Mercer Bog Wildlife Management Area
Managed by Maine Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife
377 acres
Dog rules not recorded
No trailhead mapped yet
Photo: Tim Pierce · CC BY-SA 4.0–Not graded
Outdoors in Mercer
Few parks or trails are on the map in Mercer
4% of Mercer’s land is conserved, about 613 acres. 28 miles of mapped trail cross Mercer, 1.1 per square mile of land.
Conserved land
4%
613 acres · of 26.7 sq mi of land
Trails
28 mi
1.1 per sq mi of land
Near a park
under 1%
of residents within ½ mile
Highest peak
581 ft
Beech Hill
Lakes & rivers
2
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.
Who protects it
613 conserved acres
4% of Mercer’s land. Who manages Mercer’s conserved land, from the USGS Protected Areas Database. Approximate, because parcels can overlap.
Land trusts & nonprofits471 ac
State fish & wildlife377 ac
Not recorded54 ac
State Conservation Area · 432 acUnknown Easement · 235 acAgricultural Easement · 229 acConservation Easement · 6 ac
Good to know
Conserved doesn’t always mean open to visitors. 235 acres are conservation easements, usually private land. Public access isn’t recorded for 8 of 16 parcels. The walks above are places people visit.
The biggest protected parcels
| Parcel (PAD-US) | Managed by | Acres | Public access |
|---|---|---|---|
| Mercer Bog Wildlife Management Area State Conservation Area | State fish & wildlife | 432 | Closed |
Things to do
2 places to go in Mercer
Beaches, playgrounds, peaks, falls and more. Pick a kind.
Peaks in Mercer
Beech Hill581 ft elevation
DirectionsLittle Beech Hill374 ft elevation
DirectionsTrails & water
5 named trails and 2 lakes & rivers
Named trails
Snowmobile ITS 8710.3 mi
Snowmobile Smithfield Mercer trail8.8 mi
Snowmobile Smithfield trail4.5 mi
Snowmobile New Sharon Trail0.3 mi
Snowmobile North Pond0.2 mi
Lakes & rivers tap for directions
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 Mercer: 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 | 8.8 |
| High (°F) | 27 | 31 | 39 | 52 | 65 | 74 | 79 | 78 | 70 | 57 | 44 | 33 |
| Rain (in) | 3.2 | 2.8 | 3.5 | 3.9 | 3.5 | 4.4 | 3.8 | 3.5 | 3.6 | 5.2 | 4.2 | 4.1 |
February is the driest month (2.8 in) and July the warmest (highs of 79 °F). 5.2 inches fall in October, the wettest month. The climate in Mercer →
Next door
Mercer and its neighbors
Mercer 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mercer | — not graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its town | ||||
| Starks | — not graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its town | ||||
| Smithfield | — not graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its town | ||||
| New Sharon | 5% | 0.5 | 7 | 6% | C+ |
| Norridgewock | 1% | 0.7 | 4 | 10% | C− |
| Rome | 21% | 0.9 | under 1 | under 1% | C+ |
The four inputs of the Outdoors grade, from the engine; shares are of land, not water.
Questions about parks and trails in Mercer
Are dogs allowed on Mercer’s trails?
Mercer Bog Wildlife Management Area doesn’t have dog rules recorded on the map; check the signs at the trailhead.
Is there public land near Mercer?
2,277 acres of parks and open public land lie inside Mercer or within 10 miles of it (PAD-US), almost none of it inside the town line.
Trail talk
Conditions, parking and favorite walks from Mercer 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 →