Grafton Notch State Park is a public recreation area in Grafton Township, Oxford County,

Maine Maine () is a state in the New England and Northeastern regions of the United States. It borders New Hampshire to the west, the Gulf of Maine to the southeast, and the Canadian provinces of New Brunswick and Quebec to the northeast and ...

. The state park occupies surrounding Grafton Notch, the mountain pass between Old Speck Mountain and

Baldpate Mountain Baldpate Mountain is a peak in the New York–New Jersey Highlands of the Reading Prong of Upper Pohatcong Mountain in Warren County, New Jersey New Jersey is a state in the Mid-Atlantic and Northeastern regions of the United State ...

. The park is abutted by the eastern and western sections of the Mahoosuc Public Reserved Land, which total . The park is managed by the Department of Agriculture, Conservation and Forestry.

History

In 1963, the state made its first acquisitions of the land for the park with the purchase of from Brown Company. The addition of 18 more parcels, many less than 5 acres, took place in the 1960s, mostly in 1964. The park boundaries were fixed with the addition on two one-acre parcels in 1977.

Wildlife

Songbirds, migratory birds and occasionally raptors (specifically eagles, falcons, and hawks) are spotted in this park by birdwatchers. Mammalian species such as

black bear Black bear or Blackbear may refer to: Animals * American black bear (''Ursus americanus''), a North American bear species * Asian black bear (''Ursus thibetanus''), an Asian bear species Music * Black Bear (band), a Canadian First Nations group ...

moose The moose (in North America) or elk (in Eurasia) (''Alces alces'') is a member of the New World deer subfamily and is the only species in the genus ''Alces''. It is the largest and heaviest extant species in the deer family. Most adult ma ...

fox Foxes are small to medium-sized, omnivorous mammals belonging to several genera of the family Canidae. They have a flattened skull, upright, triangular ears, a pointed, slightly upturned snout, and a long bushy tail (or ''brush''). Twelve sp ...

, bobcat, coyote,

fisher Fisher is an archaic term for a fisherman, revived as gender-neutral. Fisher, Fishers or The Fisher may also refer to: Places Australia *Division of Fisher, an electoral district in the Australian House of Representatives, in Queensland *Elect ...

, and

white-tailed deer The white-tailed deer (''Odocoileus virginianus''), also known as the whitetail or Virginia deer, is a medium-sized deer native to North America, Central America, and South America as far south as Peru and Bolivia. It has also been introduced t ...

roam on the hiking trails.

Geology

Grafton Notch reflects the glaciation processes carved by the Laurentide Ice sheet during the Wisconsin Glaciation episode. Notable geomorphology of the park includes U-shaped valleys, gorges, and esker. Erosional processes expose the unique bedrock composed of Devonian granite with pegmatite intrusions. Poorly sorted

diamicton Diamicton (also diamict) (from Greek ''δια'' (dia-): through and ''µεικτός'' (meiktós): mixed) is a terrigenous sediment (a sediment resulting from dry-land erosion) that is unsorted to poorly sorted and contains particles ranging in siz ...

and stratified gravel pits indicate glacial and glacio-fluvial depositional processes at work. Additionally, these processes scattered erratics over the u-shaped valley floor. Noteworthy gorges in Grafton Notch include Screw Auger Falls, Mother Walker Falls and Moose Cave. Screw Auger Falls is located within a steep gorge along the Bear River; when water levels are low enough, erratics are visible in the stream. Steep cliff faces and flat valley floor seen from Mother Walker Falls are characteristic of glacial erosion. However, responsibility for gorge formation is debated; "they may have formed while the ice sheet retreated north of the region and contributed a large quantity of meltwater, or more likely, they formed while the ice sheet covered the area and the subglacial water was under very high pressure". Whether a particular landform was created by local glacier or continental ice sheet is also still debated. Many pegmatite vein intrusions are visible around the water-eroded bedrock of the gorges.

Activities and amenities

The park's mountain scenery includes the Screw Auger and Mother Walker waterfalls and Moose Cave. Recreational opportunities include fishing, hunting, and picnicking. Hiking trails include a rugged stretch of the

Appalachian Trail The Appalachian Trail (also called the A.T.), is a hiking trail in the Eastern United States, extending almost between Springer Mountain in Georgia and Mount Katahdin in Maine, and passing through 14 states.Gailey, Chris (2006)"Appalachian ...

. The ice climbing in the area is extensive and offers a variety of climbing for the beginner as well as the advanced.

References

External links

Grafton Notch State Park
Department of Agriculture, Conservation and Forestry
Grafton Notch State Park and Mahoosuc Public Reserved Land Map
Department of Agriculture, Conservation and Forestry {{authority control State parks of Maine State parks of the Appalachians Protected areas of Oxford County, Maine Landforms of Oxford County, Maine Protected areas established in 1963 1963 establishments in Maine