WALKERS & HIKERS 

  It has been our privilege and choice to share our piece of the Maine landscape, Mines and our family mining history with the public at large.

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    We have met people from all over the country and the world who have walked up the mountain to see the Mines, take in the view, enjoy the fall foliage or marvel at the ice in the wintertime Mines.

We have a long standing relationship with the local snowmobile club, Wild River Riders and have never posted our land to hunters. We do however prohibit all types of off road vehicles on our property due to their potential to damage our roads and some riders lack of respect for private property.

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    We would like to continue our tradition of open access, but we have as they say run into a conundrum.

As we transition into a business involving our property, we have  given much thought  on how to reach a balance between our visitors who are paying for a tour or rock hounding for the day and the folks who  have historically walked the loop to see the Mines and enjoy the view.

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   To be frank we have invested a sizable amount of capital, time and energy into our current venture and like all investors we are hopeful of a return on that effort.

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  Unfortunately sites like Tripadvisor, without our knowledge or permission have advertised our property as part of the National Forest and open to the public which it is not.  We have made efforts to have that  

misinformation removed, but have had no response from Tripadvisor.

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  However the biggest advertisement has been "word of mouth" by businesses and individuals locally. 

 The last thing that we want to do is to close our property to people who have enjoyed it for years, but again we come to the issue of fairness. After much thought and discussion we have decided to take the following course of action:

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 Once we commence operations in May and until we close in the fall  casual hikers and walkers who would rather not pay will be prohibited from accessing the property between the hours of 8:00 am and 4:00 p.m.  At this point in time we believe this is the best solution. This information will be posted at the entrances to the property. Our open access policy will resume after we cease operations later in the fall.

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  HOWEVER, we are aware there are many who enjoy our property and are regular visitors. And our allowed hours may not fit their schedules.

  To accommodate them Wheeler Bros. Enterprises has decided to offer a limited number of year round anytime hiker and walker  passes to the property, called "FRIENDS Of THE WHEELER MINES".

   The pass will allow the holder to visit as often and at the time they  would like to come. The pass is for walking or hiking only and does not include specimen collecting.  We understand that some may be upset with this change, but again it is the issue of fairness to our paying guests.

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The cost of a pass for one year will be $75 dollars . 

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  Click here if you are interested in purchasing a pass.

 

Thank you

Wheeler Bros. Enterprises 

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