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NORWAY — Having begun trail work in April, the Western Foothills Land Trust completed Phase I of the new Witt’s End Trail on Nov. 23 in time for a dusting of snow and generous servings of turkey.
The 2.5-mile mountain bike, hiking, snowshoeing and Nordic ski trail truly took a village to build. Major funding was supplied by a $34,000 Recreational Trails Program grant, which is managed by the Bureau of Parks and Lands, Maine Department of Agriculture, Forestry and Conservation. Additional funding was contributed by several generous community donors.
Due to proximity of Witt Swamp, the proposed trail demanded considerable permitting and design work: three DEP permit-by-rule applications, one DEP Tier I application, a trail corridor walk with the Norway code enforcement officer, site inspections with two DEP biologists and a presentation to the Norway Planning Board. There are 31 culverts along the 2.5-mile corridor. The name of the new trail, Witt’s End, was inspired by the series of complications.
Scott Stone of Schiavi Homes found a subcontractor, Levesque Excavation, to donate a needed culvert for the Pleasant Street trailhead. The trailhead and parallel parking area was contributed by the town of Norway. Two sections of the trail, where the land trust holdings were thought to be too wet for trails, were built on private lands with trail permits with the owners.
The trail corridor was opened by teams of volunteers, mostly mountain bike enthusiasts, rallied by Pete Toohey of OCCHS and John Harvey of Green Machine. Once the corridor was open, trail designer Mike Cooper of Caribou Recreational Development LLC followed with his crew to install stream crossings and machine the trail bed.
In July, eight members of the 2015 Oxford County Conservation Corps, a service learning team of 15-to 17-year-old trail builders worked at the beginning and the end of the trail where machining was inappropriate. In September, 22 Hebron Academy volunteers packed in heavy building materials to a small stream near Pleasant Street where volunteer carpenters built a 110-foot elevated walkway and bridge. In preparation for completing the trail through to Pleasant Street, land trust volunteers kept up the pace through the fall clearing and swamping the corridor in front of the excavator and mulching the corridor behind.
The Witt’s End Trail has been in use consistently through its construction by bikers, hikers and dog walkers. It has a 3-foot-wide machined bed, banked for mountain bikes. While not designed for ADA-compliant accessibility, it is a gentle and generous trail that works well with children’s carriages. The trail meanders along and through stone walls and glacial erratics and enjoys an interesting series of woodland habitats including, pine, cedar, balsam, hemlock, basswood, beech and maple.
To experience the new trail, either park at Shepard’s Farm Preserve, 121 Crockett Ridge Road, or parallel park at the Pleasant Street trailhead which is approximately 1.5 miles north of Main Street. If a subsequent RTP grant is funded for 2017, the trust plans on rehabilitating a ¾ mile section of the old Witt Cart Road, creating an enjoyable loop in the system.
The Witt’s End Trail provides an in-town, non-motorized link between Norway’s Crockett Ridge Road and Pleasant Street. The trail more than doubles the 2 miles of mountain bike trails at Shepard’s Farm Preserve and allows runners and bikers a sweet 5 mile out-and-back if desired. Intended to be an asset for healthy living and recreation in the Oxford Hills, the trail accommodates a broad range of ages and abilities.
Designed also as a draw for mountain bikers, the trail intends to be part of Norway’s economic revitalization.
