If you’ve passed by Hilton-Winn Preserve recently, you will have noticed trail work underway along the Boardwalk Trail, beginning at the preserve entrance. We’re in the process of repairing our lengthy stretch of boardwalk that, over the past 20 years, has experienced enough wear and tear to warrant significant upgrades. With generous support from the Jane B. Cook 1992 Charitable Trust, Stewardship Director Paul Gagnon and a dedicated crew of volunteers have been working hard to replace old planks and elevate sections prone to flooding during heavy storms, in an effort to increase the longevity of the pathway and ensure that it remains safely passable for many years to come.
We plan to resume work on this project in the spring. In the meantime, we have reopened the trail for public access, but encourage you to pass at your own risk. For an alternative access to the preserve trails, you may park at Great Works Regional Land Trust’s Kenyon Hill Preserve just 1.5 miles down the road.
The Boardwalk Trail offers views of a floodplain forest along the Ogunquit River where wetland reeds, grasses, and mosses grow, as well as red maples and other water-tolerant trees. Osprey and great blue herons frequent this stretch of the river.
The trail connects with a network of routes that traverse through abutting conservation land managed by Hilton-Winn Farm and Great Works Regional Land Trust. Together, this network encompasses more than 3 miles of trails across more than 400 acres of conserved land. That mileage may continue to expand in the future, thanks to the recent acquisition of a 157-acre parcel by Great Works Regional Land Trust that abuts the eastern boundary of our preserve.
We appreciate your patience as we carry out our work on the Boardwalk Trail, and look forward to completing this project so that you may more easily enjoy exploring this special property.