QUICK TRAIL FACTS
- Preserve Size: 355 acres
- Trail Mileage: ~9 miles in network
- Pets: yes
- Difficulty: moderate
- Sights: Center Pond, beaver ponds, modern petroglyphs!
Phippsburg Land Trust does it again, offering a huge, lovely tract of conserved land etched with many trails to make for long and varied walks. The perimeter trail (4.7 miles, marked with red blazes) is very pleasant as it borders Center Pond. The forested side of the perimeter trail passes through hemlock and pine forests. An old beaver pond lies in the center of the parcel. The trails have some steepish ups and downs, and go over rooty and rocky terrain.
The interior trails (mostly old logging roads) were a little less marked, or less reliably marked when I visited, than the perimeter path.
You can also walk to Elbow Hill and do a small loop. There are views through trees of the marsh.
In addition, the land trust has connected another 102-acre parcel to the south, the McKay Farm Preserve. Here you can make a 2.4-mile loop (including two small attached loops), which includes some short, steep scrambles and a long stretch by a large beaver pond.
Look for the delicate rock carvings by artist Kevin Sudeith.
A few more details: Starting from the Center Pond trailhead on Parker Head Road, the path begins by immediately climbing to the top of a bluff. At one point, you can step off the trail a few feet to stand at the top of this gigantic rock you’re on, looking out over the forest. The trail then heads down the bluff, where you have some options. I highly recommend turning right and starting out on the North Perimeter Trail, which brings you below the high rock wall you started out on. Then you’ll come to some nice spots on the water where you can sit on a bit of rock. The pond is swimmable, but quite murky. When the North Perimeter Trail swings out to the end of the point, near Minott Island, you might see a lily pad explosion! I have never seen so many lily pads — they almost completely carpeted the water, like a pool covering.(At times, the traffic of cars passing on Route 209 can be a bit noisy but I wasn’t bothered by it.)
Directions: Take Rte. 209 (High St.) south from Bath, to Winnegance; continue on Rte. 209 (Main Rd.) south 4 miles to the Center Store. Turn left onto Parker Head Rd. and go 0.6 mile, crossing the Center Pond causeway, and up the hill to the Center Pond Preserve parking lot on the right.
