QUICK TRAIL FACTS
- Preserve Size: 362 acres
- Trail Mileage: ~3 miles in network
- Pets: yes
- Difficulty: easy
- Sights: granite ledges, spruce-larch wooded bog, mountain holly-alder shrub swamp, red maple fen and swamp
This 326-acre preserve feels quite wild and out of the way. It helps (or doesn’t depending on your perspective!) that the driveway is a rough gravel road that can be a bit dispiriting for drivers of low-clearance vehicles.
After you park your car, you can start your loop beyond the fenced road (or do the loop the other way, the trail starts a few feet back along the entry road). After approximately 325 feet, you’ll see a trail on your left heading into the woods. This leg of the walk, the .6 miles or so to the small bog loop trail, is really beautiful, with ledges of blueberries and a marsh overlook.
From the bog loop trail, you can do a smaller walk of about 1.5 miles back to your car, or venture into the wilder part of the preserve. Midcoast Conservancy has posted a sign saying it doesn’t do much trail maintenance on this part of the preserve, so it can be a bit wet and wooly at times. (I somehow missed the ledges spur from this loop, unfortunately!) If you do the longer loop, you’ll add another 1.4 miles or so to your walk.
The trail system is well blazed and well marked, with helpful maps posted at trail intersections.
Directions: From Waldoboro Village, head north on Main Street, and veer right onto Old Route One. In 2.6 miles, turn right onto Goshen Road. Stay on Goshen Rd. for 1.8 miles, then stay straight onto the unpaved Burkett Mill Rd. where Goshen curves sharply left. Parking for the preserve is located on the left about .4 miles down the rough road.
