Explored Skolfield Shores Preserve in January and it was absolutely breathtaking. I drove up from…read morethe Mississippi Gulf Coast (about 24 hours) just adventuring - as soon as I laid eyes on the end of the trail I was walking, I thought, "Now this... is what I came all this way for!" (even though this stop was a random passing selection off the map of my route). If my phone was not shutting down due to the below freezing temperatures, and if I'd been able to feel my toes, nose, and fingers longer, I could have wandered the area all day. So happy to see such a well-kept, beautiful piece of nature.

For me, this is a destination walking trail and one I'm excited to check out again and again…read morethroughout the seasons. So if you're in the Brunswick area, be sure to make your way to Skolfield Shores Preserve - it's got a little bit of everything that makes Maine's notable natural world so great: thick forest, salt marshes, fields, ocean views, wildlife, Parking is in front of the Merruconnegan Farm (when you see the large Harpswell Heritage Land Trust kiosk, you're in the right place!) - note that this is a working farm, so be thoughtful of their privacy and stick to the trail (which is extremely well marked). The trail itself is super accessible and sort of shaped like a big figure eight (Hemlock Loop with a wooden bridge that connects to Merrucoonegan Loop) with a spur trail beforehand that leads down to a beautiful meadow, the shore, and a historic boathouse... which is a dramatic, sweeping, stunning site straight off a postcard for the state of Maine. It overlooks Middle Bay Cove and couldn't be more peaceful or lovely. Sit and stay a while; enjoy the incredible birds here (osprey, meadowlarks, eagles), the hermit crabs that apparently come out in spring, the remoteness, and the very cool broken shell "beach" area. Afterwards, continue your walk, keep an eye out for hen of the woods mushrooms, and enjoy the scenic views along the way. Please, please, please practice "carry in, carry out", be careful of tickets, and remember to wear blaze orange during hunting seasons.

This picturesque spot at the end of Route 24 offers lovely views of the water and surrounding rocky…read morecoast. If you're driving through Bath or Brunswick, it's only 20 minutes to this remote location. Route 24 will take you to Orr's Island and Bailey's Island. When you head downhill, it reaches "Land's End" where you'll find a small parking lot to the right. Before visiting the gift shop, be sure to walk over to the Lobsterman's statue (dedicated to the fishermen of Maine) and pretty viewpoints on the left side.

We come here often, and it's never crowded. It's a scenic and rugged coastal destination known for…read moreits rocky shores with panoramic Atlantic views. And there's a neat gift shop that is open year-round with limited hours in the winter. It's in Bailey Island with a quaint small-town atmosphere.

After I aborted my hike on nearby Mackworth Island State Park due to high, cold winds - I stumbled…read moreonto the Gilsland Farm Audubon Center. They have a nice visitors center - with a cool gift shop, meeting rooms, a trail system on the property, and more. #GilslandFarmAudubonCenter

Lovely spot. So glad to see this beautiful property preserved in its unspoiled state.read more

Great 2 mile hike to the beach (4mi total). Easy, free parking at the trailhead. This is an easy…read morehike that even little ones can do. Mostly shaded. But y'all, DO NOT FORGET THE BUG SPRAY. Let's say you arrive, start walking, and remember shoot! We left the bug spray in the car! TURN AROUND AND GET THE BUG SPRAY. Let's say you arrive, start walking, and remember shoot! We left the bug spray in the hotel! TURN AROUND, DRIVE HOME AND GET THE BUG SPRAY. I'm not exaggerating here - the bugs are a HUGE issue. We *gasp!* FORGOT THE BUG SPRAY, and suffered the consequences for the next 3 days of our trip. Literally hundreds of bites on every person. DO NOT NEGLECT TO BUG SPRAY. That aside, this was AWESOME!!! Such a gorgeous hike and then the beach!! THE BEACH!! Amazing. We visited Popham State Park later in the week and it could not compare to the beauty of this secluded beach. We were almost the only ones there! I wish I had understood how lovely it would be in advance... I would have packed a backpack lunch and spent the day there. As it was, we were all fully clothed but that didn't stop most of us from getting in the water. Do plan to spend some time here!

