Sagadahoc County High Point Trip Report
Whitten Hill (630+ ft)
Date: January 17, 2004
Author: Dave Covill
This is a very short walk on a tower access road. It was very cold, maybe about 10 F,
and blowing gently, with maybe 5-7 inches of snow cover. There are
several ways to approach the area, including from the east on route 197 from
Litchfield Corners, and beyond to an exit from I-95 two to the north from Brunswick,
and from the south near West Bowdoin and route 125, a bit northeast
of Lisbon. Since my friend and college buddy Dave Beneman and I were already in
Lewiston/Auburn, we chose to approach from the west on route 126 from Lewiston
(Sabattus Street), and drove about ten miles east on it to the junction with
route 197, just east of the town of Sabattus. Zero odometer here. We reached
the Androscoggin-Kennebec county line at 2.0 miles. We reached West Road, noted
differently on the Maine DeLorme as Berman, I think, at mile 3.4 miles. We
turned right and drove south into Sagadahoc county, passing over the Maine
Turnpike at mile 4.1 (not to be confused with I-95, which parallels it to the
southeast by 15 miles from Portland to Augusta, where they re-merge).
"Sagadahoc" is pronounced with the accent on the first syllable,
with the other syllables trailing along behind it.
Resist the temptation like I had to emphasize the third syllable.
Proceed south 1.6 miles further from the turnpike crossing, uphill slightly,
to mile 5.7. Here you are at the shoulder of Whitten Hill, just west of it,
and will note a modest tower structure up about 30 feet and 100 yards at most from
the road. There is a minor chain, and it was full of snow, so we parked at the
road edge. There was no signage about trespassing that we noticed. The fence
around the tower and building was shut and pad-locked. We felt that the high
ground was about 2 feet higher outside the fence to the south side, near a
stonewall marking the lot edge. We couldn’t find a register. There is no view
at all here, although a modest one opens up westward by the trailhead,
as it were.
Total time out of the car was about 5 minutes.