Carroll Farm Trail at Sweetgrass Winery
Sweetgrass became Maine's first winery/distillery and today produces a wide variety of wines and highly acclaimed spirits using thousands of pounds of locally grown fruits including heirloom apples planted by the Carroll family.
The Story of the Land
The Carroll Farm Trail is located on a 70-acre parcel known as Sweetgrass Farm Winery & Distillery.
The farm, now owned by Keith and Constance Bodine, was originally owned by the Carroll family, who settled the land in the early 1800s. Five generations of Carrolls made this land their home, as they raised various livestock, vegetables, apples, hay, timber, and dairy cows over the years. The oldest surviving structures include the ell, circa 1822, which connects the main house (1850) and large barn (1889). Having been broken into parcels, the farm now comprises 70 acres of woods and fields with frontage along the Medomak. In 2005, the Bodines purchased the farm to start Sweetgrass Farm Winery & Distillery with the goal of preserving working farmland and open space.
The Medomak Valley Land Trust, now Midcoast Conservancy, was asked to help complete a trail that connects people to the river, their local landscape, and fosters an appreciation of the land and an active interest in protecting it. The Carroll Farm Trail is a welcome addition to the Midcoast Conservancy trail network as it provides access to the Medomak River in the northern part of this watershed.
What You Might See
Sweetgrass Farm occupies a unique position, nestled between the eastern bank of the Medomak River and the ridge that forms the watershed divide with the St. George River. This gives the property an interesting variety of habitats as it transitions from working farmland to hardwoods and mixed conifers, down to a wide grassy intervale along the Medomak. The intervale, an old New England term, encompasses the low lying land along a river. Many of Maine’s historic towns are found on the intervale because rivers were once the primary mode of transportation, greatly restricting the location of settlements. Much of Sweetgrass Farm is now managed for wildlife. The intervale along the Medomak is only hayed in the fall to provide summer habitat for abundant wildlife. A large stand of hardwoods close to the farm is disturbed only for spring sugar tapping, and the rest of the forest is currently regenerating after a 1995 timber harvest.
Open to the public year round for low-impact recreation, there are a series of interconnected trails and forest roads that run through the Sweetgrass Farm. Since this is a working farm they ask that dogs remain leashed around farm animals. Hiking, skiing, and snow-shoeing are all encouraged. Canoeing and kayaking is also possible along this stretch of the Medomak River and a put-in spot can be accessed from the trail. If you bring a lunch along there is also a lovely picnic area under large open trees in the middle of the property.
Directions:
Carroll Farm Trail at Sweetgrass Winery
347 Carroll Rd.
Union, ME 04862
From Waldoboro: Heading north on Route One take a left onto Route 220 north, and follow it for 10.1 miles. Take a right on Calderwood Rd, just after crossing Route 17. Continue for 1.8 miles and take a right on Old Union Rd, followed in 0.4 miles by a left onto Carroll Rd. Parking can be found at Sweetgrass Farm Winery, or on the northern side of Carroll Rd just after crossing the Medomak River.
