This network of ten trails is owned and managed by the Town of Jay to provide outdoor recreation and learning opportunities for local families and school children. It also serves as a classroom resource and learning space for Jay’s elementary, middle and high school students.
In addition to the property’s existing natural features, the town has added a butterfly garden, an adventure course, and a student-managed woodlot. The adventure course is used by students for confidence and team-building skills. The trails hosts the “Kids for Trees” program in which students in the elementary school plant Balsam Fir (the “Christmas” tree), tend them throughout their middle school years, and harvest them in high school. Youth groups have also set up a geo-caching network in the recreation area; once you find the first geo-cache (coordinates online), you open the door to finding the rest of the hidden caches in the network! The area also hosts the old Osgood Farm’s foundation, apple orchard, and huge oak trees.
In addition to the public hiking trails, the area serves as an outdoor classroom for the Jay elementary, middle and high schools. Of the ten trails in the network, eight were named by students, grades one through eight. The process involved nominating and voting on the names before approval by the town’s recreation committee. This led to some fun and unique trail names such as “Trail Mix,” “Hemlock Hollow,” and “Rockomeka Trail.”
Read about MTF Accessibility Ambassador Enock Glidden's visit to the Jay Recreation Area using his wheelchair at MTF Stories.
Visit the Town of Jay online for more information or contact:
Trails may be accessed from Water Tower Lane off Belleview Drive in Jay and from Jay High School behind the center field fence of Roland Ouellette Baseball Field or in the back corner of the field hockey field
Water Tower Lane: From the North or the South on ME Routes 4 and 17 turn onto Jewell Street, which is located approximately 0.5 mile north of Bridge Street in Livermore Falls and roughly 2.0 miles south of ME Route 140. Head east on Jewell Street, turn left onto Belleview Drive, follow it to the end and turn right onto Water Tower Lane, which becomes a dirt access road to the parking lot next to the cell phone tower.
Jay High School: From North: The school is on the left approximately 1.0 mile south from the junction of ME Routes 4 and 140. From South: The school is on the right about 1.5 miles north of downtown Livermore Falls.
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