GRAFTON TOWNSHIP – Jon Metcalf expects a busy weekend today and Sunday at Grafton Notch State Park on Route 26 between Newry and Upton.

Metcalf is the ranger of the park, which, like Maine’s 34 other parks and 22 historic areas, opens for the season Saturday.

park visitors will notice lots of improvements.

All of the scenic area turnouts along Route 26 now sport brand new safety signs. Needed road shoulder work has been completed, and there are new interpretive panels in the park.

Crews are also expected to finish installing cedar rails and granite posts at Mother Walker Falls and Moose Cave this season.

And for 10 weeks from June through the end of September, a Maine Conservation Corps trail crew of AmeriCorps workers is expected to address environmental and safety issues on the Eyebrow Trail by installing rock steps, waterbars and other drainage devices.

“This whole park is going to be that much better off,” Metcalf added.

As for critters and remaining vestiges of winter, one bull moose has been spotted below Screw Auger Falls, “but there are lots and lots of tracks everywhere,” black flies “will be here with a vengeance shortly,” and plenty of snow and ice remains on trails in higher elevations.

“Hikers should be cautious on the Old Speck Trail due to snow and ice. There was quite a bit up there last week,” Metcalf added.

In other Parks news, Patrick K. McGowan, Maine’s Commissioner of Conservation, opened the state parks’ 65th summer season Friday at a brief ceremony at Range Ponds State Park in Poland.

And, despite gas prices at the pumps now topping $2 in many towns, Parks and Lands Director David Soucy is expecting a rise in visitors at Maine’s state parks this summer.

Camping reservations, he said, are up four percent over last year, and resident reservations are up seven percent.

“We expect to see more Mainers than ever this summer, as it seems that people will be vacationing close to home,” Soucy said.

[email protected]