Bonny Eagle Park
Bonny Eagle Park located at Proprietors Road. This small park is located on the banks of Bonny Eagle Pond. It has a swimming area, a boat launching area and a small picnic area. The water is shallow and is a great place for young children to learn to swim.
Carroll Park
Carroll Parks consists of 4.8 acres located between Flaggy Meadow Road and Hurlin Smith Road in the Groveville section of Town. This park has a baseball diamond, bleacher seating, a picnic area, off-street parking and new playground equipment for the younger children. It also hosts a basketball court and walking path the circles the entire park.
Estes Park
Estes Park consists of approximately 5 acres located on the Chicopee Road in North Buxton. This land was donated to the Town in 1975 for recreation use. The Park includes a softball diamond, two dugouts, bleacher seating, picnic tables and off-street parking.
Pleasant Point Park
Pleasant Point Park is located on the Simpson Road in the Salmon Falls section of Town. This park is truly the gem of all the parks in Buxton. The Park contains approximately 65 acres of land that border on the Saco River. This Park provides canoe and kayaking access, swimming, hiking (with dogs on a leash) picnicking.
Chronological History of Pleasant Point Park:
Originally called the "Cyrus Woodman Reservation" Pleasant Point Park was
placed in a trust by the Woodman family. In 1923 the Park was given to
Appalachian Mountain Club by Mary Woodman.
In 1945 the AMC gave the Park to the State of Maine.
In 1959, the town of Buxton received a letter from the State Park Commission
saying that they would not entertain the idea of transferring ownership of
(Pleasant Point Park) because of the State's plan to develop the property.
However, the plans were not carried out due to the Class D (unsuitable for
public recreation) water quality of the Saco Riveradjacent to Pleasant Point
Park at the time.
In 1960 the Buxton Selectmen proposed a lease agreement with the State of Maine Park Commission. At their annual meeting, the townspeople voted it down, again because of the Class D designation.
In 1971 the Town of Buxton entered a 5 year renewable license with the State
to use the land with some covenants in place.
In June of 1989 the Park was deeded to the Town on Buxton.
Wilderness?
In recent years, Pleasant Point Park has attracted a description of being a
"wilderness" park. Wilderness is a natural environment that has not been
significantly modified by human activity.
The original licensing from the Bureau of Parks and Recreation called the Park
a "forest reserve" which is defined as an area of.importance for wildlife, flora,
fauna or other special interest." It is a generic term associated with protected
forest areas.
From Narragansett No.1 in reference to Pleasant Point Park:
In 1754, "the forest was cleared." "There were mowing fields, gardens and
apple trees were planted.
In 1955 when the State still owned the land, a select cutting in Pleasant Point
Park was supervised by the Maine Forestry Department. 30,000 board
feet were harvested, according to a Forest Management Plan done in 1972:
In 1972 Carl Estes contracted with James Trask of RC and D Service Forester to make recommendations for the future management of the Park. Some of his suggestions are as follows:
"management of the property should be along two principle lines, recreation and timber ."
"As recreation is far and away the primary land use, the timber should be
managed to enhance (the Park)." Safety was a concern.
"only proper timber management will allow the forest to (thrive) in the years to
come."
"Also, timber management here would serve as a demonstration of good management to the general public."
"cutting should be done to maintain stand health, vigor and to provide for reproduction rather than to (maximize) timber benefits."
Mr. Trask continues by saying that the pole stand area of the Park (the area hit so hard in the Patriot's Day storm and again over the past winter) "should be thinned as it is extremely thick." In the northern area of the Park, along the river gorge, he says, "there is no need for cutting ",at the present time, however, it would be wise to plan now to reproduce the stand" to maintain the health of this stand for the future. "the first cut should take place in the early 80's and the next two at 20 to 25 year intervals." Note: these secondary cuts were never done.
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