Parker Pond Headland Preserve
Managed by Kennebec Land Trust
202 acres3.1 mi of trail
Parker Pond Headland Trail
Dog rules not recorded
No trailhead mapped yet
Joseph H. Underwood House · Photo: Magicpiano · CC BY-SA 4.0COutdoors
Outdoors in Fayette
Fayette has 21 miles of mapped trails, 0.7 for every square mile of land
The biggest trail networks: Parker Pond Headland Preserve (3.1 mi), Oak Hill Conservation Area (1 mi), Surry Hill Community Forest (0.7 mi). 6% of Fayette’s land is conserved, about 1,148 acres.
Ahead of 28% of U.S. towns. What drives it
Conserved land
6%
1,148 acres · of 29.2 sq mi of land
Trails
21 mi
0.7 per sq mi of land
Near a park
under 1%
of residents within ½ mile
Highest peak
860 ft
Fayette Ridge
Lakes & rivers
9
What kind of outdoors town is Fayette?
Read from the map. The page puts what stands out first.
Outdoors grade
How much outdoors does Fayette have?
On conserved land, trails, park land and how close residents live to a park, Fayette is ahead of 28% of U.S. towns. Trail miles hold the grade up; the share of residents near a park pulls it down.
C
OutdoorsA character grade: shown, never part of Fayette’s overall grade.
Conserved land6% of the land · typical ME town 6% · U.S. 4%B+Trails0.7 miles of mapped trail per square mile of land (21 mi) · ME 0.7 · U.S. 0.4B+Park 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 28%
LessMore
Water is 7% of Fayette’s area (2 of 32 square miles), so every share here is of land; over land and water together, the conserved share would read 6%.
How sure. Graded on any three of the four inputs instead, the letter would range from D 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
The longest trail network is Parker Pond Headland Preserve, with 3.1 miles. Directions go to the nearest trailhead or public parking.
Oak Hill Conservation Area
Managed by Kennebec Land Trust
131 acres1 mi of trail
Oak Hill Conservation Area Trail
Dog rules not recorded
No trailhead mapped yet
Surry Hill Community Forest
Managed by Kennebec Land Trust
330 acres0.7 mi of trail
Snowmobile ITS 115 Connector
Dog rules not recorded
No trailhead mapped yet
Baldwin Hill Conservation Area
Managed by Kennebec Land Trust
87 acres0.6 mi of trail
Baldwin Hill Trail
Dog rules not recorded
No trailhead mapped yet
Meadowbrook Farm Conservation Area
Managed by Kennebec Land Trust
225 acres0.5 mi of trail
Meadow Brook Farm Conservation Area TrailSnowmobile ITS 115 Connector
Dog rules not recorded
No trailhead mapped yet
Sturtevant Farm Conservation Area
Managed by Kennebec Land Trust
85 acres0.4 mi of trail
Meadow Brook Farm Conservation Area TrailSnowmobile ITS 115 Connector
Dog rules not recorded
No trailhead mapped yet
All 12 parks & preserves
Parker Pond Headland Preserve202 acres · 3.1 mi of trail · Kennebec Land Trust
Oak Hill Conservation Area131 acres · 1 mi of trail · Kennebec Land Trust
Surry Hill Community Forest330 acres · 0.7 mi of trail · Kennebec Land Trust
Baldwin Hill Conservation Area87 acres · 0.6 mi of trail · Kennebec Land Trust
Meadowbrook Farm Conservation Area225 acres · 0.5 mi of trail · Kennebec Land Trust
Sturtevant Farm Conservation Area85 acres · 0.4 mi of trail · Kennebec Land Trust
Bamford Woodland Conservation Area52 acres · 0.2 mi of trail · Kennebec Land Trust
Sturtevant Farm Scenic Area24 acres · 0.1 mi of trail · Kennebec Land Trust
Echo Lake Watershed Preserve97 acres · Kennebec Land Trust
Hales Pond Woodland Preserve73 acres · Kennebec Land Trust
David Pond Woodland Conservation Area66 acres · Kennebec Land Trust
Mathews Wildlife Habitat17 acres · Kennebec Land Trust
Who protects it
1,148 conserved acres
6% of Fayette’s land. Water is left out: Fayette has 29.2 square miles of land and 2.3 of water, so the share counts land only. Who manages Fayette’s conserved land, from the USGS Protected Areas Database. Approximate, because parcels can overlap.
