This afternoon at 4:30, Great Works Regional Land Trust leads a Halloween walk up to Devil's Den at Bauneg Beg Mountain. The route is an easy two miles, starting from 281 Fox Farm Hill Road, and the trust pitches it as ideal for kids ages 5 to 8. Saturday is Maine's Resident Only Day for deer. Monday, November 2, firearms season opens across the state and runs through November 28. For the next six weeks, the week has one day that works differently from the rest, and that day is Sunday.
The Dates Maine Sets for North Berwick
North Berwick sits in Wildlife Management District 21 on the state's district map. The 2026-27 Maine hunting law book gives these deer season dates for this fall:
- Expanded archery: September 12 through December 12, 2026, in designated areas only
- Resident Only Day: Saturday, October 31, 2026
- Firearms season: Monday, November 2 through Saturday, November 28, 2026
- Muzzleloader, statewide: November 30 through December 5, 2026
- Muzzleloader, added week for WMD 21: December 7 through December 12, 2026
Taken together, the deer calendar in this district goes past the end of November and runs to December 12. Through all of it, one rule stays put. Maine law bans hunting wild animals or birds on Sunday. The Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife states it plainly on its general hunting laws page: "Sunday Hunting is Illegal in Maine."
That leaves three Sundays inside firearms season this year, on November 8, 15 and 22, plus December 6, which falls between the two muzzleloader weeks. The other days of the week are shared, and a walk on one of them takes a little more planning.
What the Land Trust Tells Hikers
Great Works Regional Land Trust manages the three main trail areas in North Berwick, and it has addressed hunting in print. In its Fall 2023 newsletter, the trust wrote that "hunting and fishing are permitted as allowed by law on most GWRLT lands." It named Beach Plum Farm and Savage Wildlife Preserve as places where hunting is not allowed. The same notice bans trapping, baiting, target practice and permanent bolted stands, and says temporary stands must be marked and taken down after the season. It also asked hikers and their pets to wear blaze orange, asked hunters to watch for hikers, and pointed out that Maine allows no hunting on Sundays.
The rules differ from one property to the next, and the trust's preserve pages don't list hunting rules for individual sites. Bauneg Beg South also has its own setup, since the town owns it and GWRLT manages it. If you need to know the rule for a particular parcel, the trust can tell you.
The state's orange requirement applies to hunters. Under IF&W's hunting equipment rules, anyone hunting deer with a firearm, muzzleloader or crossbow during firearms and muzzleloader season must wear a solid orange hat and a second hunter-orange piece covering the torso. IF&W explains that orange shows other hunters where you are. No law makes a hiker wear it. Hikers wear it because the land trust recommends it, and because it does the same job for someone walking the trail.
Sunday, November 8, at Negutaquet
The busiest November morning on a North Berwick trail falls on a Sunday. Tails on the Trail runs from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. at Negutaquet Conservation Area, 219 Lebanon Road. It raises money for GWRLT and for 3 Dogs Rescue, a foster-based rescue in Berwick. The money raised for the land trust goes toward upkeep on dog-friendly trails.
Registration is $35 for adults and $10 for children 5 and up, and children under 5 walk free. If you can't come, you can join as a virtual walker for $25. The walk is self-timed. Along the way there's a photo booth, water and treats at the finish, and short sessions on trail etiquette with dogs and on keeping dogs safe outdoors. The adoption list from 3 Dogs Rescue will be on hand too. Registration includes safety orange for walkers and their dogs. Every dog has to be on a leash. Signup is on the Tails on the Trail page.
On any other weekend, Negutaquet is one of the easier walks in town. The land was donated in 2011 by Vera Spohr Cohen and others. It covers 100 acres, with nearly two miles of trail through mostly hardwood forest, past meadows and along the Negutaquet River and a connecting brook. The trail goes by the old Weymouth family cemetery, which sits above the river. The trust's Negutaquet page describes the ground as mostly flat with some small hills.
The parking lot also gets you to more than Negutaquet. In its trail guide, the town describes a 60-acre Town Forest with 2.5 miles of trail. The Town and GWRLT built a bridge linking those trails to Negutaquet, which gives you more than five miles of connected trail from one starting point. One stretch has its own rule for dog owners. Dogs are not allowed on the Parker Forest Trail Easement that you reach through Negutaquet. The town's map shows the Parker Forest Trail as 0.44 miles, next to private Parker Farm land.
Two Bauneg Begs, Two Parking Lots
Bauneg Beg Mountain has two separate trail areas. According to the land trust, no trail connects the north and south sides. If you'd planned a Sunday hike there, decide which one before you leave the house.
| Bauneg Beg North | Bauneg Beg South | |
|---|---|---|
| Parking | 281 Fox Farm Hill Road | Ford Quint Road, no roadside parking |
| Size | 89 acres | 75 acres |
| Trails | About two miles | A one-mile summit trail with switchbacks |
| Highlights | Ledges along Devil's Den Trail, Middle Peak views toward the White Mountains and the ocean | The 866-foot high point |
| Ownership | GWRLT preserve | Owned by the town, managed by GWRLT |
On the north side, a regional planning trail sheet lists Ginny's Way as the gentler option through a pine grove and Linny's Way as the steeper route over boulders past Devil's Den. It also shows the Bauneg Beg Trail, the North Peak Loop and Tom's Way. Today's Critter Crawl uses the north side's Devil's Den terrain. The south side is where GWRLT board member Sue Pike led a Hunters Moon hike by headlamp on Monday evening. Since the south lot can't spill over onto Ford Quint Road, a full lot means trying another day.
Tuesday Night Moves Indoors
The trust's other North Berwick event this November takes place indoors. On Tuesday, November 10, from 6 to 8 p.m., National Geographic wildlife photographer Steve Morello speaks at the D.A. Hurd Library, 41 High Street. The talk is part of GWRLT's new Conservation Conversations series. On its events page, the trust frames the talk around one idea: photos help people remember a hike, but "photos are also data," because each one records a time and a place. It's a good reason to keep a phone out on the Sunday walks.
The Sundays Around Town
The Sunday pattern holds just over the line in South Berwick, too. This Sunday, November 1, GWRLT and Mount Agamenticus staff are hiking from Orris Falls Conservation Area to the summit of Mount A on the Checkerberry Trail. Hikers can meet at Mount A for the one-way route or at the Orris Falls lot for the round trip. The full day runs from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. The trust puts the two options at about 4 miles one way and 9 miles round trip. On November 8, while Tails on the Trail is under way at Negutaquet, Brad Fletcher leads an Orris Falls history hike from 10 a.m. to noon, starting at the Thurrell Road trailhead. It's free for members, with a suggested $5 donation for everyone else, and you'll need a reservation.
Once firearms season ends on November 28, the muzzleloader weeks in WMD 21 run until December 12, and Sundays stay closed to hunting the whole time. Private land has its own rules. IF&W's guide to exploring private land explains that in Maine, land that isn't posted carries implied permission. It can be posted with signs or properly placed purple paint, or the owner can tell you directly, out loud or in writing. The agency's unwritten rule is to ask first anyway. If a walk crosses a property line, know whose land you're on.
This post is general information about public rules, not legal advice. For a specific property, check with the landowner, Great Works Regional Land Trust or the Town of North Berwick.
At Nola Cady, our team cares a great deal about the land trusts that keep places like Negutaquet and Bauneg Beg open, and we're always glad to talk about the trails, parcels and preserved land near any home you own or are thinking about. If you'd like to see how your North Berwick property compares this season, request your free Seacoast home valuation, and we'll include what we know about the conservation land nearby.
