Captain Alfred Skolfield Nature Preserve
This 11-acre preserve owned and maintained by BTLT sits next to Merriconeag Farm between Middle Bay and Harpswell coves, just north of the Brunswick-Harpswell town line. It was donated to the land trust in 1990 by Dr. Alice Whittier, great granddaughter of the sea captain Alfred Skolfield. Historically, the preserve was a traditional portage site for Native Americans and, later, in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, site of the well-known Skolfield shipbuilding yard.
The salt marsh and mudflats of Middle Bay Cove attract many resident and migrating waterfowl and several species of migrating shorebirds. Please stick to the trails in this part of the preserve, as the marsh is located outside the preserve, is extremely fragile, and is easily damaged by foot traffic. The nature trails are marked with blue blazes and markers on trees. The eastern edge of the preserve is marked by the still-visible abandoned roadbed of the former Harpswell Road.