Blackhead Road
Trail Info
Trail Stats
Maps / Tracks
References
Trail Info
Length: 9.3 km
Duration: 2-3.5h
Difficulty: 3
Cell Phone Service: Spotty
Crossing Smith’s Brook, the trail climbs again and eventually bends back to the left towards the ocean. At the bottom of the next hill, you reach a third, quite dilapidated bridge, and a trail on the left that takes you down to the Little Grappling beach. There are a couple of waterfalls on this brook as well, known as Little Grappling Falls. You can walk up the brook itself from the beach or bushwhack along the top of the gorge area. There used to be a trail here but it is grown in quite significantly (Fall 2020).
Past the third bridge the trail has grown in substantially and ends rather abrubptly. Retrace your route to return.
Hunting is allowed on these lands.
Duration: 2-3.5h
Difficulty: 3
Cell Phone Service: Spotty
Bio
This trail follows what is the old Blackhead Road. It starts off quite open but has grown into a single file hiking trail just after MacDonald’s Brook at the 1km or so. From there the trail climbs steadily up and then descends back down to another bridge. This bridge is in pretty rough shape, and it is easy to ford the brook on the right side if you feel uneasy about crossing.Crossing Smith’s Brook, the trail climbs again and eventually bends back to the left towards the ocean. At the bottom of the next hill, you reach a third, quite dilapidated bridge, and a trail on the left that takes you down to the Little Grappling beach. There are a couple of waterfalls on this brook as well, known as Little Grappling Falls. You can walk up the brook itself from the beach or bushwhack along the top of the gorge area. There used to be a trail here but it is grown in quite significantly (Fall 2020).
Past the third bridge the trail has grown in substantially and ends rather abrubptly. Retrace your route to return.
Hunting is allowed on these lands.
Trail Stats
Min Elevation: -3m
Max Elevation: 94m
Elevation Gain: 292m
Calories Burned: ~734kcal
Mean Incline: 11%
Mean Decline: 11%
Maps / Tracks
References
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5 Comments
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This trail is getting difficult. There are a couple of stream crossings, the bridge over MacDonald’s Brook has holes in the deck, and the drop down to Grappling Beach is a small cliff. Footing is also tough in some sections where the trail has become a snowmelt stream. It’s still manageable, especially if you don’t mind getting a little wet. The beach is spectacular!
I did this trail yesterday and it was not difficult apart from high water levels due to a heavy rainfall from the day before. Cell service was spotty in some spots but I had some for the majority of the hike. The 2 bridges toward the end of the hike are becoming dangerous. My dogs were able to cross the first damaged one but we were unable to attempt the last one. I would recommend doing this hike not immediately after a rainfall as the water comes off of the mountain and makes for a wet hike. I really enjoyed this trail and I will revisit it in the future! Happy hiking!
Thanks for this Dale. I was wondering if my dogs would be able to do it after reading the other comments. I may try this on snowshoes. Do you think that’s doable?
Hey Doran, the trail is suitable for dogs, with caution around bridges 2 and 3. Minus a couple of brook crossings to deal with, it is also a good time with snowshoes.
At bridge #3 it seems easiest to just turn left and hike down to the beach. Fabulous views are the opposite of what we’re used to seeing in river Bennett- north shore. Would like to hike up the waterfalls, maybe in. Drier season— august?