QUICK TRAIL FACTS
- Preserve Size: 66 acres
- Trail Mileage: 3.4 miles in network
- Pets: Partly
- Difficulty: easy
- Sights: covered bridge, meadow, Willett Brook, children's obstacle courses
Trails in green are wheelchair accessible; the trail in red is where you can find the obstacle course for children.
Pondicherry Park is a 66-acre town preserve that can be accessed off Main Street in the delightful town of Bridgton. From the main trail head behind the Magic Lantern theater, you’ll first enter the park by crossing a beautiful covered bridge, the Bob Dunning Bridge. The preserve also has a spring that was once believed to have medicinal powers. The 3.4-mile trail system connects to the cross-town Stevens Brook Trail here, as well.
There is a beautiful 0.8-mile wheelchair accessible trail that weaves through the woods, connecting the Magic Lantern trailhead to the trailhead and small parking area off Willett Road. Other than that, you’ll find the trails to be typical woodsy fare, with roots and rocks. They are well signed and well made.
In addition, there is a loop designed to please children around LEA’s Maine Lake Science Center, accessed most easily from the Willett Road trailhead. If you park at the small lot here and walk a short distance up the center’s driveway, you’ll see the Pinehaven Trail crossing; go left here. The center has created a fun obstacle courses for children in the woods, with many varied stations.
No dogs are allowed except on the designated trail, which makes a loop at the north end of the preserve.
Directions: The main trailhead can be found at the parking lot behind the Magic Lantern movie theater and Bridgton Community Center. From U.S. Route 302/Main Street in downtown Bridgton, turn onto Depot Street. A secondary trail head is located off Willett Road, about 400 feet west of the Bridgton Public Works garage.
