– By ELLEN S. GIBSON

Special to the Maine Sunday Telegram

The White Mountain National Forest is one of the most popular outdoor recreation areas east of the Mississippi.

But on a Friday in mid-July, at the edge of the forest on the Maine and New Hampshire border, the trails are uncrowded and the pace is unhurried.

You can access the area from Route 113 through Evans Notch, between Gilead and Stow. Whether you are a hiker, a swimmer, an intrepid historian, or just “driving for pleasure,” there’s many reasons to explore this scenic 25-mile stretch.

If you start from the north, enter from Route 2 in Gilead, 10 miles west of Bethel. Immediately the pace changes, the clocks turn back, and you can begin to unwind. You have entered the White Mountain National Forest. The road is narrow and tree-lined. The few houses are often vintage camps from the 1920s and ’30s. There is no commercialization. No gas stations. No convenience stores.

The road itself was built by the Civilian Conservation Corps in the mid 1930s. There were two CCC camps built, each housing about 200 “CCC boys,” as they were called. One camp worked on the northern end of the road, the other on the southern end, and they worked toward each other. The road, constructed before the advent of the heavy machinery used today, was built with shovels, picks, and dynamite. It is considered to be one of the greatest legacies of the CCC in Maine.

A WILD RIVER

Toward the west, the Wild River flows north over glacial rubble. In early summer, the water is low, but come spring, laden with snow melt, the river will live up to its name. Bridges put up in earlier times to access Gilead and bring out timber were continually washed away and rebuilt.

Highwater Trailhead is the first of several along the route. (The CCC also built and maintained miles of trails in the area.) Here the river turns away from the main road. A right turn into the parking lot gives you access to several trails and the suspension bridge, just a short walk away.

A sign on the bridge warns parents to beware of the cold water, slippery rocks, and strong currents. On a hot afternoon in July young children were squealing and splashing below the bridge, while their older siblings explored along the shore and tried out new fishing poles. More serious anglers are drawn by native brook trout in this most beautiful river, as well as stocked rainbow and brown trout.

CAMPING

For those who want to camp, continue on the dirt road that follows the river another five miles to access the Wild River Campground, one of the most remote campgrounds in the White Mountain National Forest, located just over the state line in New Hampshire.

For those who prefer to stay closer to the beaten track, the Hastings Campground is just a short way down 113 from the Highwater turnoff.

The campground at Hastings memorializes a thriving logging town that once was here, but succumbed to excessive clear cutting and a devastating fire in 1903. In 1933, the site of the village became the northern CCC camp.

CHOICES OF TRAILS ABOUND

The Caribou Trail skirts the Caribou/Speckled Wilderness Area (3.4 miles) or you can take the Bickford Brook Trail up Speckled Mountain (4.1 miles). The Basin Trail will take you to the Wild River Campground (4.5 miles).

On a Friday, most of the trailhead parking lots were empty. On the weekend, the only overflowing parking lot was at the base of Baldface. A good reference book for hiking trails in the White Mountains would be a good investment to plan for the length and difficulty of these hikes.

VISTAS

As you continue south along 113, there are several not-to-be-missed vista points. One vista marks the ridge dividing the Androscoggin River watershed on the north from the Saco River watershed on the south.

On one side all the surface and underground water runs down into the Saco and on the other side it drains into the Androscoggin. The character of this area is a complex mix of geological, biological, and cultural history. It encompasses many ecosystems, from alpine zones over 4000 feet to aquatic habitat of the surface streams and a complex forest ecosystem in between.

After years of destructive logging practices, the U.S. Forest Service purchased 41,000 acres from the Hastings Lumber Company in March, 1914, and so began a new era of public ownership, conservation and preservation.The purchase was made possible by the Weeks Act of 1911, which authorized forestlands on the East Coast to be acquired and preserved as national forests.

Without this act, the White Mountain National Forest would not exist. The centennial celebration of this landmark legislation will take place on July 29 in Pinkham Notch. (For more information, contact www.weekslegacy.org.)

THE BRICKETT HOUSE

Any properties on the land acquired also came under federal ownership. The Brickett House is one such property. Don’t miss a chance to view this house, even if only from the outside. Listed on the National Historic Register, the house has just reopened after a complete restoration of the downstairs by the National Park Historic Site Preservation Crew. The house is open only on weekends and holidays, from 9:30 a.m. to 3:30 p.m.

Built by John B. Brickett around 1830, the house is a fascinating architectural study of brick and granite construction. Brickett was a subsistence farmer with a fine aesthetic sense. The bricks were made of clay from the banks of the Cold River and fired on-site. The windows and doors were all restored, the bricks and chimney were repointed, and the floor joists shored up. The paint on the newly plastered walls has barely dried.

The house used to contain a pictorial timeline of the history of the area, but its new interpretive role has not been decided. Since 1914, the house has been used in many ways. Early on it was a ranger station, and from 1948-1955 it was a hut maintained by the Appalachian Mountain Club.

STONE HOUSE

A short ways south from the Brickett House is a road to the left simply marked “Stone House Road.” A mile down this dirt road is a parking area and the trailhead for several trails. One summits Rattlesnake Mountain. Another very easy 2.3 mile loop circles Shell Pond and takes you past the Stone House.

This intriguing house was built by Abel Andrews and his sons over several years in the early 1850s. The stone house was built from granite slabs quarried from Rattlesnake Mountain, some as large as 10 feet long and 15 inches thick. Abel’s descendants owned the house until 1917. It’s now in private hands and is not open to the public, but the surrounding grounds (called the airstrip) are like a lovely private park. Besides giving you a glimpse of the house, there are great views of Baldface Mountain.

COLD RIVER CAMP

Back onto Route 113, just before you pass out of the national forest is the Cold River Appalachian Mountain Camp (www.amccoldrivercamp.org). It’s easy to miss the entry to the 100-year old lodge and cabins where generations of families return year after year. Guests stay in cabins without electricity or running water. Two meals a day are served at the lodge, and at breakfast, a table is set up with food for the trail. You can take daily guided hikes or strike out on your own. As one hiker described it, “Because the road [113] is closed off in the winter, there is no skiing and no resorts. As a result, the area is undeveloped, uncrowded, and absolutely gorgeous.”

Her words echo in my ears as I continue down Route 113, ohhing and ahhing over yet more mountain vistas, past well-kept farms toward Stow and North Fryeburg.

The first commercial place I reach is the Stow Corner Store at the junction of 113 and 113B loop. I decide to buy an ice cream and do the whole tour again in the other direction. I’m not ready to return to the real world yet.

Ellen Gibson is a freelance writer who lives in West Paris.