Merrymeeting Bay Wildlife Management Area
Managed by Maine Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife
1,921 acres1.6 mi of trail
Snowmobile Trail 13 Bowdoinham
Dog rules not recorded
Directionsto the parking lot
Photo: Magicpiano · CC BY-SA 4.0BOutdoors
Outdoors in Bowdoinham
Bowdoinham has 39 miles of mapped trails, 1.1 for every square mile of land
13% of Bowdoinham’s land is conserved, about 2,817 acres. The biggest trail networks: Merrymeeting Bay Wildlife Management Area (1.6 mi), Red Rose Preserve (0.6 mi). 12% of residents live within a half mile of a park.
Ahead of 63% of U.S. towns · #51 of 143 in Maine. What drives it
Conserved land
13%
2,817 acres · of 34.4 sq mi of land
Trails
39 mi
1.1 per sq mi of land
Park land
43 ac
14 acres per 1,000 residents
Near a park
12%
of residents within ½ mile
Lakes & rivers
8
1 boat launch
What kind of outdoors town is Bowdoinham?
Read from the map. The page puts what stands out first.
Outdoors grade
How much outdoors does Bowdoinham have?
On conserved land, trails, park land and how close residents live to a park, Bowdoinham is ahead of 63% of U.S. towns, #51 of 143 in Maine. Trail miles hold the grade up; the share of residents near a park pulls it down.
B
OutdoorsA character grade: shown, never part of Bowdoinham’s overall grade.
Conserved land13% of the land · typical ME town 6% · U.S. 4%A−Trails1.1 miles of mapped trail per square mile of land (39 mi) · ME 0.7 · U.S. 0.4A−Park land14 acres of park per 1,000 residents (43 acres) · ME 15 · U.S. 13B−Parks close to home12% 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 63%
LessMore
Maine towns of 2,500+ (143)Ahead of 65%
Water is 12% of Bowdoinham’s area (5 of 39 square miles), so every share here is of land; over land and water together, the conserved share would read 11%.
How sure. Graded on any three of the four inputs instead, the letter would range from B− 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 Merrymeeting Bay WMA, with 1.6 miles. Directions go to the nearest trailhead or public parking.
Red Rose Preserve
Managed by Kennebec Estuary Land Trust
62 acres0.6 mi of trail
Gully TrailFarm Road Loop
Dog rules not recorded
No trailhead mapped yet
Bowdoinham Sports Fields
Park
22 acres0.4 mi of trail
Gully TrailCross Ridge Trail
Dog rules not recorded
No trailhead mapped yet
Center Point Preserve
Managed by Kennebec Estuary Land Trust
33 acres
Dog rules not recorded
No trailhead mapped yet
All 7 parks & preserves
Merrymeeting Bay Wildlife Management Area1,921 acres · 1.6 mi of trail · Maine Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife
DirectionsRed Rose Preserve62 acres · 0.6 mi of trail · Kennebec Estuary Land Trust
Bowdoinham Sports Fields22 acres · 0.4 mi of trail
Center Point Preserve33 acres · Kennebec Estuary Land Trust
Cathance Meadows17 acres
DirectionsBrick Island Preserve4 acres · Kennebec Estuary Land Trust
Philip Mailly Waterfront Park2 acres
DirectionsWho protects it
2,817 conserved acres
13% of Bowdoinham’s land. Water is left out: Bowdoinham has 34.4 square miles of land and 4.8 of water, so the share counts land only. Who manages Bowdoinham’s conserved land, from the USGS Protected Areas Database. Approximate, because parcels can overlap.
State fish & wildlife2,412 ac
Land trusts & nonprofits1,447 ac
USDA easements (NRCS)211 ac
Other state land155 ac
State natural resources153 ac
Other or Unknown Local Government92 ac
Joint82 ac
State Conservation Area · 2,383 acAgricultural Easement · 1,060 acUnknown Easement · 596 acConservation Easement · 560 acPrivate Conservation · 64 ac
Good to know
Conserved doesn’t always mean open to visitors. 895 acres are conservation easements, usually private land. Public access isn’t recorded for 35 of 91 parcels. The walks above are places people visit.
