Shaker Woods Reserve
Nature preserve
37 acres1.1 mi of trail
Dog rules not recorded
Directionsto the parking lot
District No. 5 School · Photo: Magicpiano · CC BY-SA 3.0COutdoors
Outdoors in Alfred
13% of Alfred’s land is conserved: 2,261 acres
The biggest trail networks: Shaker Woods Reserve (1.1 mi). 1% of residents live within a half mile of a park. 18 miles of mapped trail cross Alfred, 0.7 per square mile of land.
Ahead of 34% of U.S. towns · #119 of 143 in Maine. What drives it
Conserved land
13%
2,261 acres · of 27.3 sq mi of land
Trails
18 mi
0.7 per sq mi of land
Near a park
1%
of residents within ½ mile
Highest peak
594 ft
Yeaton Hill
Lakes & rivers
6
What kind of outdoors town is Alfred?
Read from the map. The page puts what stands out first.
Outdoors grade
How much outdoors does Alfred have?
On conserved land, trails, park land and how close residents live to a park, Alfred is ahead of 34% of U.S. towns, #119 of 143 in Maine. Conserved land holds the grade up; park acres per resident pull it down.
C
OutdoorsA character grade: shown, never part of Alfred’s overall grade.
Conserved land13% of the land · typical ME town 6% · U.S. 4%A−Trails0.7 miles of mapped trail per square mile of land (18 mi) · ME 0.7 · U.S. 0.4B+Park land0.0 acres of park per 1,000 residents (0 acres) · ME 15 · U.S. 13DParks close to home1% of residents within a half mile of a park · ME 30% · U.S. 72%D
All U.S. towns we grade (21,298)Ahead of 34%
LessMore
Maine towns of 2,500+ (143)Ahead of 17%
How sure. Graded on any three of the four inputs instead, the letter would range from C− to B−. Trails and many small parks come from OpenStreetMap, mapped by volunteers, so coverage varies from town to town; the half mile is a straight line from each census block, so a river or highway in the way isn’t counted against it.
PAD-US, OpenStreetMap (© OpenStreetMap contributors), Census 2025 Gazetteer and 2020 blocks; details in Sources below. How TownRatings grades the outdoors →
The map
Conserved land, trails & bike routes
Tap a number to zoom to a park. Tap a layer to hide it.
Easements protect land from building but are usually private.© OpenStreetMap contributors · USGS PAD-US
Places to walk
Pick a walk
The longest trail network is Shaker Woods Reserve, with 1.1 miles. Directions go to the nearest trailhead or public parking.
Sousa Family Preserve
Nature preserve
367 acres
Dog rules not recorded
No trailhead mapped yet
Harvest Circle Reserve
Nature preserve
19 acres
Dog rules not recorded
No trailhead mapped yet
Ricker Field
Nature preserve
13 acres
Dog rules not recorded
No trailhead mapped yet
Who protects it
2,261 conserved acres
13% of Alfred’s land. Who manages Alfred’s conserved land, from the USGS Protected Areas Database. Approximate, because parcels can overlap.
U.S. Forest Service1,812 ac
Land trusts & nonprofits644 ac
Regional agency38 ac
Not recorded40 ac
Research or Educational Area · 1,812 acConservation Easement · 235 acPrivate Other or Unknown · 228 acUnknown Easement · 160 acLocal Other or Unknown · 40 ac
Good to know
Conserved doesn’t always mean open to visitors. 160 acres are conservation easements, usually private land. Public access isn’t recorded for 4 of 9 parcels. The walks above are places people visit.
The biggest protected parcels
| Parcel (PAD-US) | Managed by | Acres | Public access |
|---|---|---|---|
| Massabesic Experimental Forest Research or Educational Area | U.S. Forest Service | 1,812 | Restricted |
| 3Rlt - Private Other or Unknown | Land trusts & nonprofits | 228 | Closed |
| Municipal Land Local Other or Unknown | Not recorded | 40 | Unknown |
| Alfred - Shaker Woods Preserve Unknown | Regional agency | 38 | Unknown |
| Blandings Turtle Incubator (Walnut Hill) Private Conservation | Land trusts & nonprofits | 21 | Closed |
Things to do
4 places to go in Alfred
Beaches, playgrounds, peaks, falls and more. Pick a kind.
