Upcoming Events
Upcoming scheduled events
Royal River Conservation Trust (RRCT) sponsors numerous events throughout the year from four annual cornerstone events like the Pisgah Hill Preserve Full Moon Trek to regular Get Out! Nature Walks and special one-time opportunities. Please join us.
Wednesday, August 27, 2025 | 2:00 pm - 3:30 pm
Location: Skyline Farm, North Yarmouth
Curriculum: Join us in the expansive fields of this beautiful preserve that is home to milkweed and other native wildflowers that will be in full bloom at summer’s end.
Naturalist: Karen Bruder Howe
These Get Out! Nature Walks are volunteer-led regular trips with trained master naturalists. Join us for a well-planned, no-cost, guided adventure. Monthly on the fourth Wednesday; always free; rain, snow, or shine. Jointly offered by both RRCT and the Chebeague and Cumberland Land Trust, the walks take place at preserves in the towns of Chebeague Island, Cumberland, Yarmouth, North Yarmouth, Pownal, New Gloucester, and Durham. Our curriculum is targeted at adults and engaged youth. Because the purpose is nature observation, we ask that dogs do not join us. Email CCLT with any questions.
*Photography and Filming Note: Your attendance at RRCT events may be photographed or filmed and your attendance indicates consent to have any images or footage featuring you at the event to be used for RRCT-related materials and outreach. Should images or footage appear in marketing materials that you don’t wish to be featured in, you must notify RRCT at Info@RRCT.org and RRCT will cease to further use your image or footage for any new materials going forward.
Save the date for Royal River Conservation Trust's Annual Meeting on Tuesday, September 16th!
Location and more details coming soon.
September 24, 2025 | 2:00 pm - 3:30 pm
Location: Watson Woods, Cumberland
Curriculum: Explore the nascent trail system at CCLT's newest property!
Naturalist: Karen Herold
These Get Out! Nature Walks are volunteer-led regular trips with trained master naturalists. Join us for a well-planned, no-cost, guided adventure. Monthly on the fourth Wednesday; always free; rain, snow, or shine. Jointly offered by both RRCT and the Chebeague and Cumberland Land Trust, the walks take place at preserves in the towns of Chebeague Island, Cumberland, Yarmouth, North Yarmouth, Pownal, New Gloucester, and Durham. Our curriculum is targeted at adults and engaged youth. Because the purpose is nature observation, we ask that dogs do not join us. Email CCLT with any questions.
*Photography and Filming Note: Your attendance at RRCT events may be photographed or filmed and your attendance indicates consent to have any images or footage featuring you at the event to be used for RRCT-related materials and outreach. Should images or footage appear in marketing materials that you don’t wish to be featured in, you must notify RRCT at Info@RRCT.org and RRCT will cease to further use your image or footage for any new materials going forward.
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Friday, October 17th, 2:00-5:00 pm
Save the date for our third annual free 'Round the Marsh hike at Thayer Brook Preserve in Gray. The 3.4-mile guided trek will be led by Trail Steward and long-serving volunteer Steve McPike whose thorough knowledge of the preserve and the entire Libby Hill Forest trail network will add significant depth and texture to the hike. Plan for a three-hour visit to one of Cumberland County's most remote and intriguing places. We'll meet at the trailhead parking lot at 92 Ramsdell Road in Gray, ME. Registration will be capped to 20 participants.
Established in 2022, the 147-acre Thayer Brook Preserve is a component of the 2,600-acre Libby Hill unfragmented habitat block – among the largest in Greater Portland – and is dominated by a large beaver marsh formed by more than six beaver dams which are home to enormous beaver lodges and large populations of birds. Beyond the marsh, most of the preserve’s acreage is dominated by glacial erratics left behind as the region’s glacial ice receded more than 10,000 years ago. The challenging rocky terrain is one reason the preserve has seen relatively little farming and no residential development over recent centuries.
Registration will open in September 2025.
2026 is the year of our 14th Annual Pisgah Hill Full Moon Trek! Join us at the summit from 4 pm to 7 pm on Sunday, February 1st for brief remarks at sunset (5:09 p.m.) followed by a spectacular moonrise over Bradbury Mountain.
The Pisgah Hill Preserve (South) trailhead is at 74 Dougherty Road in New Gloucester. (In Pownal, Dougherty Road is known as Chadsey Road.) Parking for this event is on the road shoulders of Dougherty Road, one side of the road only.
It only takes a half hour to hike 0.6 miles from the trailhead to the summit and campfire. We’ll build a warm fire and provide s’mores at the summit. We’ll light the way up and back with lanterns but it will largely be dark, especially during your descent. The entire loop trail (return trip) is 1.2 miles.
Registration and more details to come!