Turner resident and local historian Jody Goodwin checks out the scenery from the shoreline of the Androscoggin River during a tour of the new Riverlands State Park in Turner.

TURNER — People can get their first look at the proposed plan for
Androscoggin Riverlands State Park at a public
meeting next week at the University of
Southern Maine’s Lewiston-Auburn College.

The meeting is set for 6 to 9 p.m. Tuesday, Dec. 8, in the conference facilities at 51
Westminster St. in Lewiston. The session will explore options for enhancing recreational opportunities in Maine’s first state park in 25 years.

Located mostly in Turner, locals know the 2,588-acre Androscoggin Riverlands State Park as the Turner Game Preserve for its abundant wildlife, said Kathy Eickenberg, chief of planning for the Maine Department of Conservation‘s Bureau of Parks and Lands.

On the opening day this year of Maine’s firearms season for deer, hunters bagged six bucks in the park, Ed Morris, president of the Turner Ridge Riders Snowmobile Club, said Tuesday.

“It has some of the best hunting in town,” Morris said.

It’s a different kind of park, Eickenberg said. “It’s more like some of the public reserve lands that we hold.”

Located within an hour’s drive of about 50 percent of Maine’s population, the mostly wooded area includes 2,588 acres along the west shore of the Androscoggin River just north of the Auburn line, and about 200 acres along the east shore in Leeds.

Access to the Leeds section is by river or snowmobile only, Eickenberg said.

The river lands include significant wildlife habitat, shoreland along 8 miles of the river, diverse natural communities, historic landscapes, scenic views and a recreational trails network needing maintenance.

“It’s like being right out in the middle of the woods just outside of Lewiston,” Eickenberg said.

Money from the Lands for Maine’s Future Program bought the land in 1990 and 1991 from timber management
corporation Diamond Occidental.

The park has 15 miles of multiuse trails and about 8 miles of hiking trails. Camping is by backpacking only, Morris said.

The Turner Cove purchase in 2007 extended the park closer to Auburn.

“It’s a wonderful recreation system in a wildlife habitat area, with some great old historic foundations along some of the old roads dating back to the 1800s still on the property,” Eickenberg said.

She said park officials hope someday to include a bike connection between Turner and Auburn.

Adjustments to the existing trail system are proposed to provide a balance of motorized and non-motorized recreation experiences, and to ensure that wildlife habitat values are not degraded by increased use.

Hunting and trapping will continue in the park, but it won’t be managed for timber harvesting, Eickenberg said.

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Public Meeting

The Maine Bureau of Parks and Lands will host a public meeting from 6 to 9 p.m. Tuesday, Dec. 8, to explore options for enhancing recreation — both motorized and non-motorized — in the new Androscoggin Riverlands State Park in Turner.

The meeting will begin with an open house from 6 to 6:30 p.m. to allow people to review displays depicting various aspects of the proposed plan for the 2,588-acre park in Turner and Leeds.

Comments will help create the final plan, which is expected to be done by mid-February.

For more information, contact Kathy Eickenberg, chief of planning, 22 State House Station, Augusta, ME 04333-0022,  [email protected], or 287-4963; or visit http://www.maine.gov/doc/parks/programs/planning/andro/androindex.shtml.

Jared Buckingham of Greene rides the Old Farmstead Trail at the Androscoggin Riverlands State Park in Turner. 

A group of mountain bikers ride the trails at Androscoggin Riverlands State Park in Turner every Sunday morning.