Horan Head

This trail might be best visited in winter, since it can be grassy and overgrown. Downed trees can also obscure the trail at times. I recommend sticking to the main trail to head directly to the headland with views of South Bay.

From the parking area, the path quickly emerges onto grassy fields. Stay right and pass through an opening of shrubs and then hug the left side of the small meadow. You’ll see the trail in the woods straight ahead. The paths are not perfectly blazed, but at intersections there are wooden trail signs.

As you walk along the main trail, you’ll pass the East Shore Trail on your left, about 0.7 miles in. East Shore Trail can be difficult to follow at times; essentially you want to head toward the water and then amble south down the coastline. The trail reconnects to the main trail in about 0.6 miles. If you follow the main trail out onto the peninsula, you’ll arrive at two lovely viewpoints looking north. The high point on the peninsula is named Horan Head; I couldn’t see an obvious trail to it.

There are also two loop trails on the southern side of the preserve that offer views of the harbor. (I’m seeing on modern maps that one of the two loops might no longer exist.)

All together, the trail network I walked is about four miles, through mature spruce and cedar interspersed with scattered older-growth pine and mature deciduous trees.

Directions: From Route 189, turn onto Crow’s Neck Road. Turn right after 0.4 miles onto Lead Mine Road and make a quick left turn after 0.2 miles onto Straight Bay Road. The trailhead is 3.2 miles up Straight Bay Road on the right.