Eliot Town Forest
Managed by Town of Eliot
154 acres2.9 mi of trail
Dog rules not recorded
No trailhead mapped yet
Frost Garrison and House · Photo: Magicpiano · CC BY-SA 4.0BOutdoors
Outdoors in Eliot
Eliot has 13 miles of mapped trails, 0.7 for every square mile of land
The biggest trail networks: Eliot Town Forest (2.9 mi), Goodwin Forest (1.5 mi), Douglas Memorial Woods (0.9 mi). 7% of Eliot’s land is conserved, about 929 acres. 147 acres are parks and preserves, 21 per 1,000 residents.
Ahead of 63% of U.S. towns · #52 of 143 in Maine. What drives it
Conserved land
7%
929 acres · of 19.8 sq mi of land
Trails
13 mi
0.7 per sq mi of land
Park land
147 ac
21 acres per 1,000 residents
Near a park
32%
of residents within ½ mile
Highest peak
341 ft
Third Hill
Lakes & rivers
8
4 boat launches
What kind of outdoors town is Eliot?
Read from the map. The page puts what stands out first.
Outdoors grade
How much outdoors does Eliot have?
On conserved land, trails, park land and how close residents live to a park, Eliot is ahead of 63% of U.S. towns, #52 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 Eliot’s overall grade.
Conserved land7% of the land · typical ME town 6% · U.S. 4%B+Trails0.7 miles of mapped trail per square mile of land (13 mi) · ME 0.7 · U.S. 0.4B+Park land21 acres of park per 1,000 residents (147 acres) · ME 15 · U.S. 13BParks close to home32% 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 64%
Water is 7% of Eliot’s area (2 of 21 square miles), so every share here is of land; over land and water together, the conserved share would read 7%.
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 Eliot Town Forest, with 2.9 miles. Directions go to the nearest trailhead or public parking.
Goodwin Forest
Nature preserve
86 acres1.5 mi of trail
Hemlock TrailShorey Brook Loop
Dog rules not recorded
No trailhead mapped yet
Douglas Memorial Woods
Managed by Great Works Regional Land Trust
29 acres0.9 mi of trail
Douglas Memorial Woods
Dog rules not recorded
Directionsto the trailheadWebsite ↗
Mount Agamenticus Wildlife Management Area
Managed by Maine Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife
194 acres0.1 mi of trail
Dog rules not recorded
No trailhead mapped yet
All 8 parks & preserves
Eliot Town Forest154 acres · 2.9 mi of trail · Town of Eliot
Goodwin Forest86 acres · 1.5 mi of trail
Douglas Memorial Woods29 acres · 0.9 mi of trail · Great Works Regional Land Trust
DirectionsMount Agamenticus Wildlife Management Area194 acres · 0.1 mi of trail · Maine Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife
Dixon Road Recreation Area22 acres
DirectionsFrost Tufts Park and Ballpark7 acres
DirectionsRaymond & Simone Savage Wildlife Preserve6 acres · Great Works Regional Land Trust
DirectionsWilliam Murray-Rowe Park6 acres
DirectionsWho protects it
929 conserved acres
7% of Eliot’s land. Water is left out: Eliot has 19.8 square miles of land and 1.5 of water, so the share counts land only. Who manages Eliot’s conserved land, from the USGS Protected Areas Database. Approximate, because parcels can overlap.
Land trusts & nonprofits916 ac
State fish & wildlife367 ac
Regional agency158 ac
USDA easements (NRCS)87 ac
Town or city13 ac
State parks9 ac
Not recorded85 ac
Agricultural Easement · 495 acState Conservation Area · 393 acConservation Easement · 272 acLocal Other or Unknown · 143 acPrivate Other or Unknown · 121 ac
Good to know
Conserved doesn’t always mean open to visitors. 408 acres are conservation easements, usually private land. Public access isn’t recorded for 25 of 46 parcels. The walks above are places people visit.
