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G. A. R. Camps, Mousam Lake, Shapleigh, MEPhoto: Unknown photographer · Public domain
B+Outdoors
Outdoors in Shapleigh

23% of Shapleigh’s land is conserved: 5,706 acres

35 miles of mapped trail cross Shapleigh, 0.9 per square mile of land. The biggest trail networks: Vernon S. Walker Wildlife Management Area (14.7 mi), Waterboro Barrens Preserve (2.1 mi), Shapleigh Town Forest (1.6 mi). 83 acres are parks and preserves, 28 per 1,000 residents.

Ahead of 73% of U.S. towns · #36 of 143 in Maine. What drives it

Conserved land
23%
5,706 acres · of 38.7 sq mi of land
Trails
35 mi
0.9 per sq mi of land
Park land
83 ac
28 acres per 1,000 residents
Near a park
16%
of residents within ½ mile
Highest peak
1,063 ft
Abbott Mountain
Lakes & rivers
10
1 beach · 2 boat launches

What kind of outdoors town is Shapleigh?

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

Land that stays wild23% of the land is conserved; a typical Maine town, 6%.A trail town0.9 miles of mapped trail per square mile of land, more than 78% of U.S. towns.
Outdoors grade

How much outdoors does Shapleigh have?

On conserved land, trails, park land and how close residents live to a park, Shapleigh is ahead of 73% of U.S. towns, #36 of 143 in Maine. Conserved land holds the grade up; the share of residents near a park pulls it down.

B+
OutdoorsA character grade: shown, never part of Shapleigh’s overall grade.
Conserved land23% of the land · typical ME town 6% · U.S. 4%ATrails0.9 miles of mapped trail per square mile of land (35 mi) · ME 0.7 · U.S. 0.4A−Park land28 acres of park per 1,000 residents (83 acres) · ME 15 · U.S. 13B+Parks close to home16% 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 73%
LessMore
Maine towns of 2,500+ (143)Ahead of 75%

Water is 6% of Shapleigh’s area (2 of 41 square miles), so every share here is of land; over land and water together, the conserved share would read 22%.

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.

1234
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 Vernon S. Walker WMA, with 14.7 miles. Directions go to the nearest trailhead or public parking.

Vernon S. Walker Wildlife Management Area

Nature preserve
2,993 acres14.7 mi of trail
Dog rules not recorded
Directionsto Park and Ride

Waterboro Barrens Preserve

Nature preserve
673 acres2.1 mi of trail
Dog rules not recorded
No trailhead mapped yet

Shapleigh Town Forest

Nature preserve
385 acres1.6 mi of trail
Dog rules not recorded
No trailhead mapped yet

Walnut Hill Preserve

Nature preserve
93 acres0.3 mi of trail
Breakneck Hill Trail
Dog rules not recorded
No trailhead mapped yet
All 10 parks & preserves
Vernon S. Walker Wildlife Management Area2,993 acres · 14.7 mi of trail
Directions
Waterboro Barrens Preserve673 acres · 2.1 mi of trail
Shapleigh Town Forest385 acres · 1.6 mi of trail
Walnut Hill Preserve93 acres · 0.3 mi of trail
Williams Town Park342 acres · 0.1 mi of trail
Shapleigh Woods Preserve258 acres
Goose Pond Overlook28 acres
Shapleigh Fields22 acres
Directions
Morrow Environmental Reserve17 acres
Mousam Lake Access8 acres
Directions
Who protects it

5,706 conserved acres

23% of Shapleigh’s land. Water is left out: Shapleigh has 38.7 square miles of land and 2.5 of water, so the share counts land only. Who manages Shapleigh’s conserved land, from the USGS Protected Areas Database. Approximate, because parcels can overlap.

Land trusts & nonprofits3,765 ac
State fish & wildlife3,042 ac
Regional agency1,017 ac
Town or city51 ac
Not recorded2,090 ac
State Conservation Area · 4,925 acPrivate Conservation · 1,835 acConservation Easement · 1,377 acUnknown · 474 acLocal Other or Unknown · 451 ac
Good to know

Conserved doesn’t always mean open to visitors. 419 acres are conservation easements, usually private land. Public access isn’t recorded for 42 of 83 parcels. The walks above are places people visit.

