QUICK TRAIL FACTS
- Preserve Size: 917 acres
- Trail Mileage: 5.5 miles
- Pets: yes
- Difficulty: easy to moderate
- Sights: river
All together there is about 5.5 miles of trails at this 917-acre preserve, not counting the Downeast Sunrise Trail. My favorite section of the preserve is the quiet and lovely three miles on the Heritage Trail, which follows the wide, languid Machias River, once the site of massive log drives.
If you start at the trailhead and parking area on Route 1A and do the Heritage Trail, you can return the way you came, or make a loop via the 1.8-mile Munson Pitch Trail, which cuts through the woods on slightly higher, dry ground. Or you can walk back along the Sunrise Trail, which is more enjoyable for four-wheelers and bicyclists than walkers! But it offers a decent shortcut to this loop.
The Homestead Trail on the other side of the Sunrise Trail (which cuts through the middle of this preserve) is wooded and on high ground, and if you do this loop, you’ll see ruined foundations from an old family farm.
Note: The Downeast Coastal Conservancy warns that the Heritage Trail can get flooded when the river is high. The Hemlock Trail had been closed when I visited.
Directions: There are two parking lots. One is on Route 1A in Machias, about 0.5 mile south of the Down East Community Hospital, on the left, and the second is on Route 1A in Whitneyville, about 0.3 mile north of the bridge over the Machias River, also on the left.
