QUICK TRAIL FACTS
- Preserve Size: Not sure
- Trail Mileage: 1.5 miles in network
- Pets: yes
- Difficulty: easy
- Sights: bog
I had high hopes for this preserve, since it incorporates the beautiful Pushaw Stream. But it seemed a bit unloved when I visited, and very clearly doesn’t see many visitors. While Orono Land Trust protects the land, it doesn’t list the conservation area on its website.
The ~0.8-mile loop trail, while blazed, was not easy to walk or follow, due to blowdowns. You don’t get a view of the stream, perhaps it is too wet for a trail.
The 0.7-mile (one-way) main trail out to a bog is wide, grassy, and mown. This was pleasant, albeit it doesn’t have much shade so can be hot. The mowed section ends at the wetland — you can see a trail continues here off beyond the preserve boundary but it is unmaintained.
Directions: There is a small clearing for about two cars off Birch Tree Drive. Birch Tree Drive, accessible via Whitmore Landing Road, is a narrow, dirt lane for lake homes — the speed limit is 15 mph. Drive slowly along it for about 1.2 miles, look for the conservation area sign on the left and pull into its short driveway to park in a small clearing.
