Kingdom Woods Conservation Area
Managed by Blue Hill Heritage Trust
889 acres4.1 mi of trail
Dog rules not recorded
Directionsto the parking lot
Photo: Anewt72690 · CC BY-SA 3.0BOutdoors
Outdoors in Blue Hill
18% of Blue Hill’s land is conserved: 7,150 acres
The biggest trail networks: Kingdom Woods Conservation Area (4.1 mi), Blue Hill Mountain (4.1 mi), Peter's Brook & Penny's Nature Preserve (3.9 mi). 67 acres are parks and preserves, 24 per 1,000 residents. 19% of residents live within a half mile of a park.
Ahead of 62% of U.S. towns · #54 of 143 in Maine. What drives it
Conserved land
18%
7,150 acres · of 62.5 sq mi of land
Trails
25 mi
0.4 per sq mi of land
Park land
67 ac
24 acres per 1,000 residents
Near a park
19%
of residents within ½ mile
Highest peak
922 ft
Blue Hill Mountain
Lakes & rivers
10
3 boat launches
What kind of outdoors town is Blue Hill?
Read from the map. The page puts what stands out first.
Outdoors grade
How much outdoors does Blue Hill have?
On conserved land, trails, park land and how close residents live to a park, Blue Hill is ahead of 62% of U.S. towns, #54 of 143 in Maine. Conserved land holds the grade up; the share of residents near a park pulls it down.
B
OutdoorsA character grade: shown, never part of Blue Hill’s overall grade.
Conserved land18% of the land · typical ME town 6% · U.S. 4%ATrails0.4 miles of mapped trail per square mile of land (25 mi) · ME 0.7 · U.S. 0.4BPark land24 acres of park per 1,000 residents (67 acres) · ME 15 · U.S. 13B+Parks close to home19% of residents within a half mile of a park · ME 30% · U.S. 72%C−
All U.S. towns we grade (21,298)Ahead of 62%
LessMore
Maine towns of 2,500+ (143)Ahead of 63%
Water is 28% of Blue Hill’s area (24 of 87 square miles), so every share here is of land; over land and water together, the conserved share would read 13%.
How sure. Graded on any three of the four inputs instead, the letter would range from C+ to A−. 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 Kingdom Woods Conservation Area, with 4.1 miles. Directions go to the nearest trailhead or public parking.
Blue Hill Mountain
Managed by Blue Hill Heritage Trust
542 acres4.1 mi of trail
Becton TrailOsgood TrailSouth Face TrailHayes Trail+1
Dog rules not recorded
Directionsto the parking lot
Peter's Brook & Penny's Nature Preserve
Managed by Blue Hill Heritage Trust
293 acres3.9 mi of trail
West Side TrailNorth Loop TrailPeters Brook TrailEast Side Trail+1
Dog rules not recorded
Directionsto the trailheadWebsite ↗
Blue Hill Fairgrounds
Park
41 acres
Dog rules not recorded
No trailhead mapped yet
All 10 parks & preserves
Kingdom Woods Conservation Area889 acres · 4.1 mi of trail · Blue Hill Heritage Trust
DirectionsBlue Hill Mountain542 acres · 4.1 mi of trail · Blue Hill Heritage Trust
DirectionsPeter's Brook & Penny's Nature Preserve293 acres · 3.9 mi of trail · Blue Hill Heritage Trust
DirectionsBlue Hill Fairgrounds41 acres
Blue Hill Athletic Fields21 acres
DirectionsSurry Forest14 acres · Blue Hill Heritage Trust
Jed Island Preserve11 acres · Maine Coast Heritage Trust
Blue Hill Town Park3 acres
DirectionsEast Blue Hill Village Park2 acres
The Nub1 acres · Town of Blue Hill
DirectionsWho protects it
7,150 conserved acres
18% of Blue Hill’s land. Water is left out: Blue Hill has 62.5 square miles of land and 24.1 of water, so the share counts land only. Who manages Blue Hill’s conserved land, from the USGS Protected Areas Database. Approximate, because parcels can overlap.
National Park Service4,380 ac
Land trusts & nonprofits3,161 ac
Regional agency312 ac
USDA easements (NRCS)290 ac
Joint190 ac
Other state land181 ac
State fish & wildlife9 ac
Conservation Easement · 5,302 acPrivate Conservation · 1,009 acUnknown Easement · 910 acAgricultural Easement · 661 acLocal Other or Unknown · 524 ac
Good to know
Conserved doesn’t always mean open to visitors. 5,495 acres are conservation easements, usually private land. Public access isn’t recorded for 31 of 68 parcels. The walks above are places people visit.
