QUICK TRAIL FACTS
- Preserve Size: 180 acres
- Trail Mileage: 2.4 miles in network
- Pets: yes
- Difficulty: easy
- Sights: Woodlawn estate, forest, old horse paths
Although I didn’t have time to take advantage of this perk, visitors to this museum estate can conclude (or begin) their time here with a game of croquet (on a championship court, no less). My friends and I first toured the old Black House — which has been frozen in time, a relic of a bygone era — and then walked the roughly 2.4 miles of former carriage trails in the woods behind. The trails are flat and easy to walk — and are wooded throughout. While you have to pay admission to walk through the house and to play croquet, the trails are free year round.
The mansion, completed in 1828 for the well-to-do Black family, is designed in the Federal style with Greek revival details. It contains all of its original furnishings and collections.
Directions: It’s hard to miss the house, which lords over a hill on Route 172. The address is 19 Black House Drive in Ellsworth.
