SKOWHEGAN — Lake George Regional Park Director Jeff McCabe is looking to 2012 — the 20th anniversary of the park — as a time for a new truck, a new lawn mower and a new map and brochure outlining the park’s 10 miles of scenic trails.

The new glossy maps and brochure about the park were supported through a grant from Move More Kids, a program funded by the New Balance Foundation. Printing costs were covered by Redington-Fairview General Hospital.

McCabe said he will distribute the brochures to area businesses as a way to promote the park in anticipation of its anniversary. Maps will be available in the next couple weeks at area businesses and through the Skowhegan Area Chamber of Commerce.

Maps also will be available at trail heads and park kiosks.

“I think that early on, some people saw the park as an experiment and now know it has become a resource for folks of all ages to enjoy during all four seasons,” McCabe said. “In the last five years I have shifted focus to address the park’s immediate infrastructure needs — addressing safety and aesthetic concerns of the park with fresh paint, updated signage, new roofs, dangerous tree removal and looking to build a plan for the next 20 years. We must maintain what we have but we need to grow our financial base and fundraising long term.”

The 320-acre lakeside park off U.S. Route 2 is owned by the state of Maine and leased to the towns of Skowhegan and Canaan. The park is managed by the Lake George Corp., whose members are appointed in equal numbers from both towns.

The newly designed brochure was created by Community GIS (geographic information systems) of Farmington and will replace the park’s current system of four brochures, according to McCabe, a state representative from Skowhegan.

Lake George, which is 1 1/2 miles long, sits in a valley surrounded by four hills.

The west side of the park has a series of trails that climb the hill and skirt the shore, including the 2.8-mile Porcupine Trail and its vernal pools, McCabe said. A nearby island is a popular picnic place.

The east side of the park offers an easy network of trails for hiking and are groomed for cross-country skiing.

The east side trail network is known as the Alphabet Trails because every intersection has a corresponding letter, McCabe said. Visitors can wander into the network and when they want to turn around, they can follow the intersections down the alphabet back to A and the trail head, he said.

Some of the more interesting features of the trail include a large, glacial erratic boulder near intersection Q and a stand of Red Pines near intersections I and O. The length of the trail is 7.3 miles.

Lake George Regional Park operates on user fees, program fees, grants, donations, special funding events and the contributions of volunteers, McCabe said.

Doug Harlow — 612-2367

dharlow@centralmaine.com

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