Land trusts & nonprofits1,889 ac
State parks95 ac
State conservation95 ac
Agricultural Easement · 675 acConservation Easement · 502 acUnknown Easement · 406 acPrivate Other or Unknown · 402 acPrivate Recreation or Education · 95 ac
Good to know
Conserved doesn’t always mean open to visitors. 745 acres are conservation easements, usually private land. Public access isn’t recorded for 11 of 26 parcels. The walks above are places people visit.
The biggest protected parcels
| Parcel (PAD-US) | Managed by | Acres | Public access |
|---|---|---|---|
| Parker Pond Private Recreation or Education | State conservation | 95 | Closed |
| Parker Pond Headlands Private Other or Unknown | Land trusts & nonprofits | 95 | Closed |
| Echo Lake Watershed Preserve III Private Other or Unknown | Land trusts & nonprofits | 93 | Closed |
| Baldwin Hill Conservation Area Private Other or Unknown | Land trusts & nonprofits | 79 | Closed |
| Parker Pond Headland Private Other or Unknown | Land trusts & nonprofits | 64 | Closed |
| Parker Pond Headland Reserve Private Other or Unknown | Land trusts & nonprofits | 43 | Closed |
| Mathews Wildlife Habitat Private Other or Unknown | Land trusts & nonprofits | 15 | Closed |
| Baldwin Hill Conservation Burial Gorund Private Other or Unknown | Land trusts & nonprofits | 10 | Unknown |
| Echo III Private Other or Unknown | Land trusts & nonprofits | 3 | Closed |
Things to do
6 places to go in Fayette
Beaches, playgrounds, peaks, falls and more. Pick a kind.
Peaks in Fayette
Fayette Ridge860 ft elevation
DirectionsPine Hill830 ft elevation
DirectionsBaldwin Hill784 ft elevation
DirectionsOak Hill725 ft elevation
DirectionsManter Hill551 ft elevation
DirectionsMount WinnebagoIn Oak Hill Conservation Area
DirectionsTrails & water
6 named trails and 9 lakes & rivers
Named trails
Unpaved · 1.9 mi
Snowmobile ITS 115 Connector10.4 mi
Parker Pond Headland Trail3.2 mi
Oak Hill Conservation Area Trail1.0 mi
Meadow Brook Farm Conservation Area Trail0.7 mi
Baldwin Hill Trail0.6 mi
Srr 10.2 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
11Tennis
5Tracks
4Basketball
1Baseball
Includes school and college facilities, which aren’t always open to the public.
History along the way
History →3 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 Fayette: May and July 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) | 28 | 31 | 40 | 53 | 65 | 73 | 79 | 78 | 70 | 57 | 44 | 33 |
| Rain (in) | 3.3 | 2.9 | 3.7 | 4.1 | 3.6 | 4.7 | 3.7 | 3.7 | 3.7 | 5.2 | 4.3 | 4.2 |
February is the driest month (2.9 in) and July the warmest (highs of 79 °F). 5.2 inches fall in October, the wettest month. The climate in Fayette →
Next door
Fayette and its neighbors
Fayette has the second most mapped trails of the 6 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Fayette | 6% | 0.7 | under 1 | under 1% | C |
| Mount Vernon | 5% | 0.5 | 1 | 3% | C |
| Readfield | 9% | 0.6 | 14 | 10% | B− |
| Livermore Falls | 2% | 0.5 | 19 | 54% | B− |
| Chesterville | 9% | 0.8 | under 1 | 2% | C+ |
| Wayne | 4% | 0.3 | 10 | 5% | C+ |
The four inputs of the Outdoors grade, from the engine; shares are of land, not water.
Questions about parks and trails in Fayette
Where can I hike in Fayette?
The longest trail networks: Parker Pond Headland Preserve, 3.1 miles; Oak Hill Conservation Area, 1 miles; Surry Hill Community Forest, 0.7 miles; Baldwin Hill Conservation Area, 0.6 miles. Each one is on the map above, with directions to the nearest trailhead or parking.
How much of Fayette is conserved land?
6% 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 Fayette’s trails?
Parker Pond Headland Preserve and Oak Hill Conservation Area don’t have dog rules recorded on the map; check the signs at the trailhead.
Is there public land near Fayette?
2,378 acres of parks and open public land lie inside Fayette or within 10 miles of it (PAD-US), almost none of it inside the town line.
How much outdoors does Fayette have?
Ahead of 28% of U.S. towns on the Outdoors grade. 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 Fayette 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 →