Center Pond Preserve in Phippsburg, Maine

After two decades in Maine, I've been looking for new dog-friendly hikes and was delighted to discover the Cooley Preserve at Center Pond in Phippsburg, not far from home.

There are 6 1/2 miles of trails with a parking lot access on Parker Head Road. Maps were provided at the trailhead to be returned to the box. We looped right along the Perimeter Trail North past Beaver Pond, which took under an hour at a leisurely pace with me stopping to take photos.

The woodland part of the trail was quite flat, wide, and easy. On this lovely summer day, we only encountered two other groups of people. It was quiet except for the sound of traffic across the pond.

Along the bank of the pond, the trail narrowed with rougher, overgrown sections that made me wish I'd worn hiking boots and long trousers. We sprayed up with 25% DEET due to Lyme Disease tick warnings.

My son would call this hike an easy walk in the woods. He once hiked 50 miles in one day! His summer internship is at a mapping company, where he is designing a digital trail map for a preserve in New Hampshire. He found the Center Pond Preserve through a mapping database.

Our part of coastal Maine is quite flat and most of the land is privately owned. This preserve was donated by the Cooley family for public use via the Phippsburg Land Trust. We only explored 1/3 of the trail network.

The "beaver pond" was more of a marsh overgrown with gorgeous water lilies.

Leash your dog if you don't want her wallowing in the beaver pond mud! Luckily the trail looped back to the pond, where we encouraged Scout to rinse off. Due to all the pond vegetation, it would be tricky for people to swim here, but the preserve is a short drive from Popham Beach on the sea. I plan to explore the rest of the preserve in autumn.

I'm taking a summer break from blogging. See you in September!