Bald Ledge Summit
Nature preserve
195 acres0.8 mi of trail
Bald Ledge Trail
Dog rules not recorded
No trailhead mapped yet
Porter-Parsonfield Bridge · Photo: --Hugh Manatee 14:08, 11 February 2011 (UTC) · CC0COutdoors
Outdoors in Porter
Porter has 33 miles of mapped trails, 1.0 for every square mile of land
The biggest trail networks: Bald Ledge Summit (0.8 mi), Devil's Den (0.7 mi). 1% of Porter’s land is conserved, about 286 acres. 28% of residents live within a half mile of a park.
Ahead of 30% of U.S. towns. What drives it
Conserved land
1%
286 acres · of 31.5 sq mi of land
Trails
33 mi
1.0 per sq mi of land
Near a park
28%
of residents within ½ mile
Highest peak
1,598 ft
Whales Back
Lakes & rivers
13
2 beaches · 1 boat launch
What kind of outdoors town is Porter?
Read from the map. The page puts what stands out first.
Outdoors grade
How much outdoors does Porter have?
On conserved land, trails, park land and how close residents live to a park, Porter is ahead of 30% of U.S. towns. Trail miles hold the grade up; park acres per resident pull it down.
C
OutdoorsA character grade: shown, never part of Porter’s overall grade.
Conserved land1% of the land · typical ME town 6% · U.S. 4%C+Trails1.0 miles of mapped trail per square mile of land (33 mi) · ME 0.7 · U.S. 0.4A−Park land0.2 acres of park per 1,000 residents (0 acres) · ME 15 · U.S. 13DParks close to home28% 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 30%
LessMore
How sure. Graded on any three of the four inputs instead, the letter would range from D 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 Bald Ledge Summit, with 0.8 miles. Directions go to the nearest trailhead or public parking.
Devil's Den
Nature preserve
45 acres0.7 mi of trail
Devils Den Trail
Dog rules not recorded
Directionsto the parking lot
Bald Ledge Preserve
Nature preserve
24 acres0.3 mi of trail
Bald Ledge Trail
Dog rules not recorded
No trailhead mapped yet
Giovanella Family Forest
Nature preserve
163 acres
Dog rules not recorded
No trailhead mapped yet
All 11 parks & preserves
Bald Ledge Summit195 acres · 0.8 mi of trail
Devil's Den45 acres · 0.7 mi of trail
DirectionsBald Ledge Preserve24 acres · 0.3 mi of trail
Great Porter Heath128 acres · 0.1 mi of trail
Giovanella Family Forest163 acres
Heron's Haven & Blueberry Hill85 acres
Fox Brook65 acres
Bickford Pond60 acres
Norm Nelson Forest50 acres
Conservation Land26 acres
Eaton Town Forest1 acres · Town of Eaton
Who protects it
286 conserved acres
1% of Porter’s land. Who manages Porter’s conserved land, from the USGS Protected Areas Database. Approximate, because parcels can overlap.
Land trusts & nonprofits522 ac
Not recorded29 ac
Conservation Easement · 309 acUnknown Easement · 189 acPrivate Conservation · 29 acPrivate Other or Unknown · 25 ac
Good to know
Conserved doesn’t always mean open to visitors. 249 acres are conservation easements, usually private land. Public access isn’t recorded for 5 of 9 parcels. The walks above are places people visit.
The biggest protected parcels
| Parcel (PAD-US) | Managed by | Acres | Public access |
|---|---|---|---|
| Oxford County Audubon Sanctuary Private Conservation | Not recorded | 28 | Unknown |
| Bald Ledge Private Other or Unknown | Land trusts & nonprofits | 25 | Closed |
| Thomas H. Carpenter Preserve Private Conservation | Not recorded | 1 | Unknown |
Things to do
11 places to go in Porter
Beaches, playgrounds, peaks, falls and more. Pick a kind.
Beaches in Porter
2 beaches without a name on the map. Tap “Show all on map” to see them.
Boat launches in Porter
1 boat launch without a name on the map. Tap “Show all on map” to see it.
Peaks in Porter
Whales Back1,598 ft elevation
DirectionsPine Hill1,270 ft elevation
DirectionsBald Ledge1,188 ft elevation · In Bald Ledge Summit
DirectionsDevils Den1,188 ft elevation · In Devil's Den
DirectionsRattlesnake Mountain1,175 ft elevation
DirectionsStacy Hill1,079 ft elevation
DirectionsLibby Hill1,050 ft elevation
DirectionsFork Hill922 ft elevation
DirectionsTrails & water
3 named trails and 13 lakes & rivers
Named trails
Unpaved · 8.9 mi
Bald Ledge Trail1.1 mi
Devils Den Trail0.4 mi
Firelane 170.3 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
1Soccer
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 Porter: 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) | 9.3 | 10.4 | 11.8 | 13.4 | 14.7 | 15.4 | 15.1 | 14.0 | 12.4 | 10.9 | 9.6 | 8.9 |
| High (°F) | 29 | 33 | 41 | 55 | 67 | 75 | 80 | 79 | 71 | 58 | 46 | 35 |
| Rain (in) | 3.3 | 3.0 | 3.8 | 4.2 | 3.8 | 4.4 | 4.1 | 4.0 | 3.7 | 5.3 | 4.2 | 4.1 |
February is the driest month (3.0 in) and July the warmest (highs of 80 °F). 5.3 inches fall in October, the wettest month. The climate in Porter →
Next door
Porter 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Porter | 1% | 1.0 | under 1 | 28% | C |
| Parsonsfield | 24% | 0.8 | under 1 | 12% | C+ |
| Hiram | 7% | 1.1 | 146 | 12% | B+ |
| Brownfield | 13% | 0.6 | 11 | 24% | B |
The four inputs of the Outdoors grade, from the engine; shares are of land, not water.
Questions about parks and trails in Porter
Where can I hike in Porter?
The longest trail networks: Bald Ledge Summit, 0.8 miles; Devil's Den, 0.7 miles; Bald Ledge Preserve, 0.3 miles. Each one is on the map above, with directions to the nearest trailhead or parking.
How much of Porter is conserved land?
1% 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 Porter’s trails?
Bald Ledge Summit and Devil's Den don’t have dog rules recorded on the map; check the signs at the trailhead.
Is there public land near Porter?
4,859 acres of parks and open public land lie inside Porter or within 10 miles of it (PAD-US), almost none of it inside the town line.
How much outdoors does Porter have?
Ahead of 30% 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 Porter 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 →