Connecting Sunday River and Mt. Abram: The Grassroots Push for Western Maine’s New Multi-Use Spine

Maine shares 611 miles (983 km) of border with Canada—the third-longest international boundary among U.S. states, trailing Alaska and Michigan. Across its northern and western perimeter, the state shares a continuous wilderness with southern Quebec. This cross-border connection has shaped the outdoor culture of western Maine.

A multi-use trail corridor in western Maine connecting two major ski areas is getting a facelift. 

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In the 1800s, the Grand Trunk Railway linked Portland directly to Montreal. Canadian and Scandinavian winter sports traditions emigrated to the Mahoosuc Mountains. Skiing originally served a practical purpose in the regional logging industry, where workers used wooden skis to travel between isolated winter timber camps. Over decades, local snowmobile clubs formalized these old logging roads. This historical network laid the groundwork for the multi-use pathways managed today.

Patchwork Trails and Handshake Deals

Historically, outdoor recreation in Western Maine operated as a decentralized network. As reported by Visit Maine, the area’s modern Nordic skiing identity developed in the 1980s through independent operations like Carter’s XC Ski Center. Trails relied on informal handshake agreements between private landowners and local snowmobile clubs.

This patchwork left public access vulnerable to property sales. When historic trails faced closure, unique local solutions emerged. For example, Oxbow Brewing Company purchased a legacy cross-country ski lodge in Oxford, converting the property into a brewery and beer garden to keep the adjacent trail system free for public use.

While local businesses stepped up to save parts of the trail, a systemic shift toward a unified, protected network required a catalyst. As reported by the Lewiston Sun Journal, in 2007 a major flood and microburst damaged large sections of municipal forest. The storm opened unexpected opportunities for timber harvesting and formal trail development.

To manage this landscape, a local volunteer trail subcommittee, Mahoosuc Pathways, formed in 2011. Recognizing the need to scale the network, the group appointed Executive Director Gabe Perkins—a regional advocate specializing in municipal planning—in 2014, eventually rebranding as the non-profit Inland Woods + Trails (IWT).

Connecting Sunday River and Mount Abram

The central blueprint of the project is a 13-mile corridor designed to link the region’s two major alpine hubs: Mount Abram Ski Area & Bike Park and Sunday River Resort. Known as the Community Access Trail System (CATS), this spine ties together existing local networks by routing traffic directly past the Bethel Regional Airport, Valentine Farm, Davis Park, and through the heart of Bethel Village.

Instead of cutting steep, single-track mountain bike lines, crews are building a six-foot-wide crushed stone pathway. The design accommodates everything from Nordic skiers and casual hikers to adaptive athletes traveling from Newry’s Maine Adaptive program. The trail crew has affectionately branded CATS entry kiosks with playful names like Lynx, Kitty Litter, Whiskers on Kittens, and Zoomies.

Funding Realities and Resort Involvement

The ski resorts—Mt. Abram and Sunday River—are the geographic anchors for the proposed 13-mile route. While both resorts support regional trail connectivity to boost year-round tourism, neither has issued formal statements regarding final construction. The full realization of the project remains conditional and dependent on future funding. As reported by the Lewiston Sun Journal, a segment is temporarily stalled; the final section of the trail near Vernon Street has been un-walkable since 2023 due to flooding from Kendall Brook, which ultimately destroyed the connecting bridge in the spring of 2025.

To execute the critical Vernon Street re-route, IWT is actively working to raise a targeted $50,000. While the organization’s overall operations have scaled massively—boasting over $3.2 million in net total assets and an annual operating budget of roughly $727,000—their baseline funds are locked into maintaining the primary 80-mile system, leaving independent projects reliant on targeted community fundraising, public grants, and sustainable forestry. IWT manages the 2,358-acre Bingham Forest property, where selective timber harvesting generates revenue that helps pay property taxes back to the landowner town of Newry while funding localized trail construction. This proactive maintenance is critical due to shifting weather patterns.

During a Bethel Select Board meeting addressing climate change, Perkins noted that “stewardship matters as much as snowfall.” As reported by the Lewiston Sun Journal, this mindset drives IWT to invest heavily in off-season infrastructure. Crews build larger culverts and clear trails during the summer to ensure the network survives volatile weather in northern New England.

Future-Proofing the Valley

While skiers and snowboarders are well served by Sunday River and Mt. Abram, the broader outdoor economy remains vulnerable to climate instability. This community-oriented corridor provides an essential economic safeguard, expanding the regional footprint to keep the mountain valley active across all four seasons.

Execution rests on IWT‘s ability to secure land and navigate municipal frameworks. The organization is already scaling beyond its initial blueprint. As reported by the Lewiston Sun Journal, IWT recently secured a three-year lease on the historic 1924 Central Fire Station in nearby Rumford. This facility establishes a regional operations hub, gear library, and housing for trail crews.

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Perkins remains undeterred by the immediate planning board and financial bottlenecks. The IWT has set a rigid 10-year horizon for full realization of the project. If federal capital aligns with their ambitious expansion strategy, Western Maine will shape its fragmented trails into a unified, climate-resilient outdoor network for generations.