Appleton Bog Preserve
Nature preserve
1,337 acres1.7 mi of trail
Dog rules not recorded
No trailhead mapped yet
Whitney Farm · Photo: Whitney Farm · CC BY-SA 4.0COutdoors
Outdoors in Appleton
14% of Appleton’s land is conserved: 3,003 acres
The biggest trail networks: Appleton Bog Preserve (1.7 mi), Appleton Preserve (1.7 mi). 9.5 miles of mapped trail cross Appleton, 0.3 per square mile of land.
Ahead of 26% of U.S. towns. What drives it
Conserved land
14%
3,003 acres · of 32.7 sq mi of land
Trails
9.5 mi
0.3 per sq mi of land
Near a park
under 1%
of residents within ½ mile
Highest peak
551 ft
Johnson Hill
Lakes & rivers
5
1 boat launch
What kind of outdoors town is Appleton?
Read from the map. The page puts what stands out first.
Outdoors grade
How much outdoors does Appleton have?
On conserved land, trails, park land and how close residents live to a park, Appleton is ahead of 26% of U.S. towns. Conserved land holds the grade up; the share of residents near a park pulls it down.
C
OutdoorsA character grade: shown, never part of Appleton’s overall grade.
Conserved land14% of the land · typical ME town 6% · U.S. 4%A−Trails0.3 miles of mapped trail per square mile of land (10 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 home0% 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 26%
LessMore
How sure. Graded on any three of the four inputs instead, the letter would range from D to C+. 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 Appleton Bog Preserve, with 1.7 miles. Directions go to the nearest trailhead or public parking.
Appleton Preserve
Managed by Georges River Land Trust
114 acres1.7 mi of trail
Dog rules not recorded
Directionsto the trailhead
Magog Falls Trail Conservation Easement
Managed by Georges River Land Trust
63 acres0.3 mi of trail
Canal Path
Dog rules not recorded
No trailhead mapped yet
Hall Preserve
Managed by Georges River Land Trust
15 acres
Dog rules not recorded
No trailhead mapped yet
All 6 parks & preserves
Appleton Bog Preserve1,337 acres · 1.7 mi of trail
Appleton Preserve114 acres · 1.7 mi of trail · Georges River Land Trust
DirectionsMagog Falls Trail Conservation Easement63 acres · 0.3 mi of trail · Georges River Land Trust
Gibson Preserve14 acres · 0.1 mi of trail · Georges River Land Trust
St. George River Access3 acres · 0.1 mi of trail · Georges River Land Trust
DirectionsHall Preserve15 acres · Georges River Land Trust
Who protects it
3,003 conserved acres
14% of Appleton’s land. Who manages Appleton’s conserved land, from the USGS Protected Areas Database. Approximate, because parcels can overlap.
Land trusts & nonprofits5,504 ac
State conservation119 ac
State parks118 ac
State fish & wildlife3 ac
Not recorded16 ac
Private Conservation · 3,163 acConservation Easement · 1,015 acUnknown Easement · 980 acAgricultural Easement · 582 acPrivate Other or Unknown · 16 ac
Good to know
Conserved doesn’t always mean open to visitors. 1,268 acres are conservation easements, usually private land. Public access isn’t recorded for 29 of 56 parcels. The walks above are places people visit.
The biggest protected parcels
| Parcel (PAD-US) | Managed by | Acres | Public access |
|---|---|---|---|
| Appleton Bog Preserve Private Conservation | Land trusts & nonprofits | 2,915 | Unknown |
| Appleton Preserve Private Conservation | State conservation | 232 | Closed |
| Gibson Preserve-Cedar Lane Private Other or Unknown | Not recorded | 16 | Unknown |
| Hall(b) Preserve Private Conservation | Land trusts & nonprofits | 8 | Restricted |
| Hall(a) Preserve Private Conservation | Land trusts & nonprofits | 8 | Restricted |
| St. George River Access State Other or Unknown | State fish & wildlife | 3 | Closed |
Things to do
3 places to go in Appleton
Beaches, playgrounds, peaks, falls and more. Pick a kind.
Boat launches in Appleton
1 boat launch without a name on the map. Tap “Show all on map” to see it.
Peaks in Appleton
Johnson Hill551 ft elevation
DirectionsCampgrounds in Appleton
1 campground without a name on the map.
Trails & water
2 named trails and 5 lakes & rivers
Named trails
Unpaved · 3.4 mi
Canal Path1.0 mi
Gibson Preserve Nature Trail0.1 mi
Lakes & rivers tap for directions
History along the way
History →4 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 Appleton: 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) | 9.2 | 10.4 | 11.8 | 13.4 | 14.8 | 15.5 | 15.2 | 14.0 | 12.4 | 10.9 | 9.5 | 8.9 |
| High (°F) | 29 | 32 | 40 | 52 | 64 | 72 | 78 | 77 | 69 | 57 | 45 | 35 |
| Rain (in) | 4.0 | 3.3 | 4.1 | 4.2 | 3.7 | 4.3 | 3.3 | 3.3 | 4.1 | 5.3 | 4.7 | 4.8 |
July is the driest month (3.3 in) and the warmest (highs of 78 °F). 5.3 inches fall in October, the wettest month. The climate in Appleton →
Next door
Appleton and its neighbors
Tap a town to see its outdoors.
| Town | Conserved of land | Trail mi per sq mi | Park acres per 1,000 | Near a park ½ mile | Outdoors |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Appleton | 14% | 0.3 | under 1 | under 1% | C |
| Hope | 4% | 0.1 | 10 | 16% | C |
| Searsmont | 4% | 0.4 | under 1 | under 1% | C− |
| Union | 6% | 0.2 | 15 | 13% | C+ |
| Liberty | — not graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its town | ||||
The four inputs of the Outdoors grade, from the engine; shares are of land, not water.
Questions about parks and trails in Appleton
Where can I hike in Appleton?
The longest trail networks: Appleton Bog Preserve, 1.7 miles; Appleton Preserve, 1.7 miles; Magog Falls Trail Conservation Easement, 0.3 miles. Each one is on the map above, with directions to the nearest trailhead or parking.
How much of Appleton is conserved land?
14% 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 Appleton’s trails?
Appleton Bog Preserve and Appleton Preserve don’t have dog rules recorded on the map; check the signs at the trailhead.
Is there public land near Appleton?
8,240 acres of parks and open public land lie inside Appleton or within 10 miles of it (PAD-US), almost none of it inside the town line.
How much outdoors does Appleton have?
Ahead of 26% of U.S. towns on the Outdoors grade. 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 Appleton 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 →