Trail Running at Moose Point State Park
No, I haven’t taken up running…but Ken’s visiting from Boston AND training for the Athens Greece Marathon…so he’s been exploring a few of the running options over the past couple of days…
In his words…
About ¾ of a mile down the road, Route. 1, from Searsport Shores Ocean Campground is the Moose Point State Park directly on Penobscot Bay. While this park is not by any means huge it is a gem of a place to sit, relax and read, walk or run the wooded trails. There are no bad options here. Being a big advocate of trail running that is my focus today.
Head down out of the campground south to Belfast, the Park is on the left and offers three trails. The first thing that should be mentioned is the smell on the trails and it is phenomenal. The pine saturated with the ocean salt air makes for an incredible running accompaniment. You will notice this in the first two seconds upon arrival on the trails;
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No city obstacles here: asphalt, concrete, cars, traffic lights, bikes cars, baby walkers or pedestrians are all thankfully missing; it’s about as close to heaven as running allows. It’s just the sound of crashing waves, fresh air, and natural ground. If you remember jumping up and down on mattresses for fun as a kid that’s what its like running here on beds of pine needles.
It’s bouncy and fun. I start out of the Big Spruce Trail. About ¼ mile is the Big Spruce. According to the 2007 sign posted, the spruce is 32 inches diameter, 70 feet high and about 100 years old. Continuing on is Moose Point
The view is spectacular. I feel very lucky to be alive and healthy to run well in such a beautiful place. The trail merges with the Moose Trail and the entire loop is just about 1.2 miles. I run it three times today. No worries, as there is water fountain at the beginning of the trail. While the run up Route 1 is not especially scenic, the shoulder is wide and safe and it’s well worth it once your reach the park and encounter the ocean views, grass parkland and shaded open trails. For a nice change back consider a run along the beach to the campground. It’s a fun easy loop.
Also in early July be sure to enjoy raspberries that grow deep red, ripe and sweet on bushes beside the ocean as a post run treat. Its all Classic Maine at its summer Best.