WILLOW CREEK — The Maine Bureau of Parks and Lands has awarded a $180,000 Recreational Trails Program grant to convert the abandoned Aroostook Valley Lumber railbed into a year-round multi-use trail, the Gazette has learned.

The project, to be called the Mattawamkeag River Trail, will convert the 14-mile right-of-way into a recreation corridor suitable for hiking, cross-country skiing, mountain biking, and snowmobiling. The trail will follow the Mattawamkeag River from the Willow Creek Trailhead to the Mattawamkeag Lake Overlook.

“This is an economic development project,” said First Selectman Arthur Whitcomb at the announcement ceremony. “This is a statement that Willow Creek is open for a different kind of business than it has known for the last eighty years.”

The grant will fund trail construction, signage, parking areas, and the replacement of two of the three original wooden railbed bridges dating from 1908. The Aroostook County Recreation Council and the town of Willow Creek will share the required 20% local match of $36,000.

“This is the most important thing to happen to Willow Creek since the mill reopened,” said Stu Peller, who testified in support of the grant application. “The mill brought back jobs. The trail will bring back people.”

Construction is expected to begin in spring 1987, with the first segments opening by summer 1988. The full 14-mile corridor is projected for completion within three years.

Jed Thorne noted that the trail corridor follows a route used for centuries. “The Wabanaki used this path to travel between the Mattawamkeag and the West Branch,” he said. “Loggers used it to haul timber. The railroad used it to carry lumber. Now it will carry people on foot, on skis, on bicycles. The purpose changes, but the path remains.”

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