Fuller Farm Preserve

A Nice Place for a Walk

This year I have been making sure to walk more each day and to get my steps in. What better way to spend a sunny afternoon with fresh air and a walk. Friends had just told me about a new walking trail their family had explored over Thanksgiving. It was close to my home and offered a surprise waterfall. I grabbed my Bean boots and my friend and off we went. 

Fuller Farm Preserve in Scarborough is the largest trail network of the Scarborough Land Trust comprising 230 acres, sweeping over fields, forests, streams, a seasonal waterfall, and frontage on the Nonesuch River. The preserve is managed for grassland nesting birds, early successional species, and mature forest. The area known as the Hayfield is mowed late summer only after young birds have fledged. Other areas of the property are cut on a regular cycle to more of a shrub habitat favored by species such as New England Cottontail, American Woodcock, and Chestnut-Sided Warbler. The trails cover a variety of elevation gains and vary in width and tread type making Fuller Farm Preserve the perfect place for an easy afternoon walk. 

I was excited to see the waterfall. The Waterfall Trail was steep in some areas with stretches of the trail varying from 3 to 5 feet. We crossed over wetlands and unsuccessfully tried to stay out of the mud. The warm temperatures and absence of a blanket of snow only added to these muddy stretches. Thank goodness for our Bean boots. The waterfall did not disappoint and was worth the hike. 

As you enter the trails there is a sign that acknowledges that the lands at Fuller Farm Preserve are in the homeland of the Wabanaki Tribal Nations, where issues of water and territorial rights and encroachment upon sacred sites are ongoing. The Scarborough Land Trust recognizes that the Wabanaki Tribal Nations are distinct, sovereign, legal, and political entities with their own powers of self-governance and self-determination. 

We met dozens of other walkers and most with their dog companions. Dogs must be leashed or under voice control at all times. This will be a great place to bring my Ferris for a walk, but maybe later when we have real snow cover and when the now muddy ground is frozen. 

In 2001, Scarborough Land Trust purchased the 150-acre Fuller Farm property from the Fuller family, part of the 230 acres of the Land Preserve. For almost 100 years, Fuller Farm had been farmed for crops, livestock and hay. Today, it makes a great place to enjoy the fresh air, nature, and an easy stroll. We ended our walk, at only 2.9 miles more of a leisurely stroll, checking out the view overlooking the front fields from a bench perched on the top of a hill, on the aptly named Overlook Trail. It was getting late in the afternoon and the sun was beginning its descent. We could imagine how glorious the sunsets must be from this vantage point. We could hear a neighboring rooster being loud and proud. How fitting for this farm turned walking trails.