Riverview Hayfields Preserve, South Thomaston

This is a wonderful place, protected by the Georges River Land Trust and other organizations. On the day I visited, the stand of trees in the center of the fields was alight with bobolinks, singing in a lilting warbling chorus. (I saw warblers and Eastern phoebes in there, too.) The grassy loop trail is about 1 mile long and takes you to the shores of a particularly wide expanse of the river.

Directions: Follow Route 131 south from Route 1 in Thomaston, toward South Thomaston and St. George. When you cross the railroad tracks, look for the parking lot on the right. If you keep driving, you’ll pass another sign for the preserve, but there is no parking at this second site.