Wells Estuary Trail

With 7 miles of trails, numerous potential loops, and 1600 acres of diverse habitats, the Wells Estuarine Reserve is an oasis of open space on Maine’s southern coastline. Designated in 1984, it is one of twenty-six NOAA-designated estuarine research reserves in the country and the only one in Maine. It was established to conduct research, to convey findings to decision-makers, to provide natural resource education, to protect the land for wildlife and people, and to conserve the coastal resources of southern Maine. The Wells Estuarine Reserve is a public/private partnership, which relies in part on funding from the Laudholm Trust, a nonprofit organization. Federal, state, and local governments jointly own the property. This suggested loop leads through a representative cross-section of the reserve. Especially impressive in the spring during the height of bird migration, the reserve’s natural beauty is on display twelve months a year.