QUICK TRAIL FACTS
- Preserve Size: ~88 acres
- Trail Mileage: 1.5 miles
- Pets: yes
- Difficulty: easy
- Sights: Castner Brook
The first 0.2 miles of this Coastal Rivers Conservation trail, to the bucolic Castner Brook, follows a wide, flat, crushed-stone path, designed to be fully accessible. It’s pleasant and shady as it passes under some tall hemlocks and other trees.
Once you cross the stream, the accessible trail ends. The path continues along a 1.1-mile loop, gaining a bit of elevation as it advances toward a power line. The trail charmingly weaves around and over a couple of old stone walls. (I visited the preserve when the trail seemed to be in development, so it hadn’t been blazed yet.)
Castner Brook is a tributary to the Damariscotta River, and trust says protecting the land from development helps improve the water quality of the creek and, consequently, of the river and its aquatic life.
Directions: (From the land trust) From Business Route 1, turn onto School Street heading south. After 0.4 miles, turn left on Piper Mill Road, across from High Street. The trailhead is located 0.3 miles down on the left, just before the gate to the Great Salt Bay Sanitary District.
