We hiked Mt. Megunticook in early May which, if you remember the weather in New England this year, was basically rain, pause, rain, tease of sunshine during the workweek, repeat. So naturally, when we started our hike, it was cloudy and looked like it might rain. Spoiler: it did. More on that later.

There’s a fee to enter Camden Hills State Park (where the trailhead is located):

• Maine resident: $4 per person
  
  

• Non-Maine resident: $6 per person
  
  

There’s also a “bathroom” of sorts at the trailhead, and dogs are allowed on leash.

Camden Hills State Park has a variety of trails and actually two mountains you can easily hike together. Along with Mt. Megunticook, you can trek over to Mt. Battie—and personally, I think it’s worth it. This trail isn’t super long or overly challenging.

From the parking lot, you cross some newly built bridges that had a bit of a wiggle to them, maybe from the wet ground, or maybe they were just feeling playful. After the bridges, the real hike begins! We followed the Megunticook Trail, which starts with a steady incline right away. The good news? Once you reach the peak at about 1.3 miles in, you’ve tackled most of the uphill work. From there, it’s mostly downhill… sort of.

Like I’ve said in other posts (and on the podcast), always look behind you. Through the trees, you can spot the ocean—on a clear day, it’s breathtaking.

We hiked this loop counterclockwise so we could also hit Mt. Battie after Megunticook. There’s a shorter route to the top called Adam’s Lookout, but we didn’t take it. AllTrails was handy for deciding whether to take shortcuts or the scenic route.

The Ocean Lookout is the real highlight. On a nice day, it offers sweeping views of Camden Village, Penobscot Bay, and the gorgeous midcoast of Maine. From there, it’s just another half mile or so on the Ridge Trail to reach Mt. Megunticook’s summit.

The trails were generally well marked and easy to follow, though there were a couple of moments where we second-guessed ourselves and leaned on AllTrails for reassurance. In the end, we made it back to the car just in time!! As soon as we closed the doors, the sky opened up and it poured buckets.

We also made our way over to Mt. Battie, which you can actually drive to if hiking isn’t in your plans. The views are similar to Ocean Lookout but bring you closer to Camden and the water.

After escaping the downpour, we headed into town for a warm coffee and a treat at Owl & Turtle Bookshop Café. It’s the cutest little bookshop/coffee shop combo. I sipped my latte while happily poking around the bookshelves—10/10 recommend.