Where to Find Enchanting Forest Preserves on the Maine Coast

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Maine Coast Heritage Trust is a nonprofit land-conservation organization protecting and caring for vital lands on the coast of Maine, including forested areas, which can contribute to slowing the effects of climate change. “It’s well understood that trees pull carbon dioxide out of the air,” says former MCHT midcoast project manager Dan Hohl, who recently joined the New England Forestry Foundation as a climate-smart commodities program forester. “It’s part of the process of photosynthesis. They take in carbon dioxide, and they utilize that to grow. The healthier your forests, the more trees that are growing, the more carbon dioxide is being taken up.”

Forests can help mitigate the impact of climate change on humans, by protecting against hotter, drier conditions in simple ways, like providing shade. Healthy forests will also continue to help provide clean drinking water by preventing the erosion of sediment into waterways. “We don’t know how climate change is going to impact everything,” Hohl says. “And we don’t know what the pace of that change is going to be. But we know it’s happening. By protecting these areas, we’re giving our forests a chance to exist in the future.”

Here are a few of our favorite MCHT forest preserves.

Woodward Point, Brunswick, Maine — *Photo by Jerry Monkman*

SOUTHERN MAINE
Woodward Point, Brunswick

This 87.5-acre preserve includes a 1.5-mile network of trails that lead across open fields and through forest to the water’s edge.

Bog Brook Cove, Cutler and Trescott, Maine — *Photo by Melissa Lee*

DOWNEAST
Bog Brook Cove, Cutler and Trescott

Bog Brook Cove has gravel and cobble beaches, spruce-fir forests, breathtaking views of the Bold Coast, and 5.5 miles of trails, including a universally accessible trail.

Witherle Woods, Castine, Maine — *Photo courtesy of Maine Coast Heritage Trust*

MIDCOAST
Witherle Woods, Castine

Witherle Woods offers pleasant views of Penobscot Bay, via more than 6.5 miles of trails that gradually wind through the changing forests of this coastal preserve.