The biggest protected parcels
| Parcel (PAD-US) | Managed by | Acres | Public access |
|---|---|---|---|
| Mount Agamenticus Wildlife Management Area State Conservation Area | State fish & wildlife | 192 | Restricted |
| Mt. Agamenticus Wildlife Management Area State Conservation Area | State fish & wildlife | 175 | Restricted |
| Eliot Town Forest Local Other or Unknown | Regional agency | 112 | Unknown |
| Goodwin Forest Private Other or Unknown | Land trusts & nonprofits | 84 | Closed |
| Eliot Conservation Commission Properties Local Conservation Area | Regional agency | 63 | Unknown |
| GWRLT - Douglas Memorial Forest Private Other or Unknown | Land trusts & nonprofits | 31 | Closed |
| Goodwin Farm Private Conservation | Not recorded | 27 | Unknown |
| Mt Agamenticus Wildlife Management Area State Conservation Area | Not recorded | 26 | Unknown |
| Piscataqua River Boat Access State Park | State parks | 9 | Restricted |
| Frost Tufts Park Local Park | Town or city | 8 | Open |
5 smaller protected places aren’t shown.
Things to do
23 places to go in Eliot
Beaches, playgrounds, peaks, falls and more. Pick a kind.
Playgrounds in Eliot
9 playgrounds without a name on the map. Tap “Show all on map” to see them.
Boat launches in Eliot
Eliot Boat Basin LaunchFee
DirectionsGreat Cove Boat Club Boat Ramp
DirectionsKittery Point Yacht Yard Boat Ramp
DirectionsPleasant Street Public Boat Launch
DirectionsPeaks in Eliot
Third Hill341 ft elevation
DirectionsGreat Hill285 ft elevation
DirectionsRaitt Hill243 ft elevation
DirectionsSwasey Hill226 ft elevation · In Eliot Town Forest
DirectionsMarsh Hill151 ft elevation
DirectionsSunset Hill144 ft elevation
DirectionsBolt Hill131 ft elevation
DirectionsFrost Hill128 ft elevation
Directions2 more peaks
Slate Hill89 ft elevation
DirectionsAdlington Hill69 ft elevation
DirectionsTrails & water
5 named trails and 8 lakes & rivers
Named trails
Unpaved · 1.3 mi
Hemlock Trail0.8 mi
Douglas Memorial Woods0.8 mi
Sandy Hill Farm trail0.5 mi
Shorey Brook Loop0.5 mi
Johnson Land0.3 mi
Lakes & rivers tap for directions
Biking & 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
5Baseball
4Multi-sport
2Tennis
1Basketball
1Skate park
1Volleyball
Includes school and college facilities, which aren’t always open to the public.
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 Eliot: 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) | 9.3 | 10.5 | 11.8 | 13.3 | 14.6 | 15.4 | 15.1 | 13.9 | 12.4 | 10.9 | 9.6 | 9.0 |
| High (°F) | 34 | 36 | 44 | 56 | 67 | 76 | 81 | 80 | 72 | 60 | 49 | 39 |
| Rain (in) | 3.5 | 3.4 | 4.3 | 4.2 | 3.8 | 4.2 | 3.8 | 3.5 | 3.9 | 4.8 | 4.0 | 4.4 |
February is the driest month (3.4 in) and July the warmest (highs of 81 °F). 4.8 inches fall in October, the wettest month. The climate in Eliot →
Next door
Eliot and its neighbors
Tap a town to see its outdoors.
York112 miSouth Berwick34 miDover33 miKittery24 miPortsmouth21 miEliot13 miNewington8.6 miSouth Eliot2.4 mi
| Town | Conserved of land | Trail mi per sq mi | Park acres per 1,000 | Near a park ½ mile | Outdoors |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Eliot | 7% | 0.7 | 21 | 32% | B |
| South Berwick | 22% | 1.1 | 65 | 54% | A |
| South Eliot | — not graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its town | ||||
| Kittery | 19% | 1.4 | 17 | 58% | A− |
| York | 28% | 2.0 | 21 | 19% | A− |
The four inputs of the Outdoors grade, from the engine; shares are of land, not water.
Questions about parks and trails in Eliot
Where can I hike in Eliot?
The longest trail networks: Eliot Town Forest, 2.9 miles; Goodwin Forest, 1.5 miles; Douglas Memorial Woods, 0.9 miles; Mount Agamenticus Wildlife Management Area, 0.1 miles. Each one is on the map above, with directions to the nearest trailhead or parking.
How much of Eliot 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 Eliot’s trails?
Eliot Town Forest and Goodwin Forest don’t have dog rules recorded on the map; check the signs at the trailhead.
Is there public land near Eliot?
6,903 acres of parks and open public land lie inside Eliot or within 10 miles of it (PAD-US), 147 of them inside the town line.
How much outdoors does Eliot have?
Ahead of 63% of U.S. towns on the Outdoors grade, #52 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 Eliot 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 →