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OronoMillStreetPhoto: Bcody80 · Public domain
BOutdoors
Outdoors in Orono

Orono has 38 miles of mapped trails, 2.1 for every square mile of land

22% of Orono’s land is conserved, about 2,508 acres. The biggest trail networks: Caribou Bog Conservation Area (9.2 mi), Rampe Conservation Easement (2.1 mi), Jeremiah Colburn Natural Area (2 mi). 19 acres are parks and preserves, 1.6 per 1,000 residents.

Ahead of 65% of U.S. towns · #50 of 143 in Maine. What drives it

Conserved land
22%
2,508 acres · of 18.2 sq mi of land
Trails
38 mi
2.1 per sq mi of land
Park land
19 ac
1.6 acres per 1,000 residents
Near a park
45%
of residents within ½ mile
Bike routes
1.6 mi
1.6 mi paths
Highest peak
335 ft
Kelley Hill
Lakes & rivers
4
2 boat launches

What kind of outdoors town is Orono?

Read from the map. The page puts what stands out first.

A trail town2.1 miles of mapped trail per square mile of land, more than 94% of U.S. towns.Land that stays wild22% of the land is conserved; a typical Maine town, 6%.History along the way11 places on the National Register.
Outdoors grade

How much outdoors does Orono have?

On conserved land, trails, park land and how close residents live to a park, Orono is ahead of 65% of U.S. towns, #50 of 143 in Maine. Trail miles hold the grade up; park acres per resident pull it down.

B
OutdoorsA character grade: shown, never part of Orono’s overall grade.
Conserved land22% of the land · typical ME town 6% · U.S. 4%ATrails2.1 miles of mapped trail per square mile of land (38 mi) · ME 0.7 · U.S. 0.4APark land1.6 acres of park per 1,000 residents (19 acres) · ME 15 · U.S. 13C−Parks close to home45% 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 65%
LessMore
Maine towns of 2,500+ (143)Ahead of 65%

Water is 7% of Orono’s area (1 of 20 square miles), so every share here is of land; over land and water together, the conserved share would read 20%.

How sure. Graded on any three of the four inputs instead, the letter would range from C+ 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.

12345678
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 Caribou Bog Conservation Area, with 9.2 miles. Directions go to the nearest trailhead or public parking.

Caribou Bog Conservation Area

Managed by Orono Land Trust
664 acres9.2 mi of trail
Caribou Bog TrailsDouble TrackTrail No. 6Beaver Trail+1
Dog rules not recorded
No trailhead mapped yet

Rampe Conservation Easement

Managed by Orono Land Trust
36 acres2.1 mi of trail
Orono Highschool TrailsCota Trail
Dog rules not recorded
No trailhead mapped yet

Jeremiah Colburn Natural Area

Managed by Orono Land Trust
45 acres2 mi of trail
Colburn Trail SystemTeaberry Hill Trail
Dog rules not recorded
No trailhead mapped yet

Town of Orono Land

Nature preserve
40 acres2 mi of trail
Orono Highschool TrailsCota TrailI-95 Trail
Dog rules not recorded
No trailhead mapped yet

Caribou Bog Wildlife Management Area

Managed by Maine Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife
592 acres1.6 mi of trail
Dog rules not recorded
No trailhead mapped yet

Smith Farm

Managed by University of Maine
89 acres1 mi of trail
Smith Farm Trail
Dog rules not recorded
No trailhead mapped yet

Sklar Park

Managed by Orono Land Trust
44 acres1 mi of trail
I-95 Trail
Dog rules not recorded
Directionsto the parking lot

Orono Bog Boardwalk

Managed by Orono Land Trust
344 acres0.7 mi of trail
Orono Bog BoardwalkVeazie Railroad
Dog rules not recorded
No trailhead mapped yet
All 17 parks & preserves
Caribou Bog Conservation Area664 acres · 9.2 mi of trail · Orono Land Trust
Rampe Conservation Easement36 acres · 2.1 mi of trail · Orono Land Trust
Jeremiah Colburn Natural Area45 acres · 2 mi of trail · Orono Land Trust
Town of Orono Land40 acres · 2 mi of trail
Caribou Bog Wildlife Management Area592 acres · 1.6 mi of trail · Maine Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife
Smith Farm89 acres · 1 mi of trail · University of Maine
Sklar Park44 acres · 1 mi of trail · Orono Land Trust
Directions
Orono Bog Boardwalk344 acres · 0.7 mi of trail · Orono Land Trust
Hinds-Keleti Conservation Easement144 acres · 0.5 mi of trail · Orono Land Trust
Hinds Conservation Easement88 acres · 0.3 mi of trail · Orono Land Trust
Gould Landing43 acres · 0.3 mi of trail · Orono Land Trust
Brownie's Park5 acres · 0.3 mi of trail
Directions
Davis Conservation Easement26 acres · Orono Land Trust
Webster Park5 acres
Directions
Pearce Conservation Easement4 acres · Orono Land Trust
Marden Park3 acres
Nadeau-Savoy Park1 acres
Who protects it

2,508 conserved acres

22% of Orono’s land. Water is left out: Orono has 18.2 square miles of land and 1.4 of water, so the share counts land only. Who manages Orono’s conserved land, from the USGS Protected Areas Database. Approximate, because parcels can overlap.

Land trusts & nonprofits1,365 ac
State fish & wildlife1,196 ac
Regional agency398 ac
Other state land132 ac
Joint128 ac
Regional Water Districts8 ac
Town or city3 ac
State Conservation Area · 1,678 acPrivate Conservation · 489 acResearch or Educational Area · 439 acPrivate Other or Unknown · 416 acConservation Easement · 322 ac
Good to know

Conserved doesn’t always mean open to visitors. 168 acres are conservation easements, usually private land. Public access isn’t recorded for 21 of 50 parcels. The walks above are places people visit.