The biggest protected parcels
| Parcel (PAD-US) | Managed by | Acres | Public access |
|---|---|---|---|
| Merrymeeting Bay Wildlife Management Area State Conservation Area | State fish & wildlife | 1,798 | Restricted |
| Kep State Conservation Area | State fish & wildlife | 234 | Restricted |
| Kennebec Estuary State Conservation Area | State fish & wildlife | 115 | Restricted |
| Kennebec Estuary - Maine Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife State Conservation Area | State fish & wildlife | 80 | Restricted |
| KELT-Lancaster & Hanson Private Conservation | Land trusts & nonprofits | 62 | Restricted |
| Kennebec Estuary - MDIFW State Conservation Area | Not recorded | 51 | Unknown |
| Kennebec Estuary (MDIFW) State Conservation Area | Not recorded | 39 | Unknown |
| Kennebec Estuary (Maine Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife) State Conservation Area | State fish & wildlife | 39 | Restricted |
| Kennebec Estuary Project - Maine Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife State Conservation Area | State fish & wildlife | 27 | Restricted |
| Cathance River Trail/ Public Works Local Other or Unknown | Regional agency | 21 | Restricted |
5 smaller protected places aren’t shown.
Things to do
1 places to go in Bowdoinham
Beaches, playgrounds, peaks, falls and more. Pick a kind.
Boat launches in Bowdoinham
Mailly Boat LaunchIn Philip Mailly Waterfront Park
DirectionsTrails & water
16 named trails and 8 lakes & rivers
Named trails
Unpaved · 1.2 mi
Snowmobile Trail 13 Bowdoinham10.7 mi
Snowmobile Trail 17 Bowdoinham7.6 mi
Snowmobile Trail 14 Bowdoinham4.2 mi
Snowmobile Trail 12 Bowdoinham2.7 mi
Snowmobile Trail 34 Bowdoinham2.0 mi
Snowmobile Trail 1 Bowdoinham1.7 mi
Snowmobile Trail 11 Bowdoinham1.4 mi
Snowmobile Trail 31 Bowdoinham1.3 mi
Snowmobile Trail 18 Bowdoinham1.3 mi
Snowmobile Trail 27 Richmond1.3 mi
6 more trails
Snowmobile Trail 17
0.8 miGully Trail
0.7 miSnowmobile Trail 18 Richmond Closed NO ACCESS
0.5 miFarm Road Loop
0.2 miSnowmobile Trail 21 Richmond
0.1 miCross Ridge Trail
0.1 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
3Baseball
1Pickleball
1Basketball
1Tennis
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 Bowdoinham: 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) | 30 | 33 | 41 | 53 | 65 | 74 | 79 | 78 | 70 | 58 | 46 | 36 |
| Rain (in) | 3.4 | 3.2 | 4.0 | 4.2 | 3.6 | 4.4 | 3.4 | 3.4 | 4.0 | 5.2 | 4.4 | 4.3 |
February is the driest month (3.2 in) and July the warmest (highs of 79 °F). 5.2 inches fall in October, the wettest month. The climate in Bowdoinham →
Next door
Bowdoinham and its neighbors
Tap a town to see its outdoors.
Questions about parks and trails in Bowdoinham
Where can I hike in Bowdoinham?
The longest trail networks: Merrymeeting Bay Wildlife Management Area, 1.6 miles; Red Rose Preserve, 0.6 miles; Bowdoinham Sports Fields, 0.4 miles. Each one is on the map above, with directions to the nearest trailhead or parking.
How much of Bowdoinham 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 Bowdoinham’s trails?
Merrymeeting Bay Wildlife Management Area and Red Rose Preserve don’t have dog rules recorded on the map; check the signs at the trailhead.
Is there public land near Bowdoinham?
2,883 acres of parks and open public land lie inside Bowdoinham or within 10 miles of it (PAD-US), 43 of them inside the town line.
How much outdoors does Bowdoinham have?
Ahead of 63% of U.S. towns on the Outdoors grade, #51 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 Bowdoinham 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 →