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Thompson IcehouseThompson Icehouse · Photo: User:Magicpiano · CC BY-SA 4.0
C+Outdoors
Outdoors in South Bristol

12% of South Bristol’s land is conserved: 1,045 acres

13 miles of mapped trail cross South Bristol, 1.0 per square mile of land. The biggest trail networks: Plummer Point Preserve (1.6 mi), Tracy Shore (1.1 mi), Seal Cove Shore Preserve (0.9 mi).

Ahead of 38% of U.S. towns. What drives it

Conserved land
12%
1,045 acres · of 13.1 sq mi of land
Trails
13 mi
1.0 per sq mi of land
Near a park
under 1%
of residents within ½ mile
Lakes & rivers
4
2 beaches · 1 boat launch

What kind of outdoors town is South Bristol?

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

Land that stays wild12% of the land is conserved; a typical Maine town, 6%.A trail town1.0 miles of mapped trail per square mile of land, more than 79% of U.S. towns.History along the way4 places on the National Register.
Outdoors grade

How much outdoors does South Bristol have?

On conserved land, trails, park land and how close residents live to a park, South Bristol is ahead of 38% of U.S. towns. Conserved land holds the grade up; park acres per resident pull it down.

C+
OutdoorsA character grade: shown, never part of South Bristol’s overall grade.
Conserved land12% of the land · typical ME town 6% · U.S. 4%A−Trails1.0 miles of mapped trail per square mile of land (13 mi) · ME 0.7 · U.S. 0.4A−Park land0.0 acres of park per 1,000 residents (0 acres) · ME 15 · U.S. 13DParks close to home0% of residents within a half mile of a park · ME 30% · U.S. 72%D
All U.S. towns we grade (21,298)Ahead of 38%
LessMore

Water is more than half of South Bristol’s area (17 of 30 square miles), so every share here is of land; over land and water together, the conserved share would read 6%.

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

123456
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 Plummer Point Preserve, with 1.6 miles. Directions go to the nearest trailhead or public parking.

Plummer Point Preserve

Managed by Coastal Rivers Conservation Trust
88 acres1.6 mi of trail
Shore TrailPlummer Cove TrailWestern Ridge TrailFeldspar Point Trail
Dog rules not recorded
No trailhead mapped yetWebsite ↗

Tracy Shore

Managed by Town of South Bristol
32 acres1.1 mi of trail
Loop Trail (blue)Overlook Trail (orange)Fern Gully Trail
Dog rules not recorded
Directionsto the parking lot

Seal Cove Shore Preserve

Managed by Coastal Rivers Conservation Trust
57 acres0.9 mi of trail
Seal Cove Trail
Dog rules not recorded
Directionsto the parking lotWebsite ↗

Library Park

Managed by Damariscotta River Association
16 acres0.4 mi of trail
Shore Loop TrailFern Gully Trail
Dog rules not recorded
Directionsto the parking lot

Walpole Woods

Managed by Coastal Rivers Conservation Trust
48 acres0.3 mi of trail
Dog rules not recorded
No trailhead mapped yet

Rutherford Island Preserve

Managed by Damariscotta River Association
19 acres0.3 mi of trail
Dog rules not recorded
No trailhead mapped yet
All 12 parks & preserves
Plummer Point Preserve88 acres · 1.6 mi of trail · Coastal Rivers Conservation Trust
Tracy Shore32 acres · 1.1 mi of trail · Town of South Bristol
Directions
Seal Cove Shore Preserve57 acres · 0.9 mi of trail · Coastal Rivers Conservation Trust
Directions
Library Park16 acres · 0.4 mi of trail · Damariscotta River Association
Directions
Walpole Woods48 acres · 0.3 mi of trail · Coastal Rivers Conservation Trust
Rutherford Island Preserve19 acres · 0.3 mi of trail · Damariscotta River Association
Garber Overlook7 acres · 0.2 mi of trail · Damariscotta River Association
Swanson Preserve64 acres · Coastal Rivers Conservation Trust
Stratton Island22 acres · Coastal Rivers Conservation Trust
Captain Robert Spear Preserve17 acres · Coastal Rivers Conservation Trust
North Branch Preserve11 acres · Coastal Rivers Conservation Trust
Maine Coastal Islands National Wildlife Refuge7 acres · United States Fish and Wildlife Service
Who protects it

1,045 conserved acres

12% of South Bristol’s land. Water is left out: South Bristol has 13.1 square miles of land and 16.6 of water, so the share counts land only. Who manages South Bristol’s conserved land, from the USGS Protected Areas Database. Approximate, because parcels can overlap.