Such a lovely 4 mile hike. This place has everything. Marshes, forests , mountain, and a beach…read more The day was sunny and 38 and oh breathtaking. I have hiked here a lot. In July and August there are a lot of insects that bite so I would avoid it then. Otherwise this place is a gem. The ocean water at the beach was super sparkly. Gorgeous. Maine is nice ...worth a memory worth a lifetime!! Enjoy

I wasn't really sure what to expect with Cousins River Trail, but it was one of our favorite nature…read morepaths we've explored recently. It's easy to access: tucked directly behind the YMCA off Old South Freeport Rd, there's plenty of parking. And the trail itself is EXTREMELY well marked (as you'll see in my photos). We were so impressed with how many signs there were and how well maintained the paths were -- nothing confusing here! When we came we were treated to lots of fiddleheads and birds and squirrels; and nobody else despite it being a beautiful spring afternoon. There's something kind of magical about walking through the woods without another soul in sight -- seven billion of us on the planet, and for a brief moment you have a piece of nature all to yourself? Maine, am I right? Also, the trees here felt MUCH BIGGER than I've experienced elsewhere nearby. I don't know if it's because much of the trail sits low in what feels like a bit of a valley, but it was just SUCH a lovely walk (a bit hilly in areas so heads-up there). We went all the way down to the marshy shoreline of Cousins River (where wa watched someone in the distance digging for clams) and were just really pleased with this new-to-us discovery!

I saw some reviews of this and decided to check it out . Great parking and really nice trails. I…read moredid get a little confused and took the trail to the left which was really short and lead to a street . Once we got going we wandered to the river and it was great . This time of year remember your bug spray, they were a little too happy to greet us when we got too close to the river. I would definitely go back. Maybe a little challenging for really little kids and definitely not a stroller trail. A real escape from everything.

This is a lovely loop trail. We visited in the fall so there was no waterfall but even without it…read moreis a nice hike. The big rocks are definitely worth seeing. Our hike took about an hour. The trail is well-marked with painted blue dots on the trees. The hardest part is finding the trail. These directions are copied from the Phippsburg land trust website: Follow Route 209 into Phippsburg, if coming from out of town. At the Stony Brook Road, turn right (the Stony Brook Road is about 3.5 miles from the causeway at the Phippsburg/Bath town line). Devil's Highway is a left hand turn about .6 miles from the start of the Stony Brook Road. It is not always well signed (kids tend to run off with the road sign), but it is a dirt road with a fairly wide opening onto the Stony Brook Road with mailboxes. The left turn comes just as the Stony Brook Road is making a noticable turn.. If you've come to the Fuller Mountain Road, a similar left hand turn, you've gone too far. The parking area is on the left as you travel Devil's Highway; I believe it is about .4 miles onto Devil's Highway. It is just past the third house on the right, I believe. You can't see it on the Google Earth map, because it is a small wooded parking area (perhaps 4 cars can park there). If you come to the the area where there is a side road off to the left with houses, you've gone too far. There is a small PLT sign in the parking area.

I feel the need to preface all of my nature reviews with this: being 90% forested and having around…read more3500 miles of coastline, Maine has a tremendous amount of spaces, walkways, paths, and trails of all kinds and of all levels. There's something for everyone. What I'm reviewing is how a spot compares to similar outdoor spots in my personal opinion. Being in nature - and remembering to carry in, carry out - is always five stars! :) Parking? Yes. Loop trail? Yes. Well marked signs? Yes. Element of surprise? Yes. This is one of my favorite little hikes in Maine. I fell in love with it immediately (even if I can't remember the name and keep calling it the Bijou Flower Forest). It has my favorite four things: parking, a loop trail, extremely well marked signs, and constant elements of surprise that even if you know about because you read about them online are *STILL* amazing when you see them in real life. The trails are extremely well maintained and easy to navigate. You first come into a meadow; and then, there's another meadow to your right, but to the left is the forest itself. The ever present sign of what is located where allows you to lose yourself in the beauty of this natural space because you know you can't lose your way. Waterfall this way. Hundred foot rock this way. Laurel this way. And what a lovely waterfall it is. You can hear it rushing before you approach it. There's a little bench placed literally directly in front of it so you can just sit and be. The brook it creates winds along much of the rest of the trail you'll take so expect to crisscross it a few times via bridge or plank or even a big ol' hop. (NOTE: I can't speak to what this place looks like in a summer drought, but I came in autumn after some rain and it was a spectacular sight, and loud too! I bet it's just as stunning in spring.) The hundred foot rock is unexpected even though there are signs for it. Because, you look up and suddenly it isn't just trees around you but a literal massive boulder. Regarding the laurel, alas I didn't see it when I came because it's in bloom in June and July, I think. Apparently it's one of the northernmost stands of mountain laurels in New England, so you know I'll be back next summer. While I didn't see any flowers, I did see an abundance of rock tripe, which honestly looked like giant scales of some mythical creature (it's really just lichen). Magical? This place is absolutely that.

