Weskeag Headlands Preserve
Managed by Georges River Land Trust
36 acres1.1 mi of trail
Headlands TrailWoodland Trail
Dog rules not recorded
No trailhead mapped yet
George Thorndike House · Photo: Magicpiano · CC BY-SA 4.0BOutdoors
Outdoors in South Thomaston
16% of South Thomaston’s land is conserved: 1,146 acres
The biggest trail networks: Weskeag Headlands Preserve (1.1 mi), Weskeag Preserve (1 mi). 37 acres are parks and preserves, 27 per 1,000 residents. 14% of residents live within a half mile of a park.
Ahead of 58% of U.S. towns. What drives it
Conserved land
16%
1,146 acres · of 11.4 sq mi of land
Trails
3.5 mi
0.3 per sq mi of land
Park land
37 ac
27 acres per 1,000 residents
Near a park
14%
of residents within ½ mile
Lakes & rivers
2
1 beach · 1 boat launch
What kind of outdoors town is South Thomaston?
Read from the map. The page puts what stands out first.
Outdoors grade
How much outdoors does South Thomaston have?
On conserved land, trails, park land and how close residents live to a park, South Thomaston is ahead of 58% of U.S. towns. Conserved land holds the grade up; the share of residents near a park pulls it down.
B
OutdoorsA character grade: shown, never part of South Thomaston’s overall grade.
Conserved land16% of the land · typical ME town 6% · U.S. 4%ATrails0.3 miles of mapped trail per square mile of land (4 mi) · ME 0.7 · U.S. 0.4B−Park land27 acres of park per 1,000 residents (37 acres) · ME 15 · U.S. 13B+Parks close to home14% 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 58%
LessMore
Water is 36% of South Thomaston’s area (7 of 18 square miles), so every share here is of land; over land and water together, the conserved share would read 10%.
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.
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 Weskeag Headlands Preserve, with 1.1 miles. Directions go to the nearest trailhead or public parking.
Weskeag Preserve
Managed by Maine Coast Heritage Trust
138 acres1 mi of trail
Weskeag Trail
Dog rules not recorded
Directionsto the parking lot
R. Waldo Tyler (Weskeag Marsh) Wildlife Management Area
Managed by Maine Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife
487 acres0.1 mi of trail
Weskeag Trail
Dog rules not recorded
No trailhead mapped yet
Riverview Hayfields Preserve
Managed by Georges River Land Trust
305 acres
Dog rules not recorded
No trailhead mapped yet
Who protects it
1,146 conserved acres
16% of South Thomaston’s land. Water is left out: South Thomaston has 11.4 square miles of land and 6.5 of water, so the share counts land only. Who manages South Thomaston’s conserved land, from the USGS Protected Areas Database. Approximate, because parcels can overlap.
Land trusts & nonprofits949 ac
State fish & wildlife455 ac
Not recorded358 ac
State Conservation Area · 777 acPrivate Conservation · 392 acUnknown Easement · 279 acConservation Easement · 278 acPrivate Other or Unknown · 37 ac
Good to know
Conserved doesn’t always mean open to visitors. 280 acres are conservation easements, usually private land. Public access isn’t recorded for 8 of 23 parcels. The walks above are places people visit.
The biggest protected parcels
| Parcel (PAD-US) | Managed by | Acres | Public access |
|---|---|---|---|
| R. Waldo Tyler (Weskeag Marsh) Wildlife Management Area State Conservation Area | State fish & wildlife | 454 | Restricted |
| R. Waldo Tyler Wildlife Management Area State Conservation Area | Not recorded | 322 | Unknown |
| Weskeag Wetlands Private Conservation | Land trusts & nonprofits | 201 | Closed |
| Weskeag Preserve Private Conservation | Land trusts & nonprofits | 138 | Restricted |
| Weskeag Headlands Preserve-Weskeag Headlands Preserve Private Conservation | Not recorded | 37 | Unknown |
| Riverview Hayfields Preserve Private Other or Unknown | Land trusts & nonprofits | 34 | Closed |
| Brown Family Preserve Private Other or Unknown | Land trusts & nonprofits | 20 | Closed |
| Alan E. Hutchinson Wildlife Management Area State Conservation Area | State fish & wildlife | 1 | Closed |
Things to do
3 places to go in South Thomaston
Beaches, playgrounds, peaks, falls and more. Pick a kind.
Beaches in South Thomaston
1 beach without a name on the map. Tap “Show all on map” to see it.
Playgrounds in South Thomaston
1 playground without a name on the map.
Boat launches in South Thomaston
South Thomaston Landing
DirectionsTrails & water
3 named trails and 2 lakes & rivers
Named trails
Weskeag Trail1.1 mi
Headlands Trail0.7 mi
Woodland Trail0.4 mi
Lakes & rivers tap for directions
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
2Tennis
1Pickleball
1Basketball
1Skate park
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 South Thomaston: 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) | 31 | 32 | 39 | 50 | 60 | 69 | 75 | 74 | 67 | 56 | 46 | 36 |
| Rain (in) | 4.1 | 3.5 | 4.3 | 4.3 | 3.8 | 4.2 | 3.2 | 3.2 | 4.1 | 5.2 | 4.7 | 4.9 |
July is the driest month (3.2 in) and the warmest (highs of 75 °F). 5.2 inches fall in October, the wettest month. The climate in South Thomaston →
Next door
South Thomaston 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| South Thomaston | 16% | 0.3 | 27 | 14% | B |
| Thomaston | 2% | 1.3 | 8 | 71% | B |
| St. George | 6% | 0.6 | 4 | 14% | C+ |
| Owls Head | 15% | 0.7 | 59 | 51% | A− |
| Cushing | 4% | 0.2 | 83 | 36% | B− |
| 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 South Thomaston
Where can I hike in South Thomaston?
The longest trail networks: Weskeag Headlands Preserve, 1.1 miles; Weskeag Preserve, 1 miles; R. Waldo Tyler (Weskeag Marsh) Wildlife Management Area, 0.1 miles. Each one is on the map above, with directions to the nearest trailhead or parking.
How much of South Thomaston is conserved land?
16% 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 Thomaston’s trails?
Weskeag Headlands Preserve and Weskeag Preserve don’t have dog rules recorded on the map; check the signs at the trailhead.
Is there public land near South Thomaston?
1,588 acres of parks and open public land lie inside South Thomaston or within 10 miles of it (PAD-US), 37 of them inside the town line.
How much outdoors does South Thomaston have?
Ahead of 58% 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 Thomaston 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 →