Quarry Hill and MVLT Founders Preserves

The Midcoast Conservancy and the town protect about 400 acres here, including hayfields, forests, and barrens that glow red, orange, and yellow in the autumn. The quarry pool is a great swimming spot in the summer, and a possible ice skating one in winter. There’s a little unmarked footpath around the quarry.

If you continue 0.2 miles up the plowed road past the quarry, you’ll come to the MVLT Founders kiosk and trailhead. The road you’re on continues as a a snowmobile trail through the blueberry barrens. (Two private drives branch off the public land.)

If you explore the MVLT Founders trail, you’ll set off along a path that edges the barrens. At about 0.3 miles, head right into the woods. Look out for trail markers since this part of the trail — which is not owned by the land trust — is a logging site. Once you return to the protected forest, the trail narrows, and you can continue on the 1.75-mile Woods and Field Trail loop, which is well blazed with blue markers. The trail includes bog bridges and one surprisingly steep hill! (See the the topo lines on the official map.) When I walked here in 2026, the far loop (the Boundary Trail) had been closed.

If you continue on the Woods and Fields Loop clockwise, you’ll eventually cross the power line corridor and the edge of a meadow before you re-enter the forest. Quickly, however, you’ll re-emerge on the large field, which is crossed by a power line. The path takes you around the field edge. When it crosses the field, a land trust sign instructs you to follow the power lines the length of three polls to a little rise. At this point, look for the trail on the right to return to the forest. To stay on track through this meadow portion, look for blue blazes throughout, including on stakes and painted on the telephone poles.

Back at the trailhead kiosk, you can continue your walk along the dirt road through the glorious barrens, past a wetland, and to a hayfield. The track splits at the hayfield here. If you stay straight, you’ll follow a track as it skirts the meadow. It eventually joins up with a well-made but unmarked trail that makes a pleasant loop through the woods just north of the field. The loop trail emerges at a small cleared area adjacent to the snowmobile trail — this point is marked with a small cairn. Turn left at the snowmobile trail to return to the access road.

Important note: You can pick wild blueberries for free here in season!

Directions: From Route 1, turn onto Depot Street and go about 0.7 mile. You’ll see a sign for Quarry Hill on the right. You can drive up the dirt road and park near the quarry and pond, or continue another 0.2 miles to the MVLT kiosk, where it’s easier to park in winter if you have a four-wheel drive.