Maine’s land trusts offer miles of hiking
Explore the trusts and parks preserved by Maine’s conservation efforts.
Beech Mountain, Acadia. PHOTO: CAREY KISH.
By Carey Kish
MAINE’S LAND TRUSTS encompass a bounty of beautiful woods and waters that preserve not only traditional forest uses but also a wide range of recreational opportunities. Hikers in particular can revel in the hundreds of miles of trails constructed on these lands that are open and available for exploration on foot.
Over the last half century, several million acres have been preserved across Maine from the coast to the mountains, protecting important wildlife habitat, scenic natural landscapes, and precious public access. This effort has made a national leader in conservation, not only in acreage but also in the number of land trusts and conservation organizations, which now number nearly 100 under the umbrella of the Maine Land Trust Network.
This wasn’t always the case. Conservation lands in Maine were few until the 1970s. Baxter State Park, Acadia National Park, the Allagash Wilderness Waterway, Moosehorn and Rachel Carson National Wildlife Refuges, the White Mountain National Forest, and some two dozen state parks accounted for just 1% of Maine’s landscape.
That all started to change when increasing development pressures and a growing population started to change the traditional character of the Maine coast, sparking a grassroots movement to protect and preserve the coastal islands, salt marshes, and headlands. The conservation easement became the popular legal means of land protection, followed later by outright land acquisition. Initially just the State of Maine and a handful of conservation organizations and land trusts operated in the conservation arena, but soon a burgeoning number of citizens’ groups entered and formed their own local land trusts.
Over time, eight highly popular Land for Maine’s Future bond initiatives made tens of millions of dollars available to conservation groups statewide, providing the critical funding necessary for protecting many special threatened places from the coast to the interior. In Maine’s vast North Woods, sweeping changes to the paper industry and its operations lead to the sale of large swaths of timberland, threatening traditional uses like forestry and recreation. This upheaval created new and unforeseen opportunities for conservation, and over the next two decades, many land protection projects of notable size and scale were secured. At the beginning of 2024, an estimated 4,357,462 acres, or 22.2% of Maine’s land area, is under some form of conservation protection, reflecting a 10% growth in the past ten years.
Here is a sampler of great land trust hikes:
Francis Small Heritage Trust, Inc.
Limerick, Maine
Hike through the Sawyer Mountain Highlands, the largest unfragmented block of undeveloped land in York and Cumberland counties. (Website)
Portland Trails
Portland, Maine
Amble through the green spaces and historic neighborhoods of Portland, Maine’s largest city, on the sinuous route of the 10-mile Forest City Trail. (Website)
Georges River Land Trust
Rockland, Maine
Follow the Georges Highland Path up Ragged Mountain for grand views ranging from Penobscot Bay to the White Mountains. (Website)
Island Heritage Trust
Deer Isle, Maine
Explore the fascinating human history and understated natural beauty of the Edgar Tennis Preserve on wonderfully rural Deer Isle. (Website)
Acadia National Park
Mount Desert Island, Maine
Stroll along Beech Cliff and Canada Cliff, then up to the old firetower on Beech Mountain for great views over Mount Desert Island. (Website)
Shackford Head State Park
Eastport, Maine
Meander along dramatic oceanfront headlands, wild and scenic gems located in sight of the easternmost city in the U.S. (Website)
Greater Lovell Land Trust
Lovell, Maine
Clamber up to the immense cliffs atop Sabattus Mountain for a panoramic vista ranging from Pleasant Mountain to the Baldfaces. (Website)
Mahoosuc Land Trust
Bethel, Maine
Trundle over the extensive bald summit ridge of Rumford Whitecap Mountain for delicious blueberries in high summer. (Website)
Kennebec Land Trust
Winthrop, Maine
Climb the 60-foot firetower on Mount Pisgah for fine views west over Androscoggin Lake to the Presidential Range. (Website)
Maine Audubon
Falmouth, Maine
Enjoy two alpine-like peaks and three mountain ponds in Borestone Mountain Sanctuary on the edge of the 100-Mile Wilderness. (Website)
The Appalachian Mountain Club’s Best Day Hikes Along the Maine Coast and Maine Mountain Guide are excellent resources for these and hundreds of other great hikes.
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Green & Healthy Maine is published by TheSunriseGuide, LLC. This article originally ran in the 2020 SunriseGuide.