The Devil's Footprint Sits at a Trailhead, and the Woods Behind It Just Got Bigger

"I will sell my soul to the Devil for this rock to be moved." That's the line the Town of Manchester gave a frustrated road worker in its October–December 2026 newsletter, which retells "The Legend of the Devil's Footprint." In the story, the crew goes home for the night. The next morning the boulder has moved to where it sits now, in the stone wall around the cemetery at the old Manchester Meeting House. Deep red marks are pressed into it, and one worker never comes back.

The parking area beside that wall on Scribner Hill Road is the trailhead for the Allen-Whitney Memorial Forest. This year, the conservation land around it grew by 94 acres. Manchester's best-known story is about a rock that wouldn't move. It marks the front door to the town's largest stretch of woods, and the land trust has just made sure that stretch stays protected.

One rock, several versions of who stepped on it

The town's own historic resources inventory calls it "Footprint Rock." It describes "one larger footprint, and one smaller footprint implanted in the granite." It also records two explanations. One is the worker's bargain with the Devil. The other is that the rock was a trail marker made by Native Americans traveling through Manchester.

The folklore has grown its own branches over the years:

• The bargain and the vanishing. This is the version in the town newsletter. Maine Magazine's October 2021 roundup of the state's spookiest places tells it the same way, citing J.W. Ocker's The New England Grimpendium, and places the rock in the cemetery wall.
• The chase. Atlas Obscura's 2012 entry adds a version where the Devil chases a man across the rock. It describes a cloven-hoof mark alongside an impression that looks more like a human foot.
• Two prints, two owners. New England Legends pairs the marks differently. One print belongs to the Devil and the other to the man who sold his soul.
• The guard at the gate. A 2017 account on Mysterious Writings reads the marks as a single hoofprint with possible human prints and a tail-like swoop. It also reports a ghostly figure said to guard the cemetery gate.

Every version agrees on the location. The wall is part of a burial ground, identified locally as Scribner Hill Cemetery, on the east side of Scribner Hill Road. The rock is easy to see from the trailhead lot. Keep a cemetery visit quiet and short.

The building next to the rock moved too

The North Manchester Meeting House was built in 1793 as a Baptist church in East Readfield and relocated to North Manchester in 1839. According to the town's planning inventory, people who had settled in what is now North Manchester grew less willing to travel to church in East Readfield. "After ten years of discussion, the building was dismantled, moved, and reassembled where it has stood for almost two centuries."

So the boulder in the legend moved overnight, while the real building next to it took a decade of debate and a full teardown. The town counts the Meeting House among its three most notable locally important historic buildings, along with Manchester Community Church and the Manchester Grange. All three are owned by private nonprofit organizations. The Kennebec Journal reported in 2017 that nearly 200 people came to the site to dedicate a granite monument to minister Isaac Case. For anyone plugging it into a phone, the Kennebec Journal's preview of that dedication gives the address as 143 Scribner Hill Road, not Route 17.

The kiosk a few steps from the wall

Trailhead parking for the Allen-Whitney Memorial Forest is at the Meeting House. A kiosk built by Eagle Scout candidate Philip Harrington marks the start of the trails. The forest belongs to the New England Forestry Foundation. NEFF's current trail listing puts it at 711 acres and links a 2025 recreation map. NEFF has managed the land continuously since a management plan was drawn up in 1950, and the first parcel was deeded to the foundation in 1955.

The town's trail page estimates about four miles of trails. It describes hilly terrain where most routes suit intermediate to advanced skiers and snowshoers, and it notes the trails are not groomed. Walkers, mountain bikers and horseback riders are welcome in the warmer months. Some trails cross snowmobile routes maintained by the Manchester Country Riders, and trail users are asked to yield to sleds. Allen-Whitney is also a working forest, so logging can close sections from time to time. NEFF's directions say parking runs along both sides of Scribner Hill Road near the lot shown on its map.

Ninety-four acres on the far side

On the south side of Shedd Pond, the Kennebec Land Trust ran a campaign to buy a 94-acre parcel next to Allen-Whitney. KLT's campaign page says the effort launched in December 2025 to support wildlife habitat and recreational connectivity. It also says the combined KLT and NEFF lands give public access across more than 960 acres.

The Town of Readfield's August 2026 Messenger reported the campaign complete. It raised the money to buy 94 acres in Manchester and Readfield, contiguous with 850 acres of NEFF and KLT conservation land around remote Shedd Pond. The newsletter says the purchase expands public recreation and protects wetlands, forests and water quality in the Cobbossee watershed. The same issue calls the parcel the Shedd Pond Addition to Gannett Woods. KLT's existing Gannett Woods and Wyman Forest property allows hiking, cross-country skiing, fishing and in-season hunting, with snowmobiling on designated trails.

Manchester's newsletter says KLT plans to improve the existing trails for year-round use and is asking for donations for the expansion. KLT hosted a guided community walk at the Shedd Pond Addition on June 8, 2026. The Meeting House kiosk and the Allen-Whitney trails are the established way into this block of woods. The new acreage protects what lies beyond them.

Planning a walk around the hunting calendar

That same newsletter reminds residents, "Hunting season is here! DON'T FORGET YOUR ORANGE OUTDOORS!" The town's trail page says Allen-Whitney is open to all in-season hunting and asks trail users to wear blaze orange. NEFF's hunting regulations don't list Allen-Whitney among its no-hunting or bow-only forests. NEFF bars shooting across established walking trails and recommends bright clothing for visitors during the season. Under Maine law, hunting on Sunday is illegal.

Here's how the next six weeks line up, using the 2026 deer dates from the Maine Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife and Manchester's own calendar:

Saturday, October 24 is the busiest day on this list. The Grange, one of the three nonprofit-owned historic buildings the town names alongside the Meeting House, hosts more than 30 crafters in the morning. Trunk or Treat runs on Western Avenue that evening, and youth deer hunters are out in the woods the same day. Sunday the 25th has no hunting in the forest and Hope Baptist's free indoor trick-or-treat in the afternoon, which makes it a natural day to stop by Footprint Rock and walk a loop from the kiosk before candy. Through November, all three of the remaining Sundays are hunting-free. The Surry Hill hike needs advance registration through KLT.

Season dates and hunting rules come from the state and the landowners, so check the IFW and NEFF pages linked above before you head out. This post is general information, not legal advice.

The town newsletter still lists Turkey Bingo and Breakfast with Santa as "TBD," so the town calendar is the place to watch for those dates.

At Hoang Realty, we love the places in our towns where a 1793 meeting house, a granite legend and 960-plus acres of open woods all start from one gravel lot. If you live off Scribner Hill Road and want to talk about what that land next door means for your property, or you're looking for a home near trailheads like this one, Hoa and our team are happy to talk. Start Your Search with us.