Posted on October 29, 2014 and last updated on March 15, 2021

Round Top Farm and Whaleback Shore, Damariscotta

QUICK TRAIL FACTS

  • Preserve Size: 23 acres
  • Trail Mileage: ~1.1 miles of trail
  • Pets: yes
  • Difficulty: easy
  • Sights: Damariscotta River, meadows, orchard, shell middens


Round Top Farm is like the younger sibling to Great Salt Bay Farm. It offers sweeping meadows down to Damariscotta River, interpretative signs, an apple orchard (the apples are delicious!), and shell midden sites where Native Americans tossed their oyster shells over a period of 1,000 years. It’s beautiful, and shorter than the trail system at Salt Bay Farm. 

Additionally, as of 2020 I believe?, the Coastal Rivers Conservation Trust added a beautiful 0.4-mile universally accessible trail, of packed gravel, that connects the two parking areas. The rest of the walking on the preserve is gentle, too, with much of it along the edges of meadow.

Directions: Less than a mile and a half north of downtown Damariscotta along Main Street (Business Route 1) opposite the Great Salt Bay School. From McDonald’s, at the junction of Biscay Road and Main Street, proceed north exactly 0.3 miles, passing Round Top Farm on the way.

Let me know if you have any trail updates or corrections!