QUICK TRAIL FACTS
- Preserve Size: 337 acres
- Trail Mileage: ~6.5 miles in network
- Pets: yes
- Difficulty: easy
- Sights: ponds, woods
Beaver Park is a wonderful town park, open year round, that has been preserved in its “natural state.” It does requires a pass, either a day pass or annual one. Nonresidents and residents can purchase them from the town office or online. You can also pay at the entrance gate, at a little box near the large map. In 2025, the daily fee was $4 for nonresidents, $2 for town residents.
People fish, swim in, and ice skate on the bucolic ponds. The trails are mostly flat, wide, and quite smooth for forested paths, and groomed for skiing when the snow pack is decent. There are also picnic areas, softball diamonds and almost seven miles of easy trails through quiet conifer forests, with a few fitness stations along the way. The trail network has sign posts at all the intersections, and most of the trails are roughly blazed.
You can find a camping area on the perimeter trail called Jesup, on the west side of the park. As far as I could tell, there is no easy access to the marshy Salmon Brook that runs along a portion of this side of the park.
A well-maintained dirt road that circles the pond area (marked in orange on my map) lets visitors drive to the park’s highlights; it’s also enjoyable to walk. (It’s not plowed in the winter.) I’ve marked a few obvious places to park along this road, but it is easy enough to pull over in many other places to pick up a trail.
If you are drawn to whimsy, check out the Fairy House Trail! (It is along the inner fitness trail, marked in green on my map.) People have set up artistic little fairy homes along it, some even have short paths leading to their quiet spot in the woods. One of these is called Whisperwood Way. ☺️
In the spring, some of the trails might be wet, including the appropriately named Swamp Hollow Trail and J.P. Trail.
You’ll find a map here. You can also read a short history, which includes a timeline. Two of the ponds were created in the 1960s by a property owner who opened the area to the public before selling it to the state for parkland.
Directions: From downtown Lisbon, head out on Pinewoods Road and take a right on Cotton Road. The entrance to the park is on the right, about a half mile down Cotton Road. There’s lots of parking. Don’t forget your pass!
