Coburn Woods, Skowhegan

This large preserve includes both wide woods road (some of them are mossy and beautiful) and curvier, narrower trials that are walkable but seem to be geared toward people on bikes. You can tell the difference on the map by how squiggly the lines are.

I recommend walking the red and green trails at the north end of the preserve, and if you want to extend your walk, do the black trail at the lower end that leads into the gorgeous 22-acre Taylor Field. (Technically, the red and green trails are the Philbrick Trail, and the Coburn and Taylor Field Trail.) At the field you can walk along mowed trails to apple trees of different varieties. There’s a slight descent from the north to the south, from the Russell Road trailhead to Taylor Field.

You can also start your walk down at Taylor Field, parking at the Margaret Chase Smith library. Look for a Somerset Woods sign between two house; the path goes straight up between them to the fields.

A rough estimate is that it’s approximately 1.8 miles, give or take, between the Russell Road trailhead to the top of the field, if you take the green trail. Then it’s about 0.3 miles across the field to Norridgewock Avenue.

The trails are all blazed according to the color coding on the map. There are maps at most intersections. The only section of trail I didn’t enjoy was the lower green trail, which was muddy and a bit eroded. Otherwise, this is a lovely forest for quiet walking.

Directions: The main parking area is off Russell Road, about 0.7 miles north of the Skowhegan State Fair grounds and about 0.5 miles south of the intersection with Goodwin Lane.