Pisgah Hill Preserve

A 94-acre Town of Pownal woodlot abuts Pisgah Hill Preserve and provides backcountry access via access points on Sweetser and Allen Roads in Pownal.

The Pisgah Hill forested block is connected across a few rural roads and conserved farms to even larger conservation priority areas including Runaround Pond, the New Gloucester Intervale, Bradbury Mountain, and Pineland.

‍Pisgah Hill Preserve "South": A 1.2 mile loop trail begins at a trailhead at 74 Dougherty Road in New Gloucester; the trailhead parking lot is off-road and plowed in winter. This primitive trail with rocks and roots includes one stream crossing and a few short steep ledges that require some agility.

Pisgah Hill Preserve "North" A short trail spur and trailhead at 159 North Pownal Road is primarily designed to get off-trail enthusiasts including hunters and foragers across the powerline and onto the large undeveloped parcel; it is also a quiet trail for a short on-trail hike, or for convenient access to a mossy picnic ledge, beaver pond, and vernal pools. There is a small parking lot marked only by a kiosk well-away from the road. The primitive narrow trail includes ledges, roots, and rocks.

Pisgah Hill Preserve was established in 2010 and expanded multiple times through the acquisition of numerous parcels through 2023. The preserve is part of a 300-acre public landscape of protected land.

Permitted: 

• Hiking, snowshoeing, and backcountry skiing on or off trail.
• Dogs are welcome, but on leash or voice control, with strict attention to pet waste removal. Due to deer wintering, we ask that dogs be on leash during periods of deep snow; deer struggle to maintain energy during the winter; dogs and humans cause them to expend this precious energy. When fawns are born in the Spring, we ask to please keep dogs on leash as well.
• Equestrian use is by permission only, respecting the capacity and conditions of the land; stream crossings, stream approaches, and parking lots are not built for equestrian use.
• Safe and responsible hunting on the preserve is encouraged. As a courtesy and also noting Maine law, please call RRCT prior to any trapping on the parcel.

Not permitted: 

• Biking is not allowed due to trail and bridge construction standards.
• Tenting, camping, and overnight parking are not allowed.
• Visitors are prohibited from having fires. (RRCT hosts one winter fire each year at the summit, with full municipal permitting and emergency management protocol.)
• Smoking is prohibited at all RRCT preserves.

Required:  Wear blaze orange during all hunting seasons

Royal River Conservation Trust protects and stewards properties, including Pisgah Hill Preserve, located within the traditional homelands of the Wabanaki. We strive to ensure that our properties are inclusive and accessible and provide opportunities for healing, education, and respite.

Various small quarries on the Pisgah Hill Preserve helped build farm foundations and other structures in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries. In 1867 deeds, the Town of New Gloucester had quarrying rights while the landowner reserved enough granite for his own new barn. The loop trail off Dougherty Road crosses one of the quarries - please do not move the rocks from the quarry.