Saddleback Mountain and the Berry Picker's Trail

The Appalachian Trail in Maine and the lands described in this document are located on lands in the traditional territory of Wabanaki Confederacy, including the Penobscot (Eastern Abenaki, Penawahpskewi, Penobscot). The Wabanaki Confederacy is a coalition of five Algonquian tribes of the eastern seaboard, banded together in response to Iroquois aggression in the mid 17th century. In Maine, the Abenaki, the Penobscot, the Maliseet, the Passamaquoddy, and the Micmac all retain their own political leadership. It can only be hoped that in the future more of the A.T. landscape in Maine, as an overlay and construct on the traditional territory of the Wabanaki people, can be stewarded and protected in a way that reflects these traditional uses and concepts of life forces which provide for people and other things in the world.

In 2003, very little of the region was conserved, despite the numerous environmental and outdoor recreation assets. Since that time, due to the work of numerous conservation organizations like the  Maine Appalachian Trail Land Trust ,  The Trust for Public Land ,  Northeast Wilderness Trust ,  High Peaks Alliance ,  Appalachian Trail Conservancy , the  Maine Mountain Collaborative  and others, this special region has seen increased land protection, as indicated in the before and after maps below.

Conservation efforts with additional partners like  The Nature Conservancy ,  Rangeley Lakes Heritage Trust  and  Forest Society of Maine  continue today.

An article in  Appalachia  documents an ascent of Saddleback Mountain from Madrid, Maine, on June 22, 1839 by Josiah S. Swift.  Swift’s descent was over a route used for many years, probably even before Swift’s journey, by residents of Madrid and West Phillips to pick mountain  blueberries  and  cranberries  in Saddleback’s alpine zones. A side-by-side comparison of the present-day route with Swift's shows that the present trail is much the same as the old route. Until 1979, the historic route was maintained by the landowner, Bronson W. Griscom.  It has been maintained sporadically by locals since.