QUICK TRAIL FACTS
- Preserve Size: 108 acres
- Trail Mileage: ~2.5 miles in network
- Pets: yes
- Difficulty: easy to moderate
- Sights: marsh, ponds, distant mountain views, dog park
By Travis Chandler
This city forest offers the community a lot: enclosed dog parks, sledding competitions down an epic hill, bike paths, and longish hiking trails. From the top of the hill, you can take in a view of Bangor, Brewer and, in the distance, the the peaks of Acadia.
From the top of the hill, hikers can follow the Main Trail down a long arc to the bottom, where it connects in a T-junction with the Rail Trail, another long hiking path that follows part of the former track of the 11-mile Old Town Railroad. The OTR was one of the first railroads built in the United States; it ran from 1832 to 1870. Today, the Rail Trail is wide enough to accommodate two or three people walking side by side.
Main Trail, Rail Trail, and the Power Line Trail are wide, packed gravel.
Beyond these two main trails, Essex Woods offers other narrower twisty trails, mainly for bikes.
This is a great map of Bangor trails.
Directions: From Essex Street, turn onto Watchmaker Street. The parking area and park is at the end of the street.