The biggest protected parcels
| Parcel (PAD-US) | Managed by | Acres | Public access |
|---|---|---|---|
| Kwca Private Conservation | Land trusts & nonprofits | 892 | Closed |
| Blue Hill Mountain Private Other or Unknown | Land trusts & nonprofits | 307 | Restricted |
| Miscellaneous Municipal Lands Local Other or Unknown | Not recorded | 212 | Unknown |
| Unknown Local Other or Unknown | Regional agency | 210 | Unknown |
| Transfer station Local Other or Unknown | Regional agency | 99 | Closed |
| Blue Hill Heritage Trust Private Conservation | Not recorded | 87 | Unknown |
| Peters Brook Private Other or Unknown | Land trusts & nonprofits | 87 | Closed |
| Campstream Private Conservation | Land trusts & nonprofits | 29 | Closed |
| Jeds Island Private Other or Unknown | Land trusts & nonprofits | 12 | Closed |
| Alan E. Hutchinson Wildlife Management Area State Conservation Area | State fish & wildlife | 5 | Closed |
4 smaller protected places aren’t shown.
Things to do
12 places to go in Blue Hill
Beaches, playgrounds, peaks, falls and more. Pick a kind.
Playgrounds in Blue Hill
1 playground without a name on the map. Tap “Show all on map” to see it.
Boat launches in Blue Hill
AB Herrick Memorial Landing
DirectionsBlue Hill Village Wharf Boat Launch
DirectionsSouth Blue Hill Wharf
DirectionsWaterfalls in Blue Hill
1 waterfall without a name on the map.
Scenic views in Blue Hill
2 scenic views without a name on the map. Tap “Show all on map” to see them.
Peaks in Blue Hill
Blue Hill Mountain922 ft elevation · In Blue Hill Mountain
DirectionsStover Hill358 ft elevation
DirectionsSeven Star Hill354 ft elevation
DirectionsSteves Hill223 ft elevation
DirectionsChandler Parker Mountain69 ft elevation
DirectionsTrails & water
16 named trails and 10 lakes & rivers
Named trails
Unpaved · 9.3 mi
Becton Trail1.8 mi
Post Office Trail1.0 mi
Osgood Trail1.0 mi
West Side Trail0.7 mi
North Loop Trail0.6 mi
Peters Brook Trail0.5 mi
East Side Trail0.4 mi
Brookside Trail0.3 mi
3 Bridges Trail0.3 mi
John Murphy Trail0.3 mi
6 more trails
South Face Trail
0.3 miHayes Trail
0.3 miAlbion Meadow Connector
0.3 miQuarry Loop Trail
0.2 miOld Road Trail
0.2 miLarry's Loop
0.2 miBiking & 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
8Tennis
3Baseball
Includes school and college facilities, which aren’t always open to the public.
History along the way
History →7 places on the National Register
The country’s official list of places worth saving (National Park Service).
Jonathan Fisher MemorialBuilding · listed 1969
About itBarncastleBuilding · listed 1980
About itBlue Hill Historic DistrictDistrict · listed 1980
About itJohn Peters HouseBuilding · listed 1983
About itEast Blue Hill LibraryBuilding · listed 1990
About itEast Blue Hill Post OfficeBuilding · listed 2003
About itParker HouseBuilding · listed 2004
About itWhen to get out
The best walking months in Blue Hill: 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) | 30 | 32 | 40 | 51 | 63 | 71 | 77 | 76 | 68 | 56 | 46 | 36 |
| Rain (in) | 4.1 | 3.2 | 3.9 | 4.2 | 3.7 | 4.1 | 3.2 | 3.1 | 3.9 | 5.3 | 4.8 | 4.9 |
August is the driest month (3.1 in) and July the warmest (highs of 77 °F). 5.3 inches fall in October, the wettest month. The climate in Blue Hill →
Next door
Blue Hill and its neighbors
Blue Hill has the second most mapped trails of the 7 towns around it. 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Blue Hill | 18% | 0.4 | 24 | 19% | B |
| Surry | 4% | 0.5 | 18 | 8% | B− |
| Sedgwick | 5% | 0.3 | under 1 | under 1% | C− |
| Mount Desert | 60% | 3.0 | 5,960 | 45% | A+ |
| Tremont | 42% | 0.6 | 1,941 | 46% | A |
| Penobscot | 7% | 0.2 | 7 | 1% | C |
| Brooklin | — 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 Blue Hill
Where can I hike in Blue Hill?
The longest trail networks: Kingdom Woods Conservation Area, 4.1 miles; Blue Hill Mountain, 4.1 miles; Peter's Brook & Penny's Nature Preserve, 3.9 miles. Each one is on the map above, with directions to the nearest trailhead or parking.
How much of Blue Hill is conserved land?
18% 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 Blue Hill’s trails?
Kingdom Woods Conservation Area and Blue Hill Mountain don’t have dog rules recorded on the map; check the signs at the trailhead.
Is there public land near Blue Hill?
15,303 acres of parks and open public land lie inside Blue Hill or within 10 miles of it (PAD-US), 67 of them inside the town line.
How much outdoors does Blue Hill have?
Ahead of 62% of U.S. towns on the Outdoors grade, #54 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 Blue Hill 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 →