Playgrounds in Alfred
2 playgrounds without a name on the map. Tap “Show all on map” to see them.
Peaks in Alfred
Yeaton Hill594 ft elevation
DirectionsBrackett Hill463 ft elevation
DirectionsTrails & water
7 named trails and 6 lakes & rivers
Named trails
Unpaved · 5.6 mi
Sanford & Eastern Rail Trail3.9 mi
Snowmobile ITS 891.5 mi
B. C Jordan Trail0.8 mi
Littlefield trail0.8 mi
Atlantic White Cedar Loop0.7 mi
Clayton Carl trail0.4 mi
Charles E. Swett Trail0.3 mi
Lakes & rivers tap for directions
Biking & sports
0.0 miles of bike routes
Bike lanes are often missing from the map in smaller towns, so that number is likely low.
Courts & fields
3Baseball
2Tennis
1Basketball
1Multi-sport
Includes school and college facilities, which aren’t always open to the public.
History along the way
History →5 places on the National Register
The country’s official list of places worth saving (National Park Service).
When to get out
The best walking months in Alfred: May to September
NOAA’s 1991–2020 normals for the town and the daylight at its latitude. Outlined months have long days, highs of 59 to 86 °F and little rain for the place.
| Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Daylight (h) | 9.3 | 10.4 | 11.8 | 13.4 | 14.7 | 15.4 | 15.1 | 14.0 | 12.4 | 10.9 | 9.6 | 9.0 |
| High (°F) | 31 | 35 | 43 | 56 | 67 | 76 | 81 | 80 | 72 | 59 | 47 | 37 |
| Rain (in) | 3.5 | 3.4 | 4.3 | 4.5 | 3.8 | 4.4 | 3.9 | 3.7 | 3.9 | 5.1 | 4.3 | 4.6 |
February is the driest month (3.4 in) and July the warmest (highs of 81 °F). 5.1 inches fall in October, the wettest month. The climate in Alfred →
Next door
Alfred and its neighbors
Tap a town to see its outdoors.
Questions about parks and trails in Alfred
Where can I hike in Alfred?
The longest trail networks: Shaker Woods Reserve, 1.1 miles. Each one is on the map above, with directions to the nearest trailhead or parking.
How much of Alfred is conserved land?
13% of its land, against a typical 6% for a Maine town and 4% nationally (PAD-US). Conserved doesn’t always mean open to visitors: easements are usually private land.
Are dogs allowed on Alfred’s trails?
Shaker Woods Reserve and Sousa Family Preserve don’t have dog rules recorded on the map; check the signs at the trailhead.
Is there public land near Alfred?
975 acres of parks and open public land lie inside Alfred or within 10 miles of it (PAD-US), almost none of it inside the town line.
How much outdoors does Alfred have?
Ahead of 34% of U.S. towns on the Outdoors grade, #119 of 143 in Maine. The grade combines the share of land that is conserved, miles of mapped trail per square mile of land, park acres per 1,000 residents and the share of residents within a half mile of a park. It’s a character grade, so it isn’t part of the overall grade. How it works.
Trail talk
Conditions, parking and favorite walks from Alfred neighbors.
Share a tip
Sources
Where this page comes from
Conserved and public land: USGS Protected Areas Database of the United States (PAD-US), service updated July 2026. Parks, trails, playgrounds, beaches and other places: OpenStreetMap (© OpenStreetMap contributors, ODbL), map data as of 2026-10-28. Land and water area: Census 2025 Gazetteer. Residents near a park: 2020 Census blocks. National Register: National Park Service. How TownRatings grades the outdoors →