Libby Hill Forest
Nature preserve
86 acres5 mi of trail
Moose OdysseyDeer RunHolmquist HollowGhost Trail+1
Dog rules not recorded
Directionsto the parking lot
Photo: RootsLilla · CC BY-SA 3.0C+Outdoors
Outdoors in Gray
Gray has 41 miles of mapped trails, 0.9 for every square mile of land
The biggest trail networks: Libby Hill Forest (5 mi), Pineland Public Land (3.2 mi), Thayer Brook Preserve (2 mi). 11% of residents live within a half mile of a park. 5% of Gray’s land is conserved, about 1,464 acres.
Ahead of 43% of U.S. towns · #100 of 143 in Maine. What drives it
Conserved land
5%
1,464 acres · of 43.3 sq mi of land
Trails
41 mi
0.9 per sq mi of land
Park land
44 ac
5.2 acres per 1,000 residents
Near a park
11%
of residents within ½ mile
Highest peak
574 ft
Dutton Hill
Lakes & rivers
6
1 beach · 2 boat launches
What kind of outdoors town is Gray?
Read from the map. The page puts what stands out first.
Outdoors grade
How much outdoors does Gray have?
On conserved land, trails, park land and how close residents live to a park, Gray is ahead of 43% of U.S. towns, #100 of 143 in Maine. Trail miles hold the grade up; the share of residents near a park pulls it down.
C+
OutdoorsA character grade: shown, never part of Gray’s overall grade.
Conserved land5% of the land · typical ME town 6% · U.S. 4%BTrails0.9 miles of mapped trail per square mile of land (41 mi) · ME 0.7 · U.S. 0.4A−Park land5.2 acres of park per 1,000 residents (44 acres) · ME 15 · U.S. 13CParks close to home11% 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 43%
LessMore
Maine towns of 2,500+ (143)Ahead of 30%
Water is 6% of Gray’s area (3 of 46 square miles), so every share here is of land; over land and water together, the conserved share would read 5%.
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
The longest trail network is Libby Hill Forest, with 5 miles. Directions go to the nearest trailhead or public parking.
Pineland Public Land
Managed by Maine Bureau of Parks and Lands
423 acres3.2 mi of trail
North Loop TrailSouth Loop TrailTributary TrailFox Run
Dog rules not recorded
Directionsto the parking lot
Thayer Brook Preserve
Nature preserve
148 acres2 mi of trail
Mill TrailRidge Runner TrailFar Side TrailLynx Trail+1
Dog rules not recorded
Directionsto the parking lot
Libbey Hill Trails
Park
38 acres2 mi of trail
Outback TrailHarold LibbeyLynx TrailMoose Odyssey
Dog rules not recorded
No trailhead mapped yet
May Meadow Woods Open Space
Nature preserve
92 acres0.5 mi of trail
Dog rules not recorded
No trailhead mapped yet
All 13 parks & preserves
Libby Hill Forest86 acres · 5 mi of trail
DirectionsPineland Public Land423 acres · 3.2 mi of trail · Maine Bureau of Parks and Lands
DirectionsThayer Brook Preserve148 acres · 2 mi of trail
DirectionsLibbey Hill Trails38 acres · 2 mi of trail
May Meadow Woods Open Space92 acres · 0.5 mi of trail
Pennell Park6 acres · 0.2 mi of trail
Morgan Meadow Wildlife Management Area125 acres · Maine Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife
Whitney Memorial Forest35 acres · Maine Woodland Owners
Dutton Hill Conservation Easement28 acres
Collyer Brook23 acres
Mayall Mills State Historic Site20 acres · Maine Bureau of Parks & Lands
Ridgeview Land18 acres
Manahan Wildlife Refuge6 acres
Who protects it
1,464 conserved acres
5% of Gray’s land. Water is left out: Gray has 43.3 square miles of land and 2.7 of water, so the share counts land only. Who manages Gray’s conserved land, from the USGS Protected Areas Database. Approximate, because parcels can overlap.
Land trusts & nonprofits1,022 ac
State parks474 ac
State fish & wildlife292 ac
Regional agency178 ac
State conservation113 ac
Other state land84 ac
Joint22 ac
Local Other or Unknown · 610 acUnknown Easement · 497 acState Other or Unknown · 487 acAgricultural Easement · 439 acConservation Easement · 262 ac
Good to know
Conserved doesn’t always mean open to visitors. 598 acres are conservation easements, usually private land. Public access isn’t recorded for 17 of 40 parcels. The walks above are places people visit.
