Dexter Recreational Facility (Bud Ellms Field)
Park
71 acres
Dog rules not recorded
No trailhead mapped yet
Dexter Grist Mill · Photo: HalstynGuenther · CC BY-SA 4.0C+Outdoors
Outdoors in Dexter
Dexter has 86 acres of parks, 23 for every 1,000 residents
48% of residents live within a half mile of a park. 7.6 miles of mapped trail cross Dexter, 0.2 per square mile of land.
Ahead of 37% of U.S. towns · #112 of 143 in Maine. What drives it
Conserved land
under 1%
94 acres · of 35.1 sq mi of land
Trails
7.6 mi
0.2 per sq mi of land
Park land
86 ac
23 acres per 1,000 residents
Near a park
48%
of residents within ½ mile
Bike routes
8.9 mi
7.9 mi paths
Highest peak
879 ft
Hersey Hill
Lakes & rivers
3
1 boat launch
What kind of outdoors town is Dexter?
Read from the map. The page puts what stands out first.
Outdoors grade
How much outdoors does Dexter have?
On conserved land, trails, park land and how close residents live to a park, Dexter is ahead of 37% of U.S. towns, #112 of 143 in Maine. Park acres per resident hold the grade up; conserved land pulls it down.
C+
OutdoorsA character grade: shown, never part of Dexter’s overall grade.
Conserved landunder 1% of the land · typical ME town 6% · U.S. 4%C−Trails0.2 miles of mapped trail per square mile of land (8 mi) · ME 0.7 · U.S. 0.4C+Park land23 acres of park per 1,000 residents (86 acres) · ME 15 · U.S. 13B+Parks close to home48% 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 37%
LessMore
Maine towns of 2,500+ (143)Ahead of 22%
Water is 5% of Dexter’s area (2 of 37 square miles), so every share here is of land; over land and water together, the conserved share would read under 1%.
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
Directions go to the nearest trailhead or public parking.
Wayside Park
Park
1 acres
Dog rules not recorded
No trailhead mapped yet
All 6 parks & preserves
Dexter Recreational Facility (Bud Ellms Field)71 acres
Dexter Municipal Beach7 acres
DirectionsCrosby Park5 acres
DirectionsWayside Park1 acres
Pleasant Street Park/Skating rink1 acres
Eleanor Marsh Smith Ronco Memorial Park1 acres
Who protects it
94 conserved acres
under 1% of Dexter’s land. Water is left out: Dexter has 35.1 square miles of land and 2.0 of water, so the share counts land only. Who manages Dexter’s conserved land, from the USGS Protected Areas Database. Approximate, because parcels can overlap.
State parks91 ac
Not recorded91 ac
State Recreation Area · 91 acState Other or Unknown · 91 ac
Good to know
Conserved doesn’t always mean open to visitors. Public access isn’t recorded for 1 of 2 parcels. The walks above are places people visit.
The biggest protected parcels
| Parcel (PAD-US) | Managed by | Acres | Public access |
|---|---|---|---|
| Four Seasons Adventure Rail Trail State Recreation Area | State parks | 91 | Closed |
| Adventure Rail Trail State Other or Unknown | Not recorded | 91 | Unknown |
Things to do
2 places to go in Dexter
Beaches, playgrounds, peaks, falls and more. Pick a kind.
Boat launches in Dexter
Wassookeag Boat Launch
DirectionsPeaks in Dexter
Hersey Hill879 ft elevation
DirectionsTrails & water
3 lakes & rivers
Lakes & rivers tap for directions
Biking & sports
8.9 miles of bike routes
Bike lanes are often missing from the map in smaller towns, so that number is likely low.
7.9 mi
off-road bike paths
0.9 mi
shoulders & shared lanes
Courts & fields
6Tennis
3Baseball
1Basketball
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). The map also marks 1 historic points from OpenStreetMap: plaques, memorials and old buildings.
When to get out
The best walking months in Dexter: 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) | 9.1 | 10.3 | 11.8 | 13.4 | 14.8 | 15.6 | 15.3 | 14.1 | 12.5 | 10.9 | 9.5 | 8.8 |
| High (°F) | 26 | 30 | 39 | 52 | 65 | 74 | 78 | 77 | 70 | 56 | 44 | 32 |
| Rain (in) | 3.3 | 2.7 | 3.4 | 3.7 | 3.5 | 4.1 | 3.6 | 3.7 | 3.7 | 5.0 | 4.1 | 4.1 |
February is the driest month (2.7 in) and July the warmest (highs of 78 °F). 5.0 inches fall in October, the wettest month. The climate in Dexter →
Next door
Dexter and its neighbors
Dexter has the second most mapped trails of the 5 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Dexter | under 1% | 0.2 | 23 | 48% | C+ |
| Corinna | 1% | 0.3 | 2 | 23% | C− |
| Garland | 10% | 0.1 | under 1 | under 1% | C− |
| Ripley | — not graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its town | ||||
| Sangerville | 1% | under 0.1 | 280 | 13% | C |
The four inputs of the Outdoors grade, from the engine; shares are of land, not water.
Questions about parks and trails in Dexter
How much of Dexter is conserved land?
under 1% 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 Dexter’s trails?
Dexter Recreational Facility (Bud Ellms Field) and Dexter Municipal Beach don’t have dog rules recorded on the map; check the signs at the trailhead.
Where can I bike in Dexter?
8.9 miles of bike routes are on the map: 7.9 of off-road paths and 0.9 of shoulders and shared lanes.
Is there public land near Dexter?
525 acres of parks and open public land lie inside Dexter or within 10 miles of it (PAD-US), 86 of them inside the town line.
How much outdoors does Dexter have?
Ahead of 37% of U.S. towns on the Outdoors grade, #112 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 Dexter 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 →