NEW GLOUCESTER – A Monarch butterfly lit on the white blossom of Queen Anne’s Lace on a bright late summer afternoon in September.
The field is abloom with asters, black-eyed Susans and clover. The fragrant aroma of mint from a bygone herb garden drifts through the air along a newly carved nature path.
Educator and naturalist Michael Gelsanliter of Scarborough heads up the Shaker Woods Nature Walk through field and forests in the 1,900-acre Sabbathday Lake Shaker Village on Route 26. The public weekend tours, by reservation only, are part of an educational outreach program at the Shaker Museum.
For more than 200 years this community has been home to the Shakers, a religious sect, whose four remaining members live at the historic village. It is the last active community of Shakers in the country.
Gelsanliter talks about the natural history, Shaker land use history and how the trail system was formed. The nature trail begins in the south end of the village at the carriage shed. It cuts across hayfields that have long served the residents of the Shaker community before it enters the woods at the far boundary.
The old road has been used for more than 100 years as a means to harvest hemlock, pine, ash, oak and balsam fir. Wildlife uses the trail. There are signs of wild turkeys and ruffed grouse.
The remains of Camp Jennie built in 1938 is seen along the trail by the lake shore. Shaker children visited the cottage.
According to legend in the early 1700s, the first white explorers gathered at Loon Point by Sabbathday Lake’s shores every Sunday to visit with each other and share tales of their backwoods adventures. The name “Sabbath-day Pond” came from the Abenaki word, “sabaday” or “sabada” meaning provision cache or thoroughfare.
A beaver pond now vacant forms the amphitheater for an outdoor classroom funded by the Davis Family Foundation.
In the deep woods emerges Aurelia’s Falls, named for Sister Aurelia Mace, a Shaker school teacher for many years, who took younger children to the cascade on the mill stream on hot summer days.
The trail flows through vestiges of an old county road that was the major thoroughfare into western Maine. It wasn’t until 1816 that the Shaker Village became part of New Gloucester and what is now Route 26 was constructed.
The final walk of the season is Oct. 4, and reservations for it may be made by phoning the Shaker Museum at 926-4597. A fee of $5 per adult and $2 for children 6 and older is charged.
Leonard Brooks, director of the Shaker Museum, said a day-long nature educational program is available for students in grades 3 and up. That program aligns with Maine’s Learning Results to focus on science and Shaker history. Teachers may phone the Shaker Museum for more information.
Other trails
Pineland Public Lands trails: Off Depot Road. Two trails on either side of the road at the Gray-New Gloucester line form a network through Department of Conservation land. Parking lot and signs welcome walkers.
Bradbury Mountain: Route 9 in Pownal. This State Park offers a trail system to the top of Bradbury Mountain where on a clear day one can see the ocean.
Poland Springs Nature Trails: Information at the Maine State Building.
Thorncrag Nature Sanctuary: On Montello Street in Lewiston. This preserve offers trails for walkers.
Streaked Mountain: Off Route 117 in Buckfield; signs lead to the trail from the road where vehicles can park.
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