QUICK TRAIL FACTS
- Preserve Size: 212 acres
- Trail Mileage: +7 miles in network
- Pets: yes
- Difficulty: easy to moderate
- Sights: Lake Pennesseewassee, illuminated trails
Walking/snowshoeing trails marked in yellow. Wheelchair-accessible trail in red.
Roberts Farm, protected and maintained by the Western Foothills Land Trust, is an amazing local resource — about seven miles of groomed trails for Nordic skiing, and another pleasant loop trail, about 1.7 miles, that is dedicated to snowshoers and dog walkers and is popular year-round.
A warming hut, staffed daily during ski season, provides with skis, boots, poles, and snowshoes on site. All of this is free—the equipment and trails. But you are invited to leave a donation, which is a wonderful way to support other skiers who might be new to the sport.
Plus the preserve has many other fantastic features to encourage its use. One of them is illuminated paths, so people can have nocturnal adventures! The land trust has installed five kilometers of solar motion-activated LEDs along the trails, making them attractive for autumn runs at dusk or after dark, as well as evening skis.
One of the trails at this 212-acre preserve is wheelchair accessible, the Libby Trail, which starts at the Roberts Road trailhead and extends about 0.3 miles to a pretty view of the lake.
The preserve is accessible from downtown, where you can pick up connector trails from Water Street. The two-mile Janet’s Trail is open to dog walkers and snowshoers. Expect to go up and down on Janet’s Trail as you walk above Route 118! For more of a gentle, rolling experience, walk the ski trail (when there’s no snow, of course). It’s steep initially as it leaves the Water Street trailhead, but then levels out.
Finally, Roberts Farm preserve hosts a net-zero Experiential Learning Center that provides programming year-round to students in the third, fourth, and fifth grades.
What doesn’t this preserve offer? 🙂
Directions: From the intersection of Main Street and Route 117 in downtown Norway, take Route 117/118 west, out past the lake. After 2 miles, turn left onto Roberts Road and continue 0.2 miles to the Roberts Farm Preserve entrance, on your left. There is also a parking area and trailhead at 13 Water Street, where you can walk or ski onto the trail system along the Farm-to-Town Trail.
