PHIPPSBURG — A new trail recently opened on the Duley Farm Preserve. The Phippsburg Land Trust acquired the property from the Morse family in December 2019.

The trust purchased the 190-acre parcel with private donations and significant help from a North American Wetland Conservation Act Grant, secured by the Kennebec Estuary Land Trust.

The preserve is named for the Duley family, which had a farm on this property many years ago.

This trail is accessed through the Ridgewell Preserve’s Red Trail. Hikers can walk through a section of the John O’Neil Lemont Preserve (owned by the Town of Phippsburg) and to a large loop trail which brings hikers along the vast Parker Head Swamp, to a deep gorge where the swamp empties north toward the Sam Day Hill Road, across old farm land, by various stone walls, across and along beautiful streams and to stunning Duley Pond. The pond can be viewed from a high ledge outcropping.

The trail is challenging due to its length, but the terrain is quite flat and easily covered, according to the trust.

The Phippsburg Land Trust volunteers much time completing this trail — including initial land inspection, trail design, trail clearing, trail marking and sign creation.

An inaugural walk is planned for the future.

For more information, visit phippsburglandtrust.org.