Directions: Trout Brook Preserve is located on Rt. 218 in Alna. Drive .5 mile north of the Alna Store, and the kiosk and parking area will be on the left, after Peaslee Road (on right) and a small bridge that crosses the brook.
There is a short half-mile trail on the 125-acre Trout Brook Preserve in Alna. The preserve has 4200 feet of frontage on the lower reaches of Trout Brook as well as frontage along the main stream of the Sheepscot River. The half-mile loop trail is on the southern portion of the preserve.
The Sheepscot Valley Conservation Association (SVCA) purchased land for the preserve in three parcels from Maxine Peaslee Tornell and family, starting in 2005.
Maxine’s mother Thelma Lucy Wyman inherited the property from her parents and lived on it from 1922 (after she married Earl Peaslee) until 1970, when she passed it on to her daughter Maxine.
The kiosk, built by Dick Sundberg, shows pictures of the farm in the early 1900s and 1950s. Adjacent to the kiosk is an old cellar hole where the Carleton House once stood.
From the parking area, follow the bog bridges about 50 yards to the old railroad bed, which is the beginning of the .5-mile loop trail.
Turn left and walk 100 yards along the old railroad bed to Trout Brook.
Old wooden bridge supports that used to support the railroad bridge are still visible across the brook. To finish the loop, with the brook to your back, start walking back up the hill, and the loop trail blazed in blue will be on the left.
The trail is fairly steep as it climbs up over a ridge. It then follows the side of the ridge, with Rt. 218 visible below. The trail winds back to the old railroad bed and follows it back to the bog bridges and parking area. There are many beautiful wild flowers along the old RR bed.
The preserve is open during daylight hours only. Because of the fragile ecosystem, SVCA requests that visitors to the preserve stay on the trails. The preserve is open to hunting.
The preserve was made possible by funding from the John Sage Foundation, the Fields Pond Foundation, the Horizon Foundation, a private donor, and contributions from SVCA members.
The Sheepscot River watershed spans 320 square miles.
Trout Brook geocache
A new geocache was placed in Trout Brook Preserve on July 2. Anyone interested in finding it can go to www.geocache.com, sign in with a name and password to get the coordinates. The cache is called Trout Brook.
