Trying to locate land owner north of kokadjo (Dover-Foxcroft, Greenville: rental, insurance)

[birdinbob]

Hello all,

On a recent visit to Maine we were staying at the Kineo View Lodge Motel and decided to drive to Little Kineo Mountain and do a hike. At the point after Kokadjo where the pavement ends we beared left and continued along Spencer Bay Rd. Approx 3-4 miles down this road I was unlucky enough to get 3 flat tyres at the same time. The LDW I took out with the car won't pay out because its says the road was "not a maintained solid road". I would take issue with this as the road is maintained although not by the State of Maine, and I would say the surface although stone chips was actually on a solid base. Anyway, does anyone know where I can find out who owns the land so I can try and get clarification from them as to the status of the road.
If they say it's a solid road then I might be able to get my money back from the rental company, if not then it turns into an expensive lesson in where and wherenot to drive whilst on holiday in a rental vehicle.
Many thanks in advance for any info.

Regards


Bob

[deerislesmile]

I would think that your best bet would be to call the Greenville town office and ask if the road is maintained by the town or the state. If not, I guess they might know who owns the property. If it's private property, though, it's likely not going to fit the definition of a maintained road, is it?

[Coaster]

The land north of Kokadjo is Unorganized Territory. Call the Land Use Regulation Commission 207-287-2631. They keep track of land ownership up there. I think it might be Plum Creek, but the ownership patterns have gotten pretty jumbled in the past ten years.

[birdinbob]

Many thanks for that both of you. I have emailed both of your suggestions and am awaiting any reply.

regards

bob

[Coaster]

Just out of curiosity, how did you happen to get _three_ flat tires at the same time?

BTW, a third possibility is to contact the Piscataquis County Register of Deeds office in Dover-Foxcroft, the county seat, 207-564-2161.

[birdinbob]

Hi Coaster

I have no idea how this happened. We travelled along a simlar road last year
when we went past Katahdin Iron Works to the trailhead to hike to Gulf Hagus. Last year I drove at a maximum of 20 miles an hour as this was suggested so that tyres didn't get shredded. Must have travelled 40 miles in total along this gravel road without mishap.
This year again I drove slowly. We did however pass a vehicle coming the other way that looked like it had half a snowplough in the middle. Poor description I'm afraid. It was smothing the gravel and pushing the excess towards the road edge. I can only assume some sharp debris (nails screws etc) got disturbed and i was unfortunate enough to run over it. Could have been cr** tyres... but who knows.........
Thanks to the replies I managed to speak to a lady in Seattle who works for the land owners and she did confirm that I was travelling along that road at my own risk.
For my future reference I have been trying to find out from the various rental companies if they have any additional Insurance available to allow travel along similar roads. So far it seems not, which is a pity because there are some fantastic places "off the beaten track".