Kennebec Highlands
Managed by Belgrade Regional Conservation Alliance
417 acres0.6 mi of trail
Snowmobile ITS 87
Dog rules not recorded
No trailhead mapped yet
Photo: Back2reality07 · CC BY-SA 3.0C+Outdoors
Outdoors in New Sharon
5% of New Sharon’s land is conserved: 1,593 acres
The biggest trail networks: Kennebec Highlands (0.6 mi). 6% of residents live within a half mile of a park. 11 acres are parks and preserves, 7.2 per 1,000 residents.
Ahead of 38% of U.S. towns. What drives it
Conserved land
5%
1,593 acres · of 46.2 sq mi of land
Trails
22 mi
0.5 per sq mi of land
Park land
11 ac
7.2 acres per 1,000 residents
Near a park
6%
of residents within ½ mile
Highest peak
1,204 ft
York Hill
Lakes & rivers
4
1 boat launch
Outdoors grade
How much outdoors does New Sharon have?
On conserved land, trails, park land and how close residents live to a park, New Sharon is ahead of 38% of U.S. towns. Conserved land holds the grade up; the share of residents near a park pulls it down.
C+
OutdoorsA character grade: shown, never part of New Sharon’s overall grade.
Conserved land5% of the land · typical ME town 6% · U.S. 4%BTrails0.5 miles of mapped trail per square mile of land (22 mi) · ME 0.7 · U.S. 0.4BPark land7.2 acres of park per 1,000 residents (11 acres) · ME 15 · U.S. 13C+Parks close to home6% 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 38%
LessMore
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 Kennebec Highlands, with 0.6 miles. Directions go to the nearest trailhead or public parking.
Who protects it
1,593 conserved acres
5% of New Sharon’s land. Who manages New Sharon’s conserved land, from the USGS Protected Areas Database. Approximate, because parcels can overlap.
Land trusts & nonprofits1,372 ac
State parks717 ac
Joint272 ac
State fish & wildlife11 ac
Not recorded252 ac
Local Other or Unknown · 607 acConservation Easement · 565 acUnknown Easement · 465 acAgricultural Easement · 332 acPrivate Other or Unknown · 282 ac
Good to know
Conserved doesn’t always mean open to visitors. 692 acres are conservation easements, usually private land. Public access isn’t recorded for 10 of 24 parcels. The walks above are places people visit.
The biggest protected parcels
| Parcel (PAD-US) | Managed by | Acres | Public access |
|---|---|---|---|
| Kennebec Highlands Local Other or Unknown | State parks | 970 | Closed |
| Kennebec Highlands Expansion Private Other or Unknown | Land trusts & nonprofits | 282 | Restricted |
| Sandy River/ Muddy Brook Access State Other or Unknown | State fish & wildlife | 7 | Closed |
| Sandy River Access State Other or Unknown | State fish & wildlife | 4 | Closed |
Things to do
4 places to go in New Sharon
Beaches, playgrounds, peaks, falls and more. Pick a kind.
Boat launches in New Sharon
1 boat launch without a name on the map. Tap “Show all on map” to see it.
Peaks in New Sharon
York Hill1,204 ft elevation
DirectionsHampshire Hill1,017 ft elevation
DirectionsCape Cod Hill892 ft elevation
DirectionsTrails & water
5 named trails and 4 lakes & rivers
Named trails
Snowmobile ITS 876.4 mi
Roxy Rand Trail1.1 mi
Kennebec Highlands Trail0.3 mi
Snowmobile New Sharon Trail0.3 mi
McIntiire Pond Trail0.3 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
1Baseball
Includes school and college facilities, which aren’t always open to the public.
History along the way
History →2 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 New Sharon: 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 | 30 | 39 | 52 | 65 | 74 | 79 | 78 | 70 | 57 | 44 | 33 |
| Rain (in) | 3.2 | 2.8 | 3.6 | 4.0 | 3.6 | 4.6 | 3.9 | 3.6 | 3.5 | 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 New Sharon →
Next door
New Sharon and its neighbors
Tap a town to see its outdoors.
Chesterville30 miMercer28 miRome23 miFarmington22 miNew Sharon22 miVienna21 miIndustry12 miStarks9.0 mi
| Town | Conserved of land | Trail mi per sq mi | Park acres per 1,000 | Near a park ½ mile | Outdoors |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| New Sharon | 5% | 0.5 | 7 | 6% | C+ |
| Chesterville | 9% | 0.8 | under 1 | 2% | C+ |
| Mercer | — not graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its town | ||||
| Industry | — not graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its town | ||||
| Starks | — not graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its town | ||||
| Farmington | 2% | 0.4 | 21 | 55% | B− |
| Vienna | — not graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its town | ||||
| 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 New Sharon
Where can I hike in New Sharon?
The longest trail networks: Kennebec Highlands, 0.6 miles. Each one is on the map above, with directions to the nearest trailhead or parking.
How much of New Sharon 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 New Sharon’s trails?
Kennebec Highlands and Sandy River Public Boat Access don’t have dog rules recorded on the map; check the signs at the trailhead.
Is there public land near New Sharon?
2,141 acres of parks and open public land lie inside New Sharon or within 10 miles of it (PAD-US), 122 of them inside the town line.
How much outdoors does New Sharon have?
Ahead of 38% 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 New Sharon 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 →