Quarry Hill and MVLT Founders Preserves, Waldoboro

I believe that the Midcoast Conservancy preserve now encompasses the old town-owned Quarry Hill Preserve, or at least lies adjacent to it. There is a glorious quarry pool here that looks like it is a great swimming destination in the summer, and an ice skating one in winter. There’s a little unmarked footpath around the quarry.

If you continue .2 miles up the plowed road past the quarry, you’ll come to the MVLT Founders kiosk and trailhead on the right. The road you’re on continues as a a snowmobile trail cutting through the blueberry barrens. It’s the middle road between two driveways (one goes to a farm, the other to an art gallery). The snowmobile trail does continue past the barrens, but I didn’t include it on my map. It’s beautiful to walk through the barrens in the fall. 

If you choose to do the MVLT Founders trails, you’ll set off on the 1.75-mile Woods and Field Trail loop, which begins by edging the barrens before, at about .3 miles, heading right into the woods. The trail is thankfully very well marked, as there are quite a few interlacing woods roads and snowmobile trails in the area. This trail is also rough in areas, with some steep sections. The land trust describes it as “challenging.”

A short while farther, you’ll emerge on lovely fields crossed by a power line. The well-marked path takes you around the field and then up on a ridge and back into the forest where you meet the 1-mile Boundary Path loop. The Boundary Trail is very wet and impassable during the warm months, according to a trail sign, because of beaver activity. Other areas along the power line are also quite wet. (In the winter, it’s all frozen over, so the only thing you have to worry about is your boots sliding out from under you—a common occurrence in my life.) 

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

Directions: From Route 1, turn onto Depot Street and go about .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 .2 miles to the MVLT kiosk, where it’s easier to park in winter if you have a four-wheel drive.