Land trusts & nonprofits1,351 ac
State fish & wildlife208 ac
Regional agency81 ac
State parks69 ac
U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service34 ac
Conservation Easement · 1,165 acPrivate Other or Unknown · 163 acUnknown Easement · 138 acPrivate Conservation · 85 acState Conservation Area · 72 ac
Good to know

Conserved doesn’t always mean open to visitors. 626 acres are conservation easements, usually private land. Public access isn’t recorded for 40 of 59 parcels. The walks above are places people visit.

The biggest protected parcels
Parcel (PAD-US)Managed byAcresPublic access
Plummer Point Preserve
State Conservation Area
Land trusts & nonprofits72Restricted
Swanson Preserve
Private Other or Unknown
Land trusts & nonprofits64Closed
Walpole Woods
Local Resource Management Area
Regional agency48Closed
Petit Manan National Wildlife Refuge
National Wildlife Refuge
U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service34Restricted
Seal Cove Easement
Private Conservation
Land trusts & nonprofits33Closed
Tracy Shore
Local Other or Unknown
Regional agency33Unknown
Seal Cove
Private Conservation
Land trusts & nonprofits26Restricted
Stratton Isl.
Private Other or Unknown
Land trusts & nonprofits23Restricted
Witch Island
Private Other or Unknown
Land trusts & nonprofits19Restricted
Rutherford Island Preserve
Private Other or Unknown
Land trusts & nonprofits19Closed

5 smaller protected places aren’t shown.

Things to do

6 places to go in South Bristol

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

Beaches in South Bristol
Sand Cove Beach
Directions

Plus 1 beach without a name on the map. Tap “Show all on map” to see it.

Trails & water

22 named trails and 4 lakes & rivers

Named trails
Unpaved · 3.3 mi
Shore Trail1.2 mi
Seal Cove Trail0.9 mi
Fern Gully Trail0.7 mi
Loop Trail (blue)0.6 mi
Island Loop0.6 mi
Coveside Trail0.6 mi
Overlook Trail (orange)0.6 mi
River Bluff Trail0.4 mi
East Shore Path0.4 mi
Plummer Cove Trail0.2 mi
12 more trails
Shore Loop Trail
0.2 mi
Mown Field Path
0.2 mi
Indian Path
0.2 mi
Snowshoe Trail
0.2 mi
Western Ridge Trail
0.2 mi
Troll Rock Trail
0.2 mi
Kresge Trail
0.2 mi
Overlook Trail
0.1 mi
Boulder Glen Trail
0.1 mi
School Spur Trail
0.1 mi
Feldspar Point Trail
0.1 mi
Osprey Trail
0.1 mi
Lakes & rivers tap for directions
Clark Cove PondpondDamariscotta RiverEastern Branch Johns RiverNorth Branch Johns River
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
7Tennis
1Baseball

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

History along the way

4 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 →
Thompson IcehouseBuilding · listed 1974
About it
Walpole MeetinghouseBuilding · listed 1976
About it
Sproul HomesteadBuilding · listed 1978
About it
Emily Means HouseBuilding · listed 1985
About it
When to get out

The best walking months in South Bristol: 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)9.210.411.813.414.715.415.114.012.410.99.68.9
High (°F)313340516170757568574637
Rain (in)3.73.44.24.23.74.23.33.24.15.04.54.6

August is the driest month (3.2 in) and July the warmest (highs of 75 °F). 5.0 inches fall in October, the wettest month. The climate in South Bristol →

Next door

South Bristol and its neighbors

Tap a town to see its outdoors.

Boothbay29 miNewcastle19 miEdgecomb17 miBristol15 miSouth Bristol13 mi
TownConserved
of land		Trail mi
per sq mi		Park acres
per 1,000		Near a park
½ mile		Outdoors
South Bristol12%1.0under 1under 1%C+
Boothbay11%1.31721%B+
Bristol6%0.46716%B
Edgecomb15%0.9203%B
Newcastle17%0.73828%B+

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

Questions about parks and trails in South Bristol

Where can I hike in South Bristol?

The longest trail networks: Plummer Point Preserve, 1.6 miles; Tracy Shore, 1.1 miles; Seal Cove Shore Preserve, 0.9 miles; Library Park, 0.4 miles. Each one is on the map above, with directions to the nearest trailhead or parking.

How much of South Bristol is conserved land?

12% 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 South Bristol’s trails?

Plummer Point Preserve and Tracy Shore don’t have dog rules recorded on the map; check the signs at the trailhead.

Is there public land near South Bristol?

669 acres of parks and open public land lie inside South Bristol or within 10 miles of it (PAD-US), almost none of it inside the town line.

How much outdoors does South Bristol have?

Ahead of 38% 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 South Bristol 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 →