Exploring the piers of Portland, ME, can be both discouraging and enlightening. From DiMillo's…read morefloating restaurant to J's Oyster, there really isn't much to view at the water's edge, mostly since you can't even get to the water's edge. But if you have the motivation to walk a few piers further through the Casco Bay Ferry Terminal and toward the wall adorned with life sized whales, you will come to The Maine State Pier, featuring the Whale Wall and featured along the Harborwalk map. Walk all the way out to the water's edge over the wide concrete dock for an exciting and under-appreciated view of the Portland Harbor. Gorgeous sailboats dock at the end of this pier for day trips and overnight trips and if you're lucky enough, you can watch the crews set sail. Locals equipped with bait, tackle, and fishing rods, sit over the pier's edge waiting for a bite (of seaweed, a shoe, some other unexpected discovery). Young boys dare each other to jump into the water from the dock below for a refreshing (I think) yet salty dip and trust the others to pull their soaked and energized bodies out of the cloudy waters. A grandfather tries to coax his grandson into learning a bit about the sails, but the boy is too distracted by the others trying to cool off. I felt a cool breeze from the end of the pier, solace from the stuffy air on Fore Street and despite the steaming ground, I was content.

I love discovering those hidden-in-plain-sight places. The River Point Conservation Area, a 41-acre…read moreproperty formerly known as Three Rivers Farm that was acquired by Falmouth in 1995 - is one of my latest finds! It's tucked along the righthand side the Hannaford in Falmouth, and over a ruddy brown colored bridge. If you veer to the right after the red barn building (labeled Biodiversity Research Institute Ornithology Lab) you'll come up to an informational kiosk. From there, follow the yellow markers for a +/- 1 mile long trail that runs through beautiful fields and alongside the Presumpscot River, and both the west and east branches of the Piscataqua River. You can keep going and join a blue marked trail for more views of fields and streams, or cut through Orchard Trail (white marked) to head back to the informational kiosk without having to double-back along the same path.... I'm a big, big fan of loop trails, so this was important to me! Along the yellow marked path you'll find informational placards that talk about the natural and cultural history of the area, including: the site of Hobb's brickyard (Jonathan Hobbs was the settler who homesteaded the area in 1775), a Native American campsite and location of Hobb's cabin, a former orchard, the presumed site of Hobb's shingle mill. Outside of that, there's an impressive amount of flora and fauna - we came during a very warm summer day and were delighted by the beautiful shades of green, an abundance of wildflowers, and tremendous amounts of blackberry bushes. I imagine this spectacular hike takes on different faces each season... because of the high volume of ponds, streams, and brooks, I imagine spring looks and sounds vastly different than autumn, which must be ablaze with color due to maple and oak trees. We didn't see any ducks, herons, eagles, bunnies, otters, beavers, or deer which are also said to call this location home - but maybe you will! A couple things to note: 1. There's A LOT of poison ivy here. 2. Beware the ticks in the warmer weather. 3. The trails are moderately difficult. 4. Because of the delicate ecology, dogs aren't allowed. 5. If you're not paying attention it is VERY easy to get waaaaaaaaaaaay off course; just keep an eye out on the markers and the arrows, and you'll be fine!