Monroe Island Preserve
Managed by Maine Coast Heritage Trust
222 acres2.2 mi of trail
Monroe Trails
Dog rules not recorded
No trailhead mapped yet
Photo: Public domain · Public domainA−Outdoors
Outdoors in Owls Head
15% of Owls Head’s land is conserved: 834 acres
88 acres are parks and preserves, 59 per 1,000 residents. The biggest trail networks: Monroe Island Preserve (2.2 mi), Ash Point Preserve (1 mi), Plaisted Preserve (0.6 mi). 5.9 miles of mapped trail cross Owls Head, 0.7 per square mile of land.
Ahead of 80% of U.S. towns. What drives it
Conserved land
15%
834 acres · of 8.9 sq mi of land
Trails
5.9 mi
0.7 per sq mi of land
Park land
88 ac
59 acres per 1,000 residents
Near a park
51%
of residents within ½ mile
Highest peak
200 ft
Ingraham Hill
What kind of outdoors town is Owls Head?
Read from the map. The page puts what stands out first.
Outdoors grade
How much outdoors does Owls Head have?
On conserved land, trails, park land and how close residents live to a park, Owls Head is ahead of 80% of U.S. towns. Conserved land holds the grade up; the share of residents near a park pulls it down.
A−
OutdoorsA character grade: shown, never part of Owls Head’s overall grade.
Conserved land15% of the land · typical ME town 6% · U.S. 4%A−Trails0.7 miles of mapped trail per square mile of land (6 mi) · ME 0.7 · U.S. 0.4B+Park land59 acres of park per 1,000 residents (88 acres) · ME 15 · U.S. 13A−Parks close to home51% 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 80%
LessMore
Water is more than half of Owls Head’s area (11 of 20 square miles), so every share here is of land; over land and water together, the conserved share would read 7%.
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 Monroe Island Preserve, with 2.2 miles. Directions go to the nearest trailhead or public parking.
Ash Point Preserve
Managed by Georges River Land Trust
34 acres1 mi of trail
Muscle Ridge TrailGranite Point TrailHermit Trail
Dog rules not recorded
Directionsto the parking lot
Plaisted Preserve
Managed by Georges River Land Trust
17 acres0.6 mi of trail
Plaisted Preserve trail
Dog rules not recorded
No trailhead mapped yet
Owls Head State Park
Park
17 acres0.4 mi of trail
Dog rules not recorded
Directionsto the parking lotWebsite ↗
All 9 parks & preserves
Monroe Island Preserve222 acres · 2.2 mi of trail · Maine Coast Heritage Trust
Ash Point Preserve34 acres · 1 mi of trail · Georges River Land Trust
DirectionsPlaisted Preserve17 acres · 0.6 mi of trail · Georges River Land Trust
Owls Head State Park17 acres · 0.4 mi of trail
DirectionsRichard Carver Harbor Park4 acres · 0.2 mi of trail
DirectionsR. Waldo Tyler (Weskeag Marsh) Wildlife Management Area107 acres · Maine Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife
Sheep Island Preserve62 acres · Maine Coast Heritage Trust
Birch Point State Park60 acres · Maine Bureau of Parks and Lands
DirectionsAsh Island Preserve52 acres · Maine Coast Heritage Trust
Who protects it
834 conserved acres
15% of Owls Head’s land. Water is left out: Owls Head has 8.9 square miles of land and 10.7 of water, so the share counts land only. Who manages Owls Head’s conserved land, from the USGS Protected Areas Database. Approximate, because parcels can overlap.
Land trusts & nonprofits1,028 ac
Joint211 ac
State fish & wildlife108 ac
State parks80 ac
Regional agency5 ac
Other or Unknown Federal Land2 ac
State natural resources1 ac
Unknown Easement · 508 acConservation Easement · 474 acPrivate Conservation · 287 acState Conservation Area · 215 acState Park · 154 ac
Good to know
Conserved doesn’t always mean open to visitors. 304 acres are conservation easements, usually private land. Public access isn’t recorded for 22 of 45 parcels. The walks above are places people visit.