The biggest protected parcels
Parcel (PAD-US)Managed byAcresPublic access
Caribou Bog
State Conservation Area
State fish & wildlife683Restricted
Caribou Bog Wildlife Management Area
State Conservation Area
State fish & wildlife600Restricted
Fay Hyland Bog
Research or Educational Area
Not recorded353Unknown
Orono Land Trust
Private Other or Unknown
Land trusts & nonprofits322Unknown
Orono Land Trust 1
Private Conservation
Land trusts & nonprofits322Closed
Town of Orono
Local Conservation Area
Not recorded261Unknown
Putnam Road Landfill
State Conservation Area
Regional agency189Closed
Unknown
Local Other or Unknown
Regional agency181Unknown
Hinds-Keleti
Private Conservation
Not recorded122Unknown
Newman Hill
State Conservation Area
Land trusts & nonprofits88Closed

5 smaller protected places aren’t shown.

Things to do

8 places to go in Orono

Beaches, playgrounds, peaks, falls and more. Pick a kind.

Peaks in Orono
Kelley Hill335 ft elevation
Directions
Bangor Hill310 ft elevation
Directions
Bangor Hill269 ft elevation
Directions
Newman Hill269 ft elevation · In Caribou Bog Conservation Area
Directions
Trails & water

23 named trails and 4 lakes & rivers

Named trails
Open to bikes · 3.7 miUnpaved · 9.9 mi
Caribou Bog Trails2.5 mi
Colburn Trail System2.0 mi
Snowmobile Bangor Trail1.7 mi
Stillwater River Trail1.6 mi
Teaberry Hill Trail1.2 mi
Orono Highschool Trails1.1 mi
Veazie Railroad1.0 mi
Double Track0.7 mi
Orono Bog Boardwalk0.6 mi
Trail No. 60.6 mi
13 more trails
Cota Trail
0.5 mi
Beaver Trail
0.5 mi
Highway Long Cut
0.4 mi
Otter
0.4 mi
Trail 11
0.4 mi
Blue Jay
0.4 mi
Gould Landing Trail
0.4 mi
Heron Loop
0.3 mi
Smith Farm Trail
0.3 mi
Fox Hole Trail
0.2 mi
I-95 Trail
0.2 mi
Chickadee
0.2 mi
Snowmobile Trail 2 Glenburn
0.1 mi
Lakes & rivers tap for directions
Frog PondLost PondPenobscot RiverStillwater River
Biking & sports

1.6 miles of bike routes

Bike lanes are often missing from the map in smaller towns, so that number is likely low.

1.6 mi
off-road bike paths
Courts & fields
11Tennis
5Soccer
4Baseball
4Basketball
4Tracks
2Football
2Softball
1Beach volleyball

Includes school and college facilities, which aren’t always open to the public.

History along the way

11 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.

History →
Gov. Israel Washburn HouseBuilding · listed 1973
About it
William Colburn HouseBuilding · listed 1973
About it
Nathaniel Treat HouseBuilding · listed 1973
About it
Orono Main Street Historic DistrictDistrict · listed 1977
About it
University of Maine at Orono Historic DistrictDistrict · listed 1978
About it
Old Fire Engine HouseBuilding · listed 1985
About it
US Post Office-Orono MainBuilding · listed 1986
About it
Maine Experiment Station BarnBuilding · listed 1990
About it
University of Maine Historic District Boundary IncreaseDistrict · listed 2010
About it
Phi Gamma Delta HouseBuilding · listed 2013
About it
Alpha Tau Omega HouseBuilding · listed 2023
About it
When to get out

The best walking months in Orono: 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.

JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec
Daylight (h)9.110.411.813.414.815.615.314.112.510.99.58.8
High (°F)283140536674807970584534
Rain (in)3.42.53.23.63.43.83.23.33.84.74.04.1

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 Orono →

Next door

Orono and its neighbors

Tap a town to see its outdoors.

Bangor53 miOld Town40 miOrono38 miGlenburn27 miBradley13 miEddington9.4 mi
TownConserved
of land		Trail mi
per sq mi		Park acres
per 1,000		Near a park
½ mile		Outdoors
Orono22%2.1245%B
Old Town28%1.0357%B+
Glenburnunder 1%1.02313%C+
Bradley45%0.3under 123%C+
Eddington16%0.4under 14%C
Bangor11%1.51481%A−

The four inputs of the Outdoors grade, from the engine; shares are of land, not water.

Questions about parks and trails in Orono

Where can I hike in Orono?

The longest trail networks: Caribou Bog Conservation Area, 9.2 miles; Rampe Conservation Easement, 2.1 miles; Jeremiah Colburn Natural Area, 2 miles; Town of Orono Land, 2 miles. Each one is on the map above, with directions to the nearest trailhead or parking.

How much of Orono is conserved land?

22% 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 Orono’s trails?

Caribou Bog Conservation Area and Rampe Conservation Easement don’t have dog rules recorded on the map; check the signs at the trailhead.

Where can I bike in Orono?

1.6 miles of bike routes are on the map: 1.6 of off-road paths.

Is there public land near Orono?

933 acres of parks and open public land lie inside Orono or within 10 miles of it (PAD-US), 19 of them inside the town line.

How much outdoors does Orono have?

Ahead of 65% of U.S. towns on the Outdoors grade, #50 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 Orono neighbors.

Town Square →
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 →