KINGFIELD – A $500,000 donation from a Boston-based athletic shoe company will sponsor the construction of the first 12 huts envisioned along a 180-mile recreation trail stretching from Bethel to Moosehead Lake.

The system is intended to offer nature-based tourism and boost economic development in the region.

The first hut will be built in Carrabassett Valley near Poplar Stream Falls on land-leased from the Penobscot Indian Nation. A ground-breaking will most likely be coming in April or May, Western Mountains Foundation Executive Director Dave Herring said Monday. The Western Mountains Foundation in Kingfield is spearheading the Maine Huts and Trails system.

The first phase of the system is estimated to cost $4.5 million. The foundation has raised about $3.9 million with Monday’s announcement of the $500,000 gift from New Balance Foundation. The Massachusetts-based organization is a charitable foundation established and funded by New Balance Athletic Shoe Inc., which has manufacturing facilities in Maine in Norridgewock, Norway and Skowhegan.

The initial phase will consist of three huts and 36 miles of trail running from Carrabassett Valley in Franklin County north to The Forks in Somerset County. Besides the Carrabassett Valley hut, two others are proposed to be built, one on the east shore of Flagstaff Lake and the other on the east shore of Dead River above Grand Falls.

The Carrabassett Valley Planning Board approved the hut in that town this past spring and the organization will apply for permits from the Maine Land Use Regulation Commission for the other two first-phase huts.

Each of the rustic huts will accommodate up to 40 guests.

The entire hut and trail system is projected to cost $11 million, Herring said. Land for the project will either be bought outright, leased or have an easement agreement.

“We’ve begun construction on about 12 miles of trail,” Herring said.

Besides hiking, snowshoeing and skiing, there will be plenty of paddle opportunity for canoeists and kayakers and peddling by mountain bikers, he said.

The trail system will have its own identity and uniqueness, but it will cross the Appalachian Trail a few times along the corridor, Herring said.

The New Balance Foundation was approached by Western Mountains Foundation and the company really liked that it was a large project and would have a positive impact on the entire state, Charitable Program Specialist Molly Santry said.

They also liked the close proximity of the project to New Balance’s Maine businesses, Senior Corporation Communications Manager Kathy Shepherd said.

It would give New Balance’s 1,000 or so associates and their families a place for recreation as well as project volunteer opportunities, such as trail maintenance.

The company also wants to work with the Maine foundation to develop programs, she said.