Corniche Trail, Heifer Field Loop Trail

Frequented for centuries for tranquility encompassed by breathtaking scenery with bridges, streams and waterfalls, and hiking trails. The Vaughan Woods is a 240-acre recreation area within the grounds of the Vaughan Homestead. Designed for recreation and nature appreciation by the Vaughans in the early 1900s, classic stone bridges, picturesque waterfalls, and other windows into the past make these some of the most unique walking trails in Maine. In 1991, prior to the Homesteads incorporation as a nonprofit, then owners Diana Vaughan Gibson and her husband George, donated a conservation easement on the Woods to The Kennebec Land Trust, ensuring its protection for future generations. Today, the Homestead manages the Woods for public use and allows access from dawn to dusk for recreational activities such as trail walking, nature study, picnicking, snow shoeing and cross-country skiing. The Woods contain approximately 3 miles of trails that vary in width and degree of difficulty for walking. The easement on Vaughan Woods covers all of its land. The Kennebec Land Trust, which holds the easement, is a private nonprofit membership organization formed in 1988 by local citizens to work cooperatively with landowners and communities to protect our natural features, working landscapes, and fragile ecosystems. The KLT owns or protects over 4,000 acres of land in the Kennebec Valley, and works with the Vaughan Homestead Foundation, the Hallowell Conservation Commission, and the Maine Conservation Corps, to protect and maintain the Vaughan Woods.