Aerial view of Homestead and Nursery.

The Sir Andrew Macphail Homestead is a 20-minute drive east of Charlottetown off Route 1 (see photo), near the Orwell Corner Historic Village. The Homestead offers a wide variety of cultural and natural history activities and workshops, as well as restaurant, banquet and conference facilities in a beautiful wooded setting.

It is also the home of the Macphail Woods Ecological Forestry Project. Most of the homestead's 57 hectares (140 acres) are wooded and include a pond and several streams. These wood lands are a research and demonstration site for the restoration of native forests. Four trails and a native plant garden ( see photo ) have been created and work has now begun on an arboretum. The Wild flower, Streamside and Woodland Trails focus on different aspects of natural history, while the Rhododendron Trail features displays of rhododendrons plus a mix of native and non-native plants. Each trail has its own unique charm.

Visitors are encouraged to tour the site on their own at any time of the year. To arrange tours or for more information, contact the Macphail Woods project at (902)651-2575. Parking is available at the trailhead near the house. Please refrain from removing flowers or other plants from the homestead.

Thanks to all the Friends of Macphail for their help and hard work; the descendants of Sir Andrew Macphail for permission to reprint material from The Master's Wife; the P.E.I. Department of Fisheries and the Environment; Canada Trust Friends of the Environment Foundation; the EJLB Foundation for help with our Biodiversity Monitoring plots; Holland College students and staff in the Renewable Resources and Urban and Rural Planning programs; the Island Nature Trust for original assistance on the Streamside Trail and brochure; and all the generous volunteers who helped with our trail and nursery work.

Map of the Nature Trails. Click here for larger version.

Written by Gary Schneider.
Website Design and Maintenance by Chris Martin

Funding for this brochure supplied by:
Canada Trust Friends of the Environment Foundation
PEI Department of Fisheries and Environment
(Wildlife Habitat Improvement Program)

The following series of Webpages is based on the Brochure "Trails of the Sir Andrew Macphail Homestead" written by Gary Schneider. If your interested in receiving a hardcopy of this booklet, please see our publications page. We offer a number of workshops and guided tours at the Macphail Woods and it is an excellent opportunity to learn more about the Macphail Homestead, the Woods, and it's inhabitants.