Eaton Preserves, Skowhegan

Two contiguous preserves protected by the Somerset Woods Trustees have trailheads that lie within a quarter mile of each other: Eaton Ridge Preserve and Eaton Kennebec River Preserve. The parcels are connected, albeit bisected by East River Road, but each has its own trail system, trailhead and parking area.

Eaton Ridge is wooded and I would guess is the less visited of the two. The blue-blazed trail here was the easiest to follow, while the yellow- and red-blazed trails were a little more wild! The whole trail system is about 1.3 miles. One of the land trust’s Facebook posts described the 37-acre preserve like this: “Big trees, no people.”!

Eaton River Preserve offers a pleasant 0.5-mile trail to a lookout over the Kennebec River. It starts out in a mature forest of pines and hemlocks, heads downhill, then evens out along a wide, flat path. The driveway into the preserve, while very short, was a touch bumpy for my low-clearance car. I’m not sure how big the preserve is.

Directions: There are two parking areas for these preserves. For Eaton Ridge, the parking lot on Eaton Mountain Road is just about big enough for two cars. It’s 500 feet north of the intersection with East River Road. The parking area is a bit bigger for Eaton Kennebec River Preserve. It’s off East River Road, about 600 feet south of the intersection with Eaton Mountain Road. It’s reachable via a short drive (which had some big potholes in 2024).