Spirit Pond and McDonald Sanctuary Preserve

Trails run along the edge of Spirit Pond and past an old mill dam, stone walls, and beautiful views of the Morse River salt marshes.
Trail Activity
Walking
Length
3.50 miles, Network
Difficulty
Easy
Town
Phippsburg
Surface
Dirt/Forest Floor
Pets
Permitted
Fees
No

Description

The Phippsburg Land Trust acts as the steward of the Spirit Pond preserve, which lies along the north and west shores of Spirit Pond, a tidal pond near Popham Beach. A new trail leads to the McDonald Sanctuary Preserve, on the eastern shore of Spirit Pond, where the Land Trust owns an additional 10 acres. The McDonald Sanctuary Trail, which crosses to the Land Trust’s lands on the Spruceville bridge, is a short loop though old growth hardwoods and along the shores of Spirit Pond. Birding around Spirit Pond is excellent with many species of water, wading, and woodland birds present.

The McDonald Preserve loop (starting at the "trail junction" landmark) is orange blazed. The connector from the southern parking area to the McDonald loop is white blazed. The Spirit Pond Loop and side trails are blue blazed.

The split trail on the west side of the trail system consists of the muddy trail bypass on the west and an old woods road on the east.

Other Information

Trail guides are available at the trailhead Spirit Pond Preserve Trailhead.

Trail Manager

Visit Phippsburg Land Trust online for more information or contact:

Phippsburg Land Trust

Phippsburg Land Trust
PO Box 123
Phippsburg, ME 04562
Phone: (207) 443-5993
information@phippsburglandtrust.org
View website

Nearby Events

VIEW EVENTS CALENDAR

Trail Tips

Respect Wildlife
Keep wildlife wild: do not feed, follow, approach, or otherwise harass wild animals. Doing so may alter their natural behaviors.
Legend
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Trailhead Information

From the Center Store in Phippsburg, go 4.6 miles south on Main Road/ME-209, turn left onto Popham Road/ME-209, and continue 1.4 miles on Popham Road. The small parking area is a dirt road on the south side of ME-209, about 5.3 miles from the Phippsburg Town Hall and about 0.3 miles west of the Popham Road/ME-209 intersection with Parker Head Road. An additional small paved parking area, for no more than 2 cars, can be found on the Popham Road about 0.5 miles south of this intersection. The parking here was actually designed to benefit the local clam diggers, who use the lot to access the flats in Spirit Pond. Note: use caution backing out of this lot, especially during busy summer traffic. 

Click on a parking icon to get custom directions
Please Log In or Create Account to add comments.
paulabourque
March 12, 2021
SEPT. 12, 2020
We stumbled upon this trail when we couldn't find parking at Bates–Morse Mountain Conservation Area and we were so pleasantly surprised. Beautiful trek around the pond and salt marshes with lots of wildlife (variety of birds, crabs, small mammals) The old mill dam was unexpected and truly lovely. This was a great September hike, I'm sure a few weeks later with the color change it would have been even more gorgeous.
rslehay
April 26, 2019
Short enjoyable walk through the woods.
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