Wakefield Wildlife Santuary
Managed by Kennebec Land Trust
109 acres
Dog rules not recorded
No trailhead mapped yet
Photo: User:Magicpiano · CC BY-SA 4.0DOutdoors
Outdoors in West Gardiner
West Gardiner has 5.1 miles of mapped trails, 0.2 for every square mile of land
OpenStreetMap doesn’t show named parks or mapped trails in West Gardiner yet. Know a trail or a town park? Anyone can add it to OpenStreetMap, and it shows up here on the next refresh.
Ahead of 9% of U.S. towns · #141 of 143 in Maine. What drives it
Conserved land
1%
110 acres · of 24.6 sq mi of land
Trails
5.1 mi
0.2 per sq mi of land
Near a park
under 1%
of residents within ½ mile
Lakes & rivers
4
Outdoors grade
How much outdoors does West Gardiner have?
On conserved land, trails, park land and how close residents live to a park, West Gardiner is ahead of 9% of U.S. towns, #141 of 143 in Maine. All four inputs are below most U.S. towns; trail miles come closest.
D
OutdoorsA character grade: shown, never part of West Gardiner’s overall grade.
Conserved land1% of the land · typical ME town 6% · U.S. 4%CTrails0.2 miles of mapped trail per square mile of land (5 mi) · ME 0.7 · U.S. 0.4C+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 9%
LessMore
Maine towns of 2,500+ (143)#141 of 143
Water is 9% of West Gardiner’s area (2 of 27 square miles), so every share here is of land; over land and water together, the conserved share would read 1%.
NoteFew parks or trails are mapped in West Gardiner. OpenStreetMap is mapped by volunteers and coverage varies from town to town, so a town with unmapped parks scores low on them.
How sure. Graded on any three of the four inputs instead, the letter would range from D to C−. 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
Directions go to the nearest trailhead or public parking.
Who protects it
110 conserved acres
1% of West Gardiner’s land. Water is left out: West Gardiner has 24.6 square miles of land and 2.4 of water, so the share counts land only. Who manages West Gardiner’s conserved land, from the USGS Protected Areas Database. Approximate, because parcels can overlap.
Land trusts & nonprofits110 ac
Private Other or Unknown · 110 ac
Good to know
Conserved doesn’t always mean open to visitors. Public access isn’t recorded for 1 of 1 parcels. The walks above are places people visit.
The biggest protected parcels
| Parcel (PAD-US) | Managed by | Acres | Public access |
|---|---|---|---|
| Wakefield Wildlife Sanctuary Private Other or Unknown | Land trusts & nonprofits | 110 | Unknown |
Things to do
3 places to go in West Gardiner
Beaches, playgrounds, peaks, falls and more. Pick a kind.
Playgrounds in West Gardiner
1 playground without a name on the map. Tap “Show all on map” to see it.
Picnic areas in West Gardiner
2 picnic areas without a name on the map. Tap “Show all on map” to see them.
Trails & water
2 named trails and 4 lakes & rivers
Named trails
West Gardiner Nature Trail2.0 mi
Snowmobile Trail 4AB/120 Gardiner1.5 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
2Soccer
1Tennis
Includes school and college facilities, which aren’t always open to the public.
When to get out
The best walking months in West Gardiner: May and July 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 | 14.8 | 15.5 | 15.2 | 14.0 | 12.4 | 10.9 | 9.5 | 8.9 |
| High (°F) | 29 | 32 | 41 | 53 | 66 | 74 | 80 | 79 | 71 | 58 | 46 | 35 |
| Rain (in) | 3.3 | 3.0 | 3.8 | 4.1 | 3.6 | 4.5 | 3.5 | 3.5 | 3.9 | 5.2 | 4.3 | 4.1 |
February is the driest month (3.0 in) and July the warmest (highs of 80 °F). 5.2 inches fall in October, the wettest month. The climate in West Gardiner →
Next door
West Gardiner and its neighbors
Tap a town to see its outdoors.
Manchester24 miGardiner19 miLitchfield15 miWinthrop11 miMonmouth6.2 miWest Gardiner5.1 miFarmingdale0.7 mi
| Town | Conserved of land | Trail mi per sq mi | Park acres per 1,000 | Near a park ½ mile | Outdoors |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| West Gardiner | 1% | 0.2 | under 1 | under 1% | D |
| Litchfield | 3% | 0.4 | 56 | 18% | B− |
| Gardiner | 2% | 1.2 | 6 | 66% | B− |
| Farmingdale | 2% | 0.1 | 1 | 52% | C− |
| Manchester | 16% | 1.1 | 28 | 6% | B+ |
| Monmouth | 5% | 0.2 | 3 | 12% | C |
| Winthrop | 8% | 0.3 | 5 | 17% | C+ |
The four inputs of the Outdoors grade, from the engine; shares are of land, not water.
Questions about parks and trails in West Gardiner
How much of West Gardiner 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 West Gardiner’s trails?
Wakefield Wildlife Santuary doesn’t have dog rules recorded on the map; check the signs at the trailhead.
Is there public land near West Gardiner?
1,040 acres of parks and open public land lie inside West Gardiner or within 10 miles of it (PAD-US), almost none of it inside the town line.
How much outdoors does West Gardiner have?
Ahead of 9% of U.S. towns on the Outdoors grade, #141 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 West Gardiner 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 →