Black Brook Preserve is owned and maintained by the Presumpscot Regional Land Trust (PRLT). This 105-acre preserve in Windham is accessible through a small, clearly marked parking area just to the south side of Black Brook and Route 202 on Windham Center Road, with another small trailhead on Route 202. PRLT has the best map and description of the well-maintained hiking trails, accessible here. Dogs on leash are allowed, and as hunting is permitted, blaze orange is recommended for all in the fall.
Pig and I took the Hawkes Trail to the Deer Trail and Diamond Trail to make an easy clockwise lollipop loop of about 2.1 miles that took just under an hour at a leisurely pace in late August. Plank bridges span muddy areas and small streams along the route, which is mostly shaded (a nice feature in the summertime, especially along the Family-Friendly Loop. Chipmunks, squirrels, and birds chattered in the surrounding forest. At about a half-mile, we switched over to the Deer Trail to continue the loop, and the trees opened up a little bit, letting in more sunlight.
Shortly after that, we crossed a marsh and the forest opened up on a field, where the trail is a mowed path full of goldenrod and small white and purple flowers, milkweed, and fluttering Monarch butterflies. The trail was muddy and wet here in low spots, then moved uphill closer to houses and Route 202. The elevation at the top of the Field Loop allowed a long view across the open hours, with birds and insects bubbling over the surface of the tall grasses and shrubs.
At about a mile, we reached the northern edge of the field and switched to the green-blazed Diamond Trail, with both Pig and I grateful for the renewed shade of the woods. The forest was dominated by pines, with pleasant ferns underneath, and soon we crossed back over the brook, with Pig diving after a frog and getting shoulder-deep in mud. The sounds of crows, chickadees and woodpeckers echoed through the tall trees, and we found an unexpected wooden box of treats for canine companions on the Diamond Trail below the Pileated Woodpecker scavenger hunt sign.
Hiking in Maine 