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UPDATE – La Verna Preserve is a popular hiking destination. If parking lots are full, please consider the trails to be full. If the lot is crowded, please protect your health, the health of the community, and the trails themselves, by choosing a different property to visit. Coastal Rivers Conservation Trust has put together a list of less-used trails that they recommend visiting in the interest of safety and social distancing.
This 120-acre preserve features some 3,600 feet of shoreline, 2.5 miles of trails, and a diverse array of wildlife habitat, including mixed hardwoods, coniferous forests, forested wetlands, freshwater marsh, and gently sloping overgrown farmland.
Access to the preserve is directly across from the parking lot via the 0.6-mile Hoyt Trail, which is a right-of-way across private property; please stay on the trail.
The shoreline ranges from the steeply sloping ledges near the southern tip of Brown’s Head to the beach at Leighton’s Cove. Small springs and freshwater seepages also exist along the shore, sustaining communities of cranberry, sundew, and mountain sandwort, and, at one point, give rise to a small pond frequented by shorebirds. There are some steep section on the Ellis Trail.
Masters Machine Company sponsors this preserve as part of Coastal Rivers' Adopt-a-Trail Program. Visitors are welcome to enjoy this preserve during daylight hours. Fires are not allowed. Be aware of poison ivy near the shore.
Leashed dogs are permitted.
For more information visit the Coastal Rivers Conservation Trust website, or contact:
Take ME Route 32 south from Round Pond in Bristol. Go 3.5 miles south of the Round Pond Post Office (which is the same as 3 miles north of New Harbor Center). Notice Ocean Hill cemetery on the right. The preserve parking lot is just after the cemetery (west side of road). Preserve access is gained by following a trail located directly across ME Route 32 from the parking lot.
This trail is experiencing high-use.
Please consider visiting only during low-use times like weekdays. Do not overfill the parking lot or park on the road, especially during the Covid-19 pandemic. If parking lot is full, you should consider the trails to be full and too crowded for social distancing. Leave home with a Plan B. If the lot is crowded, please protect your health, the health of the community, and the trails themselves, by choosing a different property and/or trying again later.
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We are enthusiastic and pretty well-practiced... but absolutely NOT super proficient hikers... and I will say that the mileage numbers on this trail seemed to under sell the distance pretty significantly. This is probably because there were a solid dozen vistas, bridges, boardwalks, that just demanded 5 minutes of extra attention.
We’ve been on some great hikes in some great places and this one was right up there with anything we have experienced in Maine. If you want a complaint, (like just to prove this wasn’t written by the tourism board)... this place is a $20,000,00+ property at todays values.... I mean half a mile of quintessential Maine coast.... unbelievably well maintained trails... just pure hiking Nirvana... and 15 parking spaces.... 15... look.... I get it... I really do.... they want to keep this place pristine. It’s not a state park... and that means no rangers to protect it... so they made a decision to limit the hiking pressure... all I’m saying is this site and these trails could accommodate 10x (and quite possibly 50x) the people we saw today, (assuming they share the respect 95% of Maine hikers have.)
Just put this on your “Must Hike” list and if it isn’t in your top 3 hikes of the year please tell me where your going so we can follow in YOUR footsteps!!! Get here... you won’t regret it!!!