The biggest protected parcels
Parcel (PAD-US)Managed byAcresPublic access
Vernon S. Walker Wildlife Management Area
State Conservation Area
State fish & wildlife4,825Restricted
Waterboro Barrens Preserve
Private Conservation
Land trusts & nonprofits1,254Closed
Shapleigh Woods Preserve
Private Conservation
Land trusts & nonprofits529Closed
Shapleigh
Local Other or Unknown
Not recorded416Unknown
Shapleigh Town Forest
Local Resource Management Area
Regional agency411Closed
Shapleigh - Town Forest Easement
Unknown
Regional agency191Unknown
Shapliegh - Town Forest Easement
Unknown
Regional agency109Unknown
Shapleigh -Goose Pond Reserve Easement
Unknown
Regional agency105Unknown
Vernon Walker Wildlife Management Area
State Conservation Area
State fish & wildlife100Restricted
Walnut Hill 1
Private Other or Unknown
Land trusts & nonprofits67Closed

5 smaller protected places aren’t shown.

Things to do

9 places to go in Shapleigh

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

Peaks in Shapleigh
Abbott Mountain1,063 ft elevation · In Vernon S. Walker Wildlife Management Area
Directions
Hussey Mountain899 ft elevation
Directions
Sugarloaf Mountain843 ft elevation · In Vernon S. Walker Wildlife Management Area
Directions
Mann Mountain676 ft elevation
Directions
Ross Mountain604 ft elevation · In Waterboro Barrens Preserve
Directions
Trails & water

3 named trails and 10 lakes & rivers

Named trails
Unpaved · 14.9 mi
Snowmobile ITS 895.3 mi
Breakneck Hill Trail1.0 mi
Shapleigh Trail0.7 mi
Lakes & rivers tap for directions
Goose PondpondGranny Kent PondLittle Poverty PondMousam LakereservoirPine Springs LakereservoirSpicer PondpondSquare PondreservoirUpper Goose PondpondDavis BrookJones Brook
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
1Basketball
1Baseball
1Soccer

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

When to get out

The best walking months in Shapleigh: 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)9.310.411.813.414.715.415.114.012.410.99.69.0
High (°F)303442556775807971584636
Rain (in)3.63.44.34.53.94.64.03.94.05.54.54.7

February is the driest month (3.4 in) and July the warmest (highs of 80 °F). 5.5 inches fall in October, the wettest month. The climate in Shapleigh →

Next door

Shapleigh and its neighbors

Shapleigh has the second most mapped trails of the 5 towns around it. Tap a town to see its outdoors.

Sanford67 miShapleigh35 miActon31 miNewfield28 miAlfred18 mi
TownConserved
of land		Trail mi
per sq mi		Park acres
per 1,000		Near a park
½ mile		Outdoors
Shapleigh23%0.92816%B+
Newfield12%0.9under 1under 1%C
Acton3%0.8265%B−
Sanford10%1.4451%B
Alfred13%0.7under 11%C

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

Questions about parks and trails in Shapleigh

Where can I hike in Shapleigh?

The longest trail networks: Vernon S. Walker Wildlife Management Area, 14.7 miles; Waterboro Barrens Preserve, 2.1 miles; Shapleigh Town Forest, 1.6 miles; Walnut Hill Preserve, 0.3 miles. Each one is on the map above, with directions to the nearest trailhead or parking.

How much of Shapleigh is conserved land?

23% 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 Shapleigh’s trails?

Vernon S. Walker Wildlife Management Area and Waterboro Barrens Preserve don’t have dog rules recorded on the map; check the signs at the trailhead.

Is there public land near Shapleigh?

1,066 acres of parks and open public land lie inside Shapleigh or within 10 miles of it (PAD-US), 83 of them inside the town line.

How much outdoors does Shapleigh have?

Ahead of 73% of U.S. towns on the Outdoors grade, #36 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 Shapleigh 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 →