Weston Woods and Waters, Madison

(My map is incomplete!)

This is an impressively large trail system, protected by the Somerset Woods Trustees. While everything is connected, the preserve can be thought of as two parts: The peninsula trails and the 2.2-mile River Trail, which is tacked on like a tail to the main preserve. All of the trails are blazed, and there are trail maps at most intersections.

The peninsula: The peninsula has several miles of trails and seems like it would be a wonderful place for x-c skiing, since the trails are wide, like carriage roads, with rolling hills (and a few steep ones! But you can generally avoid these). Some of the trails are groomed, but not tracked, for skiing in the winter.

When there is no snow, the Weston Woods Trail, blazed blue, might be the most reliably well-maintained and pleasant to explore. It, like the others, is wide and mostly easy, bringing you through woods, alongside a corn field, and eventually to the yellow trail at the northern tip of the peninsula. When I visited, the yellow trail required a bit of attention, but I pushed through the thick ferns and tall grasses and was awarded with views of the peaceful river. Quiet abounded.

As you head closer to the northern point of the peninsula, the trails start to narrow and become a bit rougher (even the very nice Weston Woods Trail). Along two steep sections, the land trust has added handy ropes to cling to.

The purple Winter Trail, too, which takes you down to a river bend with views of Weston Island, is pretty and also very quiet. Since it is recommended for winter use, it can be overgrown in the summer and wet. A sign explains that that the Winter Trail brings you to the site of an old ferry crossing to Weston Island.

Another historical side trail, the Monument Trail, which is narrow and might be a little overgrown, also lets you check out the Weston monument. The Weston family was one of the first white settlers to this area, along with the Heywood family, according to this essay by Lee Granville. They traveled up the Kennebec River in 1771 from Massachusetts, building a small cabin on, I believe, Weston Island, which had been cleared by the Abenaki people.

River Trail: Part of the preserve includes the 2.2-mile River Trail, which runs along the Kennebec River between Main Street and where Weston Avenue transitions from pavement to dirt. It is blazed blue and easy to follow. It is mostly a wide, flat trail has with some open, mowed sections, and possibly, depending on the conditions, one narrower grassy section. You might hear traffic from the road across the river. The highlight is a rope swing!

If you’re starting from the Weston Avenue trailhead, the River Trail at around 1.7 miles reaches a little park at the end of Nathan’s Lane, where there are benches, a boat launch and dock. The remaining 0.5-mile section between the park and Main Street includes a marsh and a stream crossing/jumping. At the end, you can, if you wish, walk across the ATV bridge over the river. If you’re starting from this direction, you’ll pick up the trail in a meadow behind some industrial buildings at the end of a gravel lane off Main Street.

Additionally, you can also follow an ATV trail that intersects with the River Trail (close to the rope swing). This connects, I believe, with Weston Avenue (I only walked it part way, and couldn’t find the spur to the elementary school indicated on the map).

Directions: At the end of Weston Avenue where the pavement transitions to dirt, there is a small parking area for two or three vehicles, for both the peninsula trails and the River Trail. It’s about 1.3 miles from the traffic light on Main Street, where Main St. and Weston Ave. intersect. (Additionally, there is another large parking area off Route 43 to more trails that I have not yet explored.) To find the Nathan Street boat launch, follow Nathan Lane 0.4 miles to where it ends at a large parking area. The land trust says you can also park in a field behind some industrial buildings off of Main Street (marked with a green icon on my map). In the winter, this lane is unplowed, so people should park on Main Street.