Dwight B. Demeritt Forest
Managed by Orono Land Trust
1,074 acres10.4 mi of trail
Black TrailRed TrailWhite TrailBlue Trail+1
Dog rules not recorded
Directionsto the parking lot
US Post Office-Old Town Main · Photo: https://www.flickr.com/photos/dougtone/8181884923/ · CC BY-SA 2.0B+Outdoors
Outdoors in Old Town
28% of Old Town’s land is conserved: 6,999 acres
40 miles of mapped trail cross Old Town, 1.0 per square mile of land. The biggest trail networks: Dwight B. Demeritt Forest (10.4 mi), Hirundo Wildlife Refuge (3.1 mi), Caribou Bog Wildlife Management Area (0.9 mi). 25 acres are parks and preserves, 3.4 per 1,000 residents.
Ahead of 67% of U.S. towns · #45 of 143 in Maine. What drives it
Conserved land
28%
6,999 acres · of 38.8 sq mi of land
Trails
40 mi
1.0 per sq mi of land
Park land
25 ac
3.4 acres per 1,000 residents
Near a park
57%
of residents within ½ mile
Bike routes
5.4 mi
5.4 mi paths
Highest peak
230 ft
Fairdale Hill
Lakes & rivers
6
3 boat launches
What kind of outdoors town is Old Town?
Read from the map. The page puts what stands out first.
Outdoors grade
How much outdoors does Old Town have?
On conserved land, trails, park land and how close residents live to a park, Old Town is ahead of 67% of U.S. towns, #45 of 143 in Maine. Conserved land holds the grade up; park acres per resident pull it down.
B+
OutdoorsA character grade: shown, never part of Old Town’s overall grade.
Conserved land28% of the land · typical ME town 6% · U.S. 4%ATrails1.0 miles of mapped trail per square mile of land (40 mi) · ME 0.7 · U.S. 0.4A−Park land3.4 acres of park per 1,000 residents (25 acres) · ME 15 · U.S. 13C−Parks close to home57% of residents within a half mile of a park · ME 30% · U.S. 72%B−
All U.S. towns we grade (21,298)Ahead of 67%
LessMore
Maine towns of 2,500+ (143)Ahead of 69%
Water is 10% of Old Town’s area (4 of 43 square miles), so every share here is of land; over land and water together, the conserved share would read 26%.
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 Dwight B. Demeritt Forest, with 10.4 miles. Directions go to the nearest trailhead or public parking.
Hirundo Wildlife Refuge
Managed by Hirundo Wildlife Refuge
1,614 acres3.1 mi of trail
Hemlock TrailBeech TrailTrappers TrailNeedle and Leaf Trail+1
Dog rules not recorded
Directionsto the trailheadWebsite ↗
Caribou Bog Wildlife Management Area
Managed by Maine Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife
1,678 acres0.9 mi of trail
Kirkland Connector
Dog rules not recorded
No trailhead mapped yet
Smith Farm
Managed by University of Maine
134 acres0.7 mi of trail
Kirkland Connector
Dog rules not recorded
No trailhead mapped yet
Brent Halsey Educational Forest
Managed by Orono Land Trust
9 acres0.5 mi of trail
Dog rules not recorded
No trailhead mapped yet
All 12 parks & preserves
Dwight B. Demeritt Forest1,074 acres · 10.4 mi of trail · Orono Land Trust
DirectionsHirundo Wildlife Refuge1,614 acres · 3.1 mi of trail · Hirundo Wildlife Refuge
DirectionsCaribou Bog Wildlife Management Area1,678 acres · 0.9 mi of trail · Maine Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife
Smith Farm134 acres · 0.7 mi of trail · University of Maine
Brent Halsey Educational Forest9 acres · 0.5 mi of trail · Orono Land Trust
Binnette Park2 acres · 0.2 mi of trail · City of Old Town
DirectionsSpencer Park1 acres · 0.2 mi of trail · City of Old Town
DirectionsSewall Park26 acres · City of Old Town
Fourth Street Park3 acres
DirectionsPerkins Avenue Park1 acres
DirectionsCoombs Park1 acres
Treat-Webster Park1 acres
Who protects it
6,999 conserved acres
28% of Old Town’s land. Water is left out: Old Town has 38.8 square miles of land and 4.4 of water, so the share counts land only. Who manages Old Town’s conserved land, from the USGS Protected Areas Database. Approximate, because parcels can overlap.
State fish & wildlife2,860 ac
Land trusts & nonprofits1,914 ac
Other state land1,237 ac
Regional agency197 ac
Town or city21 ac
Regional Water Districts1 ac
Not recorded3,216 ac
State Conservation Area · 4,013 acResearch or Educational Area · 1,611 acState Other or Unknown · 1,574 acConservation Easement · 863 acUnknown · 847 ac
Good to know
Conserved doesn’t always mean open to visitors. 28 acres are conservation easements, usually private land. Public access isn’t recorded for 14 of 34 parcels. The walks above are places people visit.
