Mt Cutler and the Conservation Committee

The Town of Hiram recently acquired the Mt Cutler property in 2018 through a grant from the Land Water Conservation Fund (LWCF) The total amount of the grant was for a little over $112,000 which was used to purchase the land and create a new parking lot off of Hiram Hill. (to be completed summer of 2019)

Mt Cutler has about five miles of hiking trails, all described in the Appalachian Mountain Club (AMC) Maine Mtn Guide and many other publications.  There are two trail heads;  the Hiram Hill Road trail head will be improved with a new parking lot (summer of 2019) large enough to accommodate more than a dozen vehicles, this will become the primary trail head once the parking lot is completed. The historic trail head is located off Mountain View Ave.  You can find additional information regarding the trails in our download section below. The current Mt Cutler Trails Guides show the existing trails and parking. This will be updated when the new trails and parking lot have been completed. 

The public lands on Mt Cutler now consist of two parks: The Mt Cutler Park is the newly-acquired land owned by the Town of Hiram, about 175 acres including most of the half-mile-long main ridge of the mountain and all of the lands to the north of that ridge. The North Trail starts on Hiram Hill Road, where the new parking area is to be developed, and gives access to both the main ridge and to the front ledges with views over Hiram Village. The other park is Merrill Park, owned by the Hiram Development Association, which also owns the Hiram village square park. Merrill Park is about 25 acres on the front of the mountain, across the RR tracks from the original Mt Cutler Trails parking area. This 25 acres has the original Barnes Trail leading to the front ledges and continuing up to the main ridge of the mountain. Merrill Park also has historical features such as centuries-old water wells and Hiram's "Gold Mine." Together, the two parks provide about 200 acres of lands always assured to be available for public use for hiking, hunting, nature study, and magnificent views.

The Conservation Committee has been reestablished to oversee the managing of this park and other town owned properties. They continue to seek assistance from outside agencies such as Maine Chapter AMC, Healthy Sacopee Hikers, high school students and other groups to maintain, repair and establish the trail system. 

The mission of the Committee is to restore, protect and beautify publicly owned spaces by partnering with other groups, working with Town Departments and enlisting volunteers. Through the cooperation with land owners, we hope to encourage these same goals on private property as well.