Region
Most climbed route
Highlights
- Sugarloaf Mountain is the 2nd highest mountain in Maine after Mount Katahdin.
- Flanked to the south by fellow New England 4000 footer Spaulding Mountain.
- The Appalachian Trail passes about a mile to the west of the summit, and the summit is reached by a 0.6 mile side trail. This side trail and a trail down the east side of Sugarloaf was originally part of the AT, but the AT has been relocated down the north side of the mountain to the west of the ski slopes.
- Sugarloaf USA, a major ski resort, is located on the north side of the mountain.
Routes
2 climbs • 13.0 mi • 4,601 ft gain • 11 hr 45 min
1 climb • 12.9 mi • 4,467 ft gain • 7 hr 47 min
1 climb • 9.4 mi • 2,622 ft gain • 6 hr 17 min
Latest climbs
"3rd mountain with Mike and Tina on a beautiful day. 4,900 feet of elevation and 13.5 miles in the traverse. Long descent down service road. Nothing too sketchy, just down and up to ski area. " — lfrancois • Jun 21, 2024
"Good weather today for the Abraham, Spaulding, Sugarloaf Traverse. Over 13 miles until we finally got to the base lodge. Really magnificent views from Abraham and Sugarloaf. Over 4500 EG. " — Alohabuffy • Oct 13, 2019
"Rain was forecast. Got an early start and went out to Spaulding first - very cool to see the spot where the AT was completed! Summited Sugarloaf 2nd - it was the only "disappointing" summit (because of the wreckage at the very developed summit) in Maine. Met a very nice young woman and hiked with her for much of the trip. Except for the steepness at the start (and end) this was a pretty easy hike. The rain started just as I came out of the woods to head to my car." — PJSelmer • Jul 6, 2019
"A long day of peak-bagging along the east side of Caribou Valley. Hit Sugarloaf first, then Spaulding then down over and up to Abraham. Finished up with a bushwhack to the old logging road by the pond and then a road march in the dark back to the car, 18+ miles in beautiful pre-fall weather." — JASTA11 • Sep 23, 2018
"We decided to tackle these peaks from the Sugarloaf ski resort as we had some concerns about taking our dog up the ledges on the trail off Caribou Pond Road. We used the access road on the way up and made quick work of Sugarloaf. The trek over to Spaulding was not challenging at all, but the return to Sugarloaf had me panting more than the dog. The descent down grassy ski trails was not nearly as hard on the knees as people noted in previous trip reports. It was a great day with great weather. " — hikertotown • Sep 2, 2018
"1.5 day trip to work on NE 67.
Day one: Old Spec in the morning
Saddleback and the Horn in the afternoon
Day two: Sugarloaf and Spaulding in the morning.
Saw lots of AT Hikers, got real sweaty, roughed it on some really great maine mountain trails and slept in my car falling asleep with the Milky Way above. What a trip!" — shay-shay • Sep 22, 2017
"I hiked in from Caribou Valley Road (which is not gated .5 miles from where the AT crosses the road adding 1 easy mile to any round trip) and carried in 20 beers to leave by the AT crossing for NoBo thru hikers that I knew would be coming by that way during the day. My plan was to snag to more 4000 footers and also meet Kim by Spaulding Mountain and hike some miles on the AT with her. I headed in at a good pace and made it up to Sugarloaf faster than I had anticipated. I made it to the Spaulding junction on the AT just as two NoBo hikers I knew (Fireball and AT) were taking their morning break. We hung out for a bit and I offered to let them drop their things off down by my car and Slack Pack the last 8 miles down to the road crossing outside of Stratton and I would then bring them their things. " — LGH-Tom • Sep 13, 2016
"What a great day for a hike, (other than the heat and humidity). Oh who am I kidding it was still a great day for a hike. We started out on the Caribou Pond Road, hit the AT and crossed the stream. This year the plank was in place and the water was low. So far so good. The sky was overcast. We hiked over to Spaulding and returned to do the peak of Sugarloaf. So it was another two'fer again this week. There wasn't much of a view from Spaulding and it was just a little bit better when we hit the top of the 'loaf. We met a lot of south bounders. including Sticks, Manley Tranasaurous, Wallaby, Brightside, and two kids from VA with a border collie pup. I named her Dog Walker and him Ramen Noodle." — bwright • Jun 23, 2013
"Huge storm on way down from summit. Lightning and complete downpour started while at top of Superquad. Sprinted down Tote Road and made it to base in 15 minutes from Superquad." — wskendal • Sep 4, 2011
"sugarloaf, maine USA bushwack from the base of the West chair to the AT crossing on the brook crossing , climbing to the cirque on the nw side of sugarloaf mt. to the summit. return to the parking lot via west side ski trails. " — mr • Sep 9, 1998
Awards
Challenges
About peakery awards
Log climbs on peakery to earn awards:
Peak Badges: Earn a special badge for each unique peak you summit. See all of your badges on your Badges page.
First Ascent Award: Only 1 available per peak. Goes to the first peakery member to log a successful summit of a peak. Snag this award and the peak will forever bear your name.
King of the Mountain Award: Only 1 available per peak. Summit a peak more times than any other member. Beware: this award can be lost!
Summit Steward: Summit a peak at least 5 times to become one of its Summit Stewards. As Steward of a peak, you’re encouraged to keep that peak’s info up-to-date on peakery and spread goodwill on your future climbs up the peak.