Until it opened, the gravel Blue Trail was the gentlest way to the overlook. The 3-mile Purple Trail circles the northern area and is the only way to reach Little Duck Pond. PRLT warns that the Purple Trail has steep stretches, roots and rocks, "especially by the pond."

So the overlook is now open to people the Purple Trail would turn away. Many of them may be new to these woods, and November is when they'll find out the forest is open to hunting.

A forest open to many uses, hunting among them

PRLT lists the activities allowed in Windham Community Forest as hiking, running, mountain biking, horseback riding, snowshoeing, cross-country skiing, snowmobiling, ATV riding, hunting and fishing. Snowmobiles and ATVs are limited to certain trails. Hunting is not limited to any area. PRLT's wording is that "Hunting is permitted throughout the preserve, subject to state and local laws. Please wear blaze orange during hunting season." The town's listing for the Lowell Farm side also says hunting is allowed and asks visitors to be safe and wear orange.

PRLT's Executive Director Will Sedlack described the arrangement to the Bangor Daily News as making sure "these spaces provide both a great place for the community to recreate year-round and for wildlife to thrive in perpetuity." Hunting has been part of that year-round use all along.

November, day by day

The Maine Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife publishes the deer season dates. These are the ones that overlap a fall walk in Windham:

IFW's deer hunting rules prohibit hunting on Sundays. That means three Sundays fall inside the firearms season: Nov. 8, Nov. 15 and Nov. 22. Nov. 1 and Nov. 29 are also Sundays, one just before the firearms season and one between it and the muzzleloader week. Thanksgiving, Nov. 26, is a Thursday, so it is an open hunting day.

PRLT asks for blaze orange during hunting season, and the forest is open from sunrise to sunset. Four details to keep in mind for a November visit:

1. Sundays are the days the state's deer hunting rules prohibit hunting.
2. Blaze orange during hunting season is what PRLT and the town's Lowell Farm listing ask visitors to wear.
3. The forest closes at sunset. Short November afternoons make the sunrise-to-sunset hours a practical limit.
4. Use the Universal Access Trail if you want a predictable surface and a set destination.

This is general information, not legal advice. Hunting rules are set by the state, so check IFW's pages for the current version before you go.

Which trailhead once the snow comes

The two trailheads are not the same in winter. PRLT's winter trails page says the large parking area off Falmouth Road at the Atherton Hill side is plowed and open all winter. The same page lists Lowell parking next to the East Windham Fire Station but doesn't say whether that lot is plowed. PRLT notes that the Lowell Farm lot is shared with the baseball field and fire station.

That gives Atherton Hill an advantage after the first storm. It's the trailhead with confirmed winter parking, and it's where the Universal Access Trail starts. Snowshoeing and cross-country skiing are both on the forest's list of allowed uses.

The Lowell Farm side has different terrain. According to the Windham Eagle, the two-way multi-use technical trail called Odyssey opened in May, and the one-way, bike-only "Stove Up" and "Hung Down" loop opened in June. Both were built with funding and volunteer work from the Greater Portland chapter of the New England Mountain Biking Association. Brooks also told the paper that some of the shorter cut-through trails at Lowell had been closed. If you knew the old Lowell shortcuts, expect your usual loop to look different.

Two dates before the month turns

The town's Windham Trails Passport Challenge ends Saturday, Oct. 31. Stamp stations include Atherton Hill Trailhead and Lowell Farm Trailhead, along with Donnabeth Lippman Park, the Mountain Division Trail, Windham Community Park and Black Brook Preserve. The Windham Eagle reports that finished passports are due at the Parks and Recreation office by 4 p.m. on Thursday, Nov. 5. Oct. 31 is also Resident Only Day, which falls within the hunting season when PRLT asks forest visitors to wear blaze orange.

That same Thursday evening, the town calendar lists a Conservation Open House from 6 to 7:30 p.m. in the Town Hall Council Chambers at 8 School Road. The steering committee that picked the forest's new name was also charged with setting up a process for a master plan for the property, according to the Bangor Daily News.

If you're out on the Universal Access Trail this fall and want to talk about life near Falmouth Road, from the trailheads to the details of a move, I'm glad to compare notes. Michael Mahoney is happy to hear from you. Let's Connect.