Small-Burnham Conservation Area and Samuel Hutchinson Homestead, Litchfield

The 250 acres at this Kennebec Land Trust property includes two meadows, one large and one small, and a pretty trail through a forest with lots of mushrooms. You can pull off to the side of the road here for parking, or turn into the small parking lot, where you’ll see the trailhead more easily. The trails are well marked. A snowmobile intersects with the land preserve if you would like to hike or ski more.

The access trail to the loop is roughly 0.4 miles, and the loop itself is about 1.5 miles, according to my GPS. You can also walk into the interior of the loop to reach the field and an old sap house.

The Small-Burnham area abuts the Samuel Hutchinson Homestead Conservation Area, across a dirt road, but this homestead preserve had no well-developed trails when I visited in the spring of 2016.

Directions: From Monmouth, take South Monmouth Road to Days Corner, cross Route 126, and go over Oak Hill. Cross the bridge, and at the stop sign, turn left. Almost immediately take the first right onto Libby Road. At the stop sign, go straight onto Plains Road. Go for one mile to Pine Tree Road. Take a left. After 1/2 mile you’ll see the KLT sign and parking area on the right. From Augusta, take Exit 51 off of I-295 to West Gardiner. Turn left onto Route 126 East. Go .5 miles, then turn right onto Old Lewiston Road. Take the first right onto Pond Road, which becomes Plains Road. Go 8.5 miles, and turn right onto Pine Tree Road. After 1/2 mile, look for the KLT sign and parking area on the right.

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