The biggest protected parcels
| Parcel (PAD-US) | Managed by | Acres | Public access |
|---|---|---|---|
| Pineland Local Other or Unknown | State parks | 832 | Closed |
| Morgan Meadow Wildlife Management Area State Conservation Area | State fish & wildlife | 119 | Restricted |
| Morgan Meadow State Conservation Area | State fish & wildlife | 98 | Restricted |
| University of Maine Foundation State Other or Unknown | Other state land | 84 | Unknown |
| Libby Hill Land Local Other or Unknown | Regional agency | 60 | Closed |
| Whitney Memorial Forest Private Other or Unknown | Land trusts & nonprofits | 35 | Restricted |
| Miscellaneous Municipal Lands Local Other or Unknown | Not recorded | 34 | Unknown |
| Unknown Local Other or Unknown | Regional agency | 34 | Unknown |
| Libby Hill - Gray Unknown | Regional agency | 30 | Closed |
| Libby Hill Unknown | Not recorded | 30 | Unknown |
5 smaller protected places aren’t shown.
Things to do
16 places to go in Gray
Beaches, playgrounds, peaks, falls and more. Pick a kind.
Beaches in Gray
Wilkies Beach
DirectionsPlaygrounds in Gray
2 playgrounds without a name on the map. Tap “Show all on map” to see them.
Boat launches in Gray
Boat House
DirectionsPlus 1 boat launch without a name on the map. Tap “Show all on map” to see it.
Scenic views in Gray
Moose PointIn Libbey Hill Trails
DirectionsPlus 1 scenic view without a name on the map.
Peaks in Gray
Dutton Hill574 ft elevation
DirectionsAdams Hill571 ft elevation
DirectionsHunt Hill502 ft elevation
DirectionsPumpkin Hill492 ft elevation
DirectionsBoody Hill476 ft elevation
DirectionsLibby Hill463 ft elevation · In Libby Hill Forest
DirectionsVarney Hill407 ft elevation
DirectionsKnight Hill377 ft elevation
Directions1 more peak
Verrill Ledges
DirectionsTrails & water
19 named trails and 6 lakes & rivers
Named trails
Open to bikes · 7.9 miHorses · 2.7 miUnpaved · 6.1 mi
Moose Odyssey3.1 mi
North Loop Trail1.3 mi
South Loop Trail1.3 mi
Fox Run1.1 mi
Harold Libbey1.1 mi
Outback Trail1.0 mi
Far Side Trail0.7 mi
Mill Trail0.7 mi
Turkey Trot0.7 mi
Ghost Trail0.6 mi
9 more trails
Ridge Runner Trail
0.6 miTributary Trail
0.5 miLynx Trail
0.5 miDeer Run
0.3 miHolmquist Hollow
0.3 miWetland Trail
0.2 miTree Trail
0.1 miGame Trail
0.1 miConnector Trail
0.1 miLakes & 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
7Baseball
2Basketball
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). The map also marks 1 historic points from OpenStreetMap: plaques, memorials and old buildings.
When to get out
The best walking months in Gray: 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 | 54 | 66 | 75 | 80 | 79 | 71 | 58 | 46 | 35 |
| Rain (in) | 3.4 | 3.3 | 4.0 | 4.4 | 3.7 | 4.5 | 3.7 | 3.7 | 4.0 | 5.3 | 4.4 | 4.4 |
February is the driest month (3.3 in) and July the warmest (highs of 80 °F). 5.3 inches fall in October, the wettest month. The climate in Gray →
Next door
Gray and its neighbors
Gray has the 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Gray | 5% | 0.9 | 5 | 11% | C+ |
| Windham | 5% | 0.7 | 33 | 20% | B |
| New Gloucester | 18% | 0.7 | 14 | 10% | B |
| Raymond | 10% | 0.2 | 9 | 19% | C+ |
| North Yarmouth | 13% | 1.2 | 59 | 37% | A− |
| Cumberland | 11% | 1.6 | 39 | 32% | A− |
The four inputs of the Outdoors grade, from the engine; shares are of land, not water.
Questions about parks and trails in Gray
Where can I hike in Gray?
The longest trail networks: Libby Hill Forest, 5 miles; Pineland Public Land, 3.2 miles; Thayer Brook Preserve, 2 miles; Libbey Hill Trails, 2 miles. Each one is on the map above, with directions to the nearest trailhead or parking.
How much of Gray is conserved land?
5% 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 Gray’s trails?
Libby Hill Forest and Pineland Public Land don’t have dog rules recorded on the map; check the signs at the trailhead.
Is there public land near Gray?
6,283 acres of parks and open public land lie inside Gray or within 10 miles of it (PAD-US), 44 of them inside the town line.
How much outdoors does Gray have?
Ahead of 43% of U.S. towns on the Outdoors grade, #100 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 Gray 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 →