Mount Agamenticus Keeps Its Own November Calendar

Out on the water, the season is over. On York's Mount Agamenticus, the conservation program says the reverse is true: "Fall is the busiest season at Mount A, and stewardship efforts are in full swing," according to the Mount Agamenticus Conservation Program. Maine's firearms deer season runs through November 28. The parking fee ends after November 15. Rangers are cutting the summit back to shrubland. The program also has two evening events on its November calendar.

Here is how those dates fit together for anyone who treats Mount A as their regular hike.

The Calendar, Date by Date

Deer Season Sets the Rhythm of the Week

The Maine Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife's 2026-27 season schedule puts the firearms deer season at November 2 through November 28, 2026, for every wildlife management district. Statewide muzzleloader season follows from November 30 to December 5. Sunday hunting is illegal in Maine under the state's general hunting laws. That makes each Sunday this month the one day with no deer hunting anywhere in the state.

Mount A allows hunting, under conditions. The site rules permit hunting, trapping and fishing "in accordance with the management policies of each landowner," since the conservation region is made up of more than one property. The rules also set a buffer: no weapon may be discharged from or within 300 feet of any picnic area, parking area, public trail or other developed area, and loaded weapons aren't allowed on the trail tread. Park management can also temporarily post work areas and heavily used areas as closed to hunting.

The same rules ask visitors to stay on authorized trails. For details on a particular parcel, the rules send visitors to that parcel's landowner. This is general information, not legal advice. The IFW schedule and Mount A's posted rules are the authority on what applies on a given day.

The Fee Comes Off Halfway Through Hunting Season

The admission fee schedule runs on its own dates. From September 1 through November 15, a single non-commercial vehicle pays $2 an hour between 7 a.m. and 4 p.m. You can pay through ParkMobile in zone 79889 or with cash at the yellow "Iron Ranger" boxes. One stands near the trailhead at the Base and one sits near the Big A Trail sign at the summit. Starting November 16 there's no hourly fee until April 14, though the program still takes donations.

The fee ends on a Monday, so the free stretch begins with nearly two weeks of firearms season still ahead. The money pays for real work. The program says all hourly fees, group fees, season passes and donations "directly support our trails, facilities and outreach and education efforts." Parking is first come, first served all year, and spaces can't be reserved.

A few things don't change with the season. Mount A is open from sunrise to sunset, and everyone has to be out by sunset. Dogs are welcome on a leash. The access road is a public road with a 15 mph limit. Portable toilets are at the Base all year and at the summit only seasonally. The Learning Lodge is closed for the season. In a normal year it opens to the public from noon to 4 p.m. on most weekends between Memorial Day weekend and Indigenous Peoples Day.

What the Rangers Are Doing at the Summit

If the summit looks freshly cut this month, that's on purpose. The program's fall stewardship update describes rangers "carefully cutting and wood chipping tree species while leaving the surrounding shrubs." They do this every year to keep a 15-acre summit swath as a "perpetual young forest," or shrubland. The program calls that habitat rare in Maine and important to wildlife including snowshoe hare and American woodcock.

A new 70-foot curved boardwalk now runs along the edge of a vernal pool, built by rangers while conditions were dry. The program says it protects the habitat, keeps an emergency rescue route open and will double as an educational platform. The site rules separately ask visitors not to disturb wetlands or vernal pools.

At the summit, the Friends of Mount Agamenticus, a volunteer advocacy and stewardship group, is raising money to improve the Big A Universal Access Trail. Donations go through the group's Big A Trail fundraising page.

Two Evening Programs on the Program's Calendar

Mount A's general hours run from sunrise to sunset. The conservation program's own November calendar lists two evening events, both run by staff and partners with registration.

The first is "Reach for the Stars," now on Friday, November 13, from 7 to 8 p.m. at the summit, after it was moved from October 16. The Astronomical Society of Northern New England sets up telescopes, and the evening starts upstairs in the Learning Lodge. It's free with registration through York Public Library, and the program says it is at capacity.

The second is open for registration. On Monday, November 23, from 6 to 8 p.m., Mount A leads what it calls a nighttime hike to the summit of First Hill "under the light of November's supermoon." The rain date is Tuesday, November 24. The route is short and set in advance:

1. Meet at the Base parking lot at the Ring Trailhead.
2. Head west on Ring Trail.
3. Climb to the summit on Witch Hazel Trail for tea or hot cocoa.
4. Come down on Fisher, then retrace Ring Trail to the lot. If the trail is too rough for the return, the group walks down the summit road.

The full loop is just over two miles at moderate difficulty, with rocky stretches and short climbs. Headlamps are required, and the program keeps a few spares. It costs $10 per person, paid at registration through the program's checkout page, and the money goes to the conservation program. Mount A says prior hiking experience is "highly recommended." The hike falls during deer season, on a Monday, after dark, and with a staff-led group.

Daylight Hikes Through the Solstice

York Parks and Recreation's community calendar lists two more organized walks. One is a hike from Mount A to Highland Farm Preserve on Sunday, November 15, from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. Since it's a Sunday, no deer hunting is allowed statewide that day, and it's also the last day of the hourly fee. The other is a Winter Solstice Sunrise Walk on Monday, December 21, from 6:30 to 7:30 a.m.

Poems on the Way Up

The last date on the calendar asks for something from visitors. According to Mount A, it began with an anonymous poem left in the Little Free Library outside the Lodge steps. For the past two seasons, the Lodge has asked visitors to write a haiku about a moment in nature and leave it for others to read. This winter and spring, the usual StoryWalk route to the summit becomes a trail of community poetry.

Submissions go by email to the program. Poems must be original and no longer than two pages, and should include the writer's name, age and town of residence, though anonymous poems are welcome too. Poems for the winter posting are due December 20. The spring deadline is March 19.

If you hike Mount A through the winter, you'll have watched the summit get cut back, the fee come off and Sundays stay quiet through deer season. Those things are part of knowing a place well, and we bring that same attention to property along this stretch of coast. If you're thinking about what your own corner of York or Cape Neddick is worth this winter, Adrienne Robinson and Elaine Prendergast would be glad to talk it through. Request a complimentary market consultation.