QUICK TRAIL FACTS
- Preserve Size: ~200 acres
- Trail Mileage: 10.5 miles of ski trails; 4 to 5 miles of snowshoe trails
- Pets: no
- Difficulty: easy to expert
- Sights: Messalonskee Stream, groomed trails
Ski trails in blue; snowshoe trails in green (the snowshoe trails aren’t complete — I couldn’t find sections of the trail.)
This is an amazing (and quite popular and well-visited) place to x-c ski! And to bike and walk during the non-snowy months. There are roughly 6.5 miles of windy, hilly, fun x-c trails that are groomed for both classic and skate skiing. That is, “6.5 miles to date,” says the city of Waterville (sounds promising!), which owns the land. And there are some nice snowshoe trails, too, but these are less consistently blazed and easy to follow. The best place to snowshoe is along the pretty Messalonskee Stream; this path is both well blazed and pretty. I found it hard to find my way along some of the other snowshoe paths, especially at the higher elevations, where sometimes just widely-spaced orange tags tied to trees showed me the way.
If you’re going to ski, you can buy a pass at the yurt, at 300 Quarry Road.
Directions: If you put 300 Quarry Road into your GPS, you’ll find the trail system. The road in is not paved, and can be bumpy.
