Bangor Land Trust opens new loop trail to public

A new hiking trail recently opened in Bangor Land Trusts’s Central Penjajawoc Preserve on Essex Street in Bangor. The 0.55-mile trail forms a loop, branching off an existing loop trail in the preserve. Together, the two loops offer about 2 miles of hiking.

BLT members Jim Hinds, Bill Phillips, Geoff Gratwick and BLT President Lucy Quimby did much of the trail work for the new loop trail, said to BLT office manager Donne Sinderson. And a group of 20 with the Young Lawyers Association pitched in to clear brush from the trail for a day in April.

The new loop trail includes a marsh overlook, which is marked on the new trail map for the preserve, available here and on the BLT website. To watch a “1-minute hike” video of a hike in the preserve made in 2013, click here.

Courtesy of Bangor Land Trust Central Penjajawoc Preserve 2016 trail map.

Courtesy of Bangor Land Trust
Central Penjajawoc Preserve 2016 trail map.

Central Penjajawoc Preserve is just one of seven preserves owned and maintained by the Bangor Land Trust in the Bangor area. The formation of the preserve began in  2010, when the Land for Maine’s Future and North Americans Wetlands Conservation Act programs enabled BLT to purchase two parcels totaling 87 acres. Then, in 2013, funds from the Maine Natural Resources Conservation Program made it possible for BLT to purchase 94 adjoining acres, expanding the preserve to 182 acres of forest, fields and marshland.

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The preserve trailhead kiosk and a small parking area is on Essex Street, just below the level of the road 400 yards south of the intersection of Burleigh and Essex Streets.

The preserve’s first trail — a loop that totals about 1.5 miles — officially opened to the public in August 2013. And the new loop opened in October 2016. These trails are for foot traffic only (skis and snowshoers are OK, too.) Also, dogs are not permitted in this particular preserve, though they are permitted on some other BLT preserves.

For more information, including trail maps, visit www.bangorlandtrust.org.

Aislinn Sarnacki

About Aislinn Sarnacki

Aislinn is a Bangor Daily News reporter for the Outdoors pages, focusing on outdoor recreation and Maine wildlife. Visit her main blog at actoutwithaislinn.bangordailynews.com.