The biggest protected parcels
| Parcel (PAD-US) | Managed by | Acres | Public access |
|---|---|---|---|
| Monroe Island Private Conservation | Land trusts & nonprofits | 211 | Closed |
| R. Waldo Tyler (Weskeag Marsh) Wildlife Management Area State Conservation Area | State fish & wildlife | 108 | Restricted |
| R. Waldo Tyler Wildlife Management Area State Conservation Area | Not recorded | 107 | Unknown |
| Sheep Island Private Conservation | Not recorded | 76 | Unknown |
| Birch Point State Park State Park | State parks | 65 | Restricted |
| Birch Point State Park | Not recorded | 59 | Unknown |
| Ash Island Private Other or Unknown | Land trusts & nonprofits | 47 | Closed |
| Owls Head Light State Park | Not recorded | 17 | Unknown |
| Owls Head Light State Park State Park | State parks | 15 | Restricted |
| Owls Head Harbor Beach Park Unknown | Regional agency | 5 | Restricted |
1 smaller protected places aren’t shown.
Things to do
12 places to go in Owls Head
Beaches, playgrounds, peaks, falls and more. Pick a kind.
Beaches in Owls Head
Crockett's Beach
DirectionsLucia Beach
DirectionsPlus 2 beaches without a name on the map. Tap “Show all on map” to see them.
Playgrounds in Owls Head
3 playgrounds without a name on the map.
Boat launches in Owls Head
1 boat launch without a name on the map. Tap “Show all on map” to see it.
Peaks in Owls Head
Ingraham Hill200 ft elevation
DirectionsPost Hill194 ft elevation
DirectionsCampgrounds in Owls Head
2 campgrounds without a name on the map.
Trails & water
5 named trails
Named trails
Unpaved · 3.6 mi
Monroe Trails2.3 mi
Plaisted Preserve trail0.6 mi
Muscle Ridge Trail0.4 mi
Granite Point Trail0.4 mi
Hermit Trail0.3 mi
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
3Basketball
2Tennis
Includes school and college facilities, which aren’t always open to the public.
History along the way
History →1 place 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.
Owls Head Light StationBuilding · listed 1978
About itWhen to get out
The best walking months in Owls Head: 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 | 32 | 39 | 50 | 60 | 69 | 75 | 74 | 67 | 56 | 46 | 36 |
| Rain (in) | 4.1 | 3.5 | 4.3 | 4.4 | 3.8 | 4.2 | 3.2 | 3.2 | 4.1 | 5.3 | 4.7 | 4.9 |
July is the driest month (3.2 in) and the warmest (highs of 75 °F). 5.3 inches fall in October, the wettest month. The climate in Owls Head →
Next door
Owls Head and its neighbors
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Owls Head | 15% | 0.7 | 59 | 51% | A− |
| South Thomaston | 16% | 0.3 | 27 | 14% | B |
| North Haven | — not graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its town | ||||
| Rockland | 14% | 0.8 | 10 | 81% | A− |
The four inputs of the Outdoors grade, from the engine; shares are of land, not water.
Questions about parks and trails in Owls Head
Where can I hike in Owls Head?
The longest trail networks: Monroe Island Preserve, 2.2 miles; Ash Point Preserve, 1 miles; Plaisted Preserve, 0.6 miles; Owls Head State Park, 0.4 miles. Each one is on the map above, with directions to the nearest trailhead or parking.
How much of Owls Head is conserved land?
15% 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 Owls Head’s trails?
Monroe Island Preserve and Ash Point Preserve don’t have dog rules recorded on the map; check the signs at the trailhead.
Is there public land near Owls Head?
2,231 acres of parks and open public land lie inside Owls Head or within 10 miles of it (PAD-US), 88 of them inside the town line.
How much outdoors does Owls Head have?
Ahead of 80% 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 Owls Head 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 →