This mountain hike features a 400-year-old legend and great views of Camden Hills

BANGOR DAILY NEWS • October 15, 2020

Rising 1,103 feet above sea level, Hatchet Mountain features a wide, zigzagging trail that leads to open views of the Camden Hills and the ocean beyond. A major landmark in the town of Hope, the mountain was named after a local legend about two Native American groups in the region. According to the Hope Historical Society, the story is that two warring groups — Tarrantines and the Wawenocks — called a truce after two years of war and gathered in Hope to talk peace in 1617. As a symbol of goodwill, they buried a hatchet on the side of the mountain that overlooks the village, beside a great boulder. They then turned the boulder over onto the burial spot, and since then, the mountain has been called Hatchet Mountain.