The biggest protected parcels
| Parcel (PAD-US) | Managed by | Acres | Public access |
|---|---|---|---|
| Hirundo Wildlife Refuge State Conservation Area | Land trusts & nonprofits | 1,787 | Closed |
| Caribou Bog Wildlife Management Area State Conservation Area | State fish & wildlife | 1,680 | Restricted |
| Dwight B. Demeret Forest Research or Educational Area | Not recorded | 1,567 | Unknown |
| Caribou Bog - Penjajawoc Phase II State Other or Unknown | Other state land | 847 | Closed |
| Caribou Bog - Penjajwoc Marsh Phase II Sewall Parcel Unknown | Not recorded | 847 | Unknown |
| Caribou Bog State Conservation Area | State fish & wildlife | 625 | Restricted |
| Patten Woodlot State Other or Unknown | Not recorded | 337 | Unknown |
| Unknown Local Other or Unknown | Regional agency | 165 | Unknown |
| Caribou Bog Wildlife Management Area Pushaw Lot State Conservation Area | Not recorded | 164 | Unknown |
| Miscellaneous Municipal Lands Local Other or Unknown | Not recorded | 163 | Unknown |
5 smaller protected places aren’t shown.
Things to do
17 places to go in Old Town
Beaches, playgrounds, peaks, falls and more. Pick a kind.
Playgrounds in Old Town
Riverfront Park
DirectionsPlus 7 playgrounds without a name on the map. Tap “Show all on map” to see them.
Boat launches in Old Town
3 boat launches without a name on the map.
Peaks in Old Town
Fairdale Hill230 ft elevation
DirectionsHeart Attack Hill210 ft elevation
DirectionsCampgrounds in Old Town
Pentecostal Church Campground
DirectionsTrails & water
20 named trails and 6 lakes & rivers
Named trails
Open to bikes · 8.1 miUnpaved · 1.5 mi
Old Town Trail2.0 mi
Snowmobile Pushaw Lake Crossing1.5 mi
Black Trail1.1 mi
Red Trail1.1 mi
Kirkland Connector1.0 mi
Hemlock Trail0.9 mi
Beech Trail0.8 mi
White Trail0.8 mi
Blue Trail0.7 mi
Heart Attack Hill0.7 mi
10 more trails
Trappers Trail
0.6 miShore Trail
0.6 miGreen Trail
0.5 miYellow Trail
0.5 miNeedle and Leaf Trail
0.5 miNorth Trail
0.5 mi9 to 5 Trail
0.4 miTwitch Trail
0.3 miKids Trail
0.3 miDumbo's Solution
0.2 miLakes & rivers tap for directions
Biking & sports
5.4 miles of bike routes
Bike lanes are often missing from the map in smaller towns, so that number is likely low.
5.4 mi
off-road bike paths
Courts & fields
9Baseball
6Tennis
5Basketball
4Soccer
1Field hockey
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 5 historic points from OpenStreetMap: plaques, memorials and old buildings.
When to get out
The best walking months in Old Town: 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) | 9.1 | 10.3 | 11.8 | 13.4 | 14.8 | 15.6 | 15.3 | 14.1 | 12.5 | 10.9 | 9.5 | 8.8 |
| High (°F) | 28 | 31 | 40 | 53 | 66 | 74 | 80 | 79 | 70 | 58 | 45 | 34 |
| Rain (in) | 3.4 | 2.5 | 3.3 | 3.6 | 3.4 | 3.8 | 3.2 | 3.3 | 3.8 | 4.7 | 4.0 | 4.1 |
February is the driest month (2.5 in) and July the warmest (highs of 80 °F). 4.7 inches fall in October, the wettest month. The climate in Old Town →
Next door
Old Town and its neighbors
Old Town has the most mapped trails of the 5 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Old Town | 28% | 1.0 | 3 | 57% | B+ |
| Orono | 22% | 2.1 | 2 | 45% | B |
| Milford | 54% | 0.7 | under 1 | 30% | B− |
| Bradley | 45% | 0.3 | under 1 | 23% | C+ |
| Alton | — not graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its town | ||||
The four inputs of the Outdoors grade, from the engine; shares are of land, not water.
Questions about parks and trails in Old Town
Where can I hike in Old Town?
The longest trail networks: Dwight B. Demeritt Forest, 10.4 miles; Hirundo Wildlife Refuge, 3.1 miles; Caribou Bog Wildlife Management Area, 0.9 miles; Smith Farm, 0.7 miles. Each one is on the map above, with directions to the nearest trailhead or parking.
How much of Old Town is conserved land?
28% 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 Old Town’s trails?
Dwight B. Demeritt Forest and Hirundo Wildlife Refuge don’t have dog rules recorded on the map; check the signs at the trailhead.
Where can I bike in Old Town?
5.4 miles of bike routes are on the map: 5.4 of off-road paths.
Is there public land near Old Town?
920 acres of parks and open public land lie inside Old Town or within 10 miles of it (PAD-US), 25 of them inside the city line.
How much outdoors does Old Town have?
Ahead of 67% of U.S. towns on the Outdoors grade, #45 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 Old Town 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 →