QUICK TRAIL FACTS
- Preserve Size: 70 acres
- Trail Mileage: ~1.8 miles in network
- Pets: no
- Difficulty: easy to moderate
- Sights: Pemaquid River, stone walls and foundations
My map is a bit screwy because we heard a lot of warblers singing in treetops, requiring a lot of starts and stops. This is a mostly wooded preserve, protected by Coastal Rivers Conservation trust, although the entrance trail abuts a meadow and reaches a small grassy area before splitting into a loop. The view highlights are down by the marshy Pemaquid River, where, on the day we visited, we saw a family of Canada geese. The vegetation obstructs clear views of the river, but you can climb onto a small erratic (marked on the land trust map) to get a better look of the waterscape.
The preserve also has a couple of stone foundations from bygone homesteads.
The trail starts out on a wide woods road and narrows to a footpath as you walk toward the river. While you’ll encounter rocks and rocks, and small ups and downs, the trail system overall is fairly easy.
In 2026, the land trust built a 0.3-mile wheelchair accessible trail — a pleasant, short path that leaves from the parking area and weaves through woods, It includes a bench overlooking a small ravine and stream.
Directions: (From the land trust:) Located at 185 Poor Farm Road in Bristol. From Business Rt. 1 in Damariscotta, follow Bristol Road (Route 129 to Route 130) south toward Pemaquid for 4.8 miles. Turn left onto Poor Farm Road. The trailhead is located 1.0 mile down Poor Farm Road, on the right.
