Purinton Homestead Conservation Area
Managed by Androscoggin Land Trust
139 acres1.4 mi of trail
Dog rules not recorded
No trailhead mapped yet
Photo: John Phelan · CC BY-SA 4.0COutdoors
Outdoors in Bowdoin
7% of Bowdoin’s land is conserved: 2,049 acres
The biggest trail networks: Purinton Homestead Conservation Area (1.4 mi), Bradley Pond Farm Preserve (0.7 mi), Caesar Pond Wildlife Management Area (0.5 mi). 19 miles of mapped trail cross Bowdoin, 0.4 per square mile of land.
Ahead of 25% of U.S. towns · #130 of 143 in Maine. What drives it
Conserved land
7%
2,049 acres · of 43.5 sq mi of land
Trails
19 mi
0.4 per sq mi of land
Near a park
under 1%
of residents within ½ mile
Highest peak
633 ft
Whitten Hill
Lakes & rivers
1
Outdoors grade
How much outdoors does Bowdoin have?
On conserved land, trails, park land and how close residents live to a park, Bowdoin is ahead of 25% of U.S. towns, #130 of 143 in Maine. Conserved land holds the grade up; the share of residents near a park pulls it down.
C
OutdoorsA character grade: shown, never part of Bowdoin’s overall grade.
Conserved land7% of the land · typical ME town 6% · U.S. 4%B+Trails0.4 miles of mapped trail per square mile of land (19 mi) · ME 0.7 · U.S. 0.4BPark 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 25%
LessMore
Maine towns of 2,500+ (143)Ahead of 9%
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 Purinton Homestead Conservation Area, with 1.4 miles. Directions go to the nearest trailhead or public parking.
Bradley Pond Farm Preserve
Managed by Brunswick-Topsham Land Trust
38 acres0.7 mi of trail
Perimeter TrailUpper Loop Trail
No dogs
No trailhead mapped yetWebsite ↗
Caesar Pond Wildlife Management Area
Managed by Maine Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife
536 acres0.5 mi of trail
Dog rules not recorded
No trailhead mapped yet
Dow Property
Managed by Brunswick-Topsham Land Trust
7 acres
Dog rules not recorded
No trailhead mapped yet
Who protects it
2,049 conserved acres
7% of Bowdoin’s land. Who manages Bowdoin’s conserved land, from the USGS Protected Areas Database. Approximate, because parcels can overlap.
Regional agency1,300 ac
State fish & wildlife536 ac
Land trusts & nonprofits249 ac
USDA easements (NRCS)58 ac
Not recorded1,309 ac
Local Other or Unknown · 2,602 acState Conservation Area · 536 acPrivate Conservation · 148 acConservation Easement · 111 acUnknown Easement · 48 ac
Good to know
Conserved doesn’t always mean open to visitors. 54 acres are conservation easements, usually private land. Public access isn’t recorded for 6 of 14 parcels. The walks above are places people visit.
The biggest protected parcels
| Parcel (PAD-US) | Managed by | Acres | Public access |
|---|---|---|---|
| Miscellaneous Municipal Lands Local Other or Unknown | Not recorded | 1,301 | Unknown |
| Unknown Local Other or Unknown | Regional agency | 1,300 | Unknown |
| Caesar Pond Wildlife Management Area State Conservation Area | State fish & wildlife | 536 | Closed |
| PurintonPreserve Private Conservation | Land trusts & nonprofits | 141 | Restricted |
| Upper Cathance Wetlands Private Conservation | Not recorded | 7 | Unknown |
| Dow Property Private Other or Unknown | Land trusts & nonprofits | 7 | Restricted |
Things to do
3 places to go in Bowdoin
Beaches, playgrounds, peaks, falls and more. Pick a kind.
Peaks in Bowdoin
Whitten Hill633 ft elevation
DirectionsWheeler Hill292 ft elevation
DirectionsHornbeam Hill259 ft elevation
DirectionsTrails & water
8 named trails and 1 lakes & rivers
Named trails
Unpaved · 0.8 mi
Snowmobile Trail 17 Bowdoinham2.4 mi
Snowmobile Trail 1 Bowdoinham2.1 mi
Snowmobile Trail 18 Bowdoinham0.8 mi
Perimeter Trail0.6 mi
Snowmobile Trail 170.2 mi
Bar-B Circle0.2 mi
Snowmobile Trail 34 Bowdoinham0.2 mi
Upper Loop Trail0.1 mi
Lakes & rivers tap for directions
History along the way
History →1 place on the National Register
The country’s official list of places worth saving (National Park Service).
First Baptist Church of Bowdoin and Coombs CemeteryDistrict · listed 1997
About itWhen to get out
The best walking months in Bowdoin: 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 | 14.7 | 15.5 | 15.2 | 14.0 | 12.4 | 10.9 | 9.6 | 8.9 |
| High (°F) | 29 | 33 | 41 | 53 | 65 | 74 | 79 | 78 | 70 | 58 | 46 | 35 |
| Rain (in) | 3.5 | 3.2 | 4.0 | 4.3 | 3.7 | 4.5 | 3.6 | 3.5 | 4.0 | 5.3 | 4.5 | 4.3 |
February is the driest month (3.2 in) and July the warmest (highs of 79 °F). 5.3 inches fall in October, the wettest month. The climate in Bowdoin →
Next door
Bowdoin 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Bowdoin | 7% | 0.4 | under 1 | under 1% | C |
| Lisbon | 7% | 0.4 | 69 | 64% | B+ |
| Lisbon Falls | — not graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its town | ||||
| Richmond | 9% | 1.3 | 56 | 35% | A− |
| Topsham | 11% | 1.4 | 15 | 29% | B+ |
| Bowdoinham | 13% | 1.1 | 14 | 12% | B |
| Litchfield | 3% | 0.4 | 56 | 18% | B− |
The four inputs of the Outdoors grade, from the engine; shares are of land, not water.
Questions about parks and trails in Bowdoin
Where can I hike in Bowdoin?
The longest trail networks: Purinton Homestead Conservation Area, 1.4 miles; Bradley Pond Farm Preserve, 0.7 miles; Caesar Pond Wildlife Management Area, 0.5 miles. Each one is on the map above, with directions to the nearest trailhead or parking.
How much of Bowdoin is conserved land?
7% 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 Bowdoin’s trails?
Purinton Homestead Conservation Area and Bradley Pond Farm Preserve don’t have dog rules recorded on the map; check the signs at the trailhead.
Is there public land near Bowdoin?
3,631 acres of parks and open public land lie inside Bowdoin or within 10 miles of it (PAD-US), almost none of it inside the town line.
How much outdoors does Bowdoin have?
Ahead of 25% of U.S. towns on the Outdoors grade, #130 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 Bowdoin 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 →