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!

Nice walking trail in Windham to bring the dog and get some fresh air. There's a good sized parking…read morelot and a solid trail system to explore. The trail was somewhat overgrown in fall and had a lot of leaf cover but walking around roots and rocks was not bad.

On a midweek, midday exploration of Maine's trails in the summer I came across Black Brook…read morePreserve. I'm *SO* glad I did. I didn't know what to expect, and ended up having a really pleasant - albeit quick - walkabout in the woods (and sat for a while on a bench overlooking a little stream to just listen to the plethora of birdsong)! I began on Diamond Trail (which is where you start from the parking lot), then went to Pine Grove Trail (a whole 410 feet long), to Hawkes Trail (2740 feet long), and once again to Diamond Trail which brought me back to my car (it says it's 1.9 miles long, but because I skipped the part where Beaver Trail is, I think maybe I only did a mile of it). I found Black Brook Preserve to be excellently groomed and marked; nearly every single fork in the road had a giant wooden information sign letting you know which way was what and how long it was. Again, it's easily walkable and very quickly too because most of the trails are measured in just feet! Also, lots of great plaques with tree types. Finally, it seems as if some new construction has taken place at the beginning of the trail with an "observation deck" into a pond-like area (couldn't see much because of the thick flora, but I bet it's much different in the fall/winter). Cute prints of human feet AND different kinds of animal tracks you might see in this area.

Reviewing this so I can find it later! Lovely trail but definitely has parts of moderate…read moredifficulty, navigating steep climbs on slippery rocks and lots of tree roots to trip on. Not handicapped friendly. Cell reception was spotty at times. A few of the bridges are getting pretty rickety. Great for dogs, little/no bugs.

So, forget the trails. Someone else can review that. I'm here for floating down the river, which is…read moreone of the most fun, free summer activities that you'll find in the Portland area. When you're bored on a summer's day, grab a friend and head to Walmart for tubes and a few beers (in cans, of course). Take two cars. You can drop one car off after the bridge on Allen Ave Extension (a couple miles after the intersection with Washington Ave). Take the other car to the sandy parking lot before Hannaford in West Falmouth that's on the river. This is where I use for the entry point. The next three hours are absolute perfection. Floating down a mild current, bright sun beaming on your face and complete silence besides nature. The water is warm, somehow, even early in the season. It's a fairly wide river and very deep (yeah I may be the loser who wears a life jacket...I blame that on my parents for not investing in swimming lessons!). There's also rope swings at various points that you can jump off. After about two hours, you'll see signs warning of dangerous rapids and it will scare the living **** out of you. That's the time to head to shore and walk the trail for a few minutes. The signs aren't joking and I'd love to see a kayaker navigate those serious rapids. Hop back in the water after and keep relaxing until you reach the dock, which leads up the hill to your first car. I hope too many people don't discover this river because it's been so peaceful the last few summers. But it really is a great group activity and I'd highly recommend it if you want a break from the usual beaches/lakes.

I have a little dog. Her name is Zoey. She weighs all of 12 pounds, but she rules the roost - to…read moresay the least. One of her most favorite things is going for walks. So much so that if you say the word "walk" out loud, she will not rest until said walk has occurred. And, by not rest, I mean lots of bouncing around, hopping up on the couch to have her leash put on, whining - the whole nine yards. As such, we have walked many a places. The Westbrook River Walk is one of the best. While a big part of this is the convenience to our home, it is also just that it is a really nice walking path along the river and parks. The path, which alternates between wooden boardwalk and paved pathway, is perfect. The addition of the foot bridge crossing the river a couple years back was also really nice. And, there are several well positioned trash receptacles along the way, making for the clean up and deposit of her "waste" easy. All in all, this is the perfect post-work walk for my little four legged friend.

This walk is nothing special, but nice for a little bit of exercise. You should be forewarned that…read moreyou can only see the River for a part of the walk. The waterfall at the one end is beautiful but unfortunately it is mostly blocked by the bridge! The majority of the walk goes behind softball and soccer fields so it isn't very scenic. I personally would just recommend driving to the end to see the River area and small falls and maybe walking elsewhere. For reference, all my photos are from the end of the walk closer to the falls!

This place hearkens back to the golden days of Portland when there were trolleys and wide open…read morefields where people gathered. As I walked down the trolley trail, I came upon a set of stairs that went nowhere and saw a signpost with a picture showing what it looked like on the grand opening day. I was standing in dense, overgrown forest but from the picture, there was a gazebo at the top of the stairs and open lawn space everywhere. What a difference 86 years makes! I wish the trolley park still existed as shown in the pictures posted around the park. There was a theatre, gazebo, casino, petting zoo and of course the trolley lines. It looked amazing and offered so many things to do. Now all that's left is a set of stairs and a stone wall near the entrance. I really enjoyed exploring this area and walking the trails. It was mostly quiet except for the traffic noise from Forest Ave and Riverside. The trail connects to the Presumpscot River Trail which I followed for about 2 miles upstream until it became so overgrown that I had to turn back. The farther I walked, the quieter and more peaceful it became. I'll be interested to go back and walk in the other direction towards the Riverside Golf Course.

Beautiful walking trails. Well maintained and marked and spacious…read more We were able to see the cows outside the barn, unfortunately they didn't come closer to the trail. Plenty of parking with restroom facilities in the parking lot. The trail map at the beginning of the trail was very helpful.

This was my first time visiting and had a wonderful time. Today was international greyhound day,…read moreand a large group us of took our leashed hounds for a group walk together for a fun social event. The trails are fantastic and used by many different types of people. Highly recommend!

I can practically see Mackworth Island from my livingroom window, and it's a quick drive--and also…read moreone of my favorite walks in Portland. It's no secret, of course, and as other reviewers have noted there isn't much parking. For some reason I've always been lucky that way and have always found a spot (to be sure, sometimes the only open one). What I recommend--giving away secrets here!--is to aim for just before or after prime times like first thing in the morning or lunchtime. Once you're there, this wonderful little island right smack in a city makes you feel like you're miles away. The trail is less than a mile and a half but you can easily linger in the many path detours to lookout points, several of which have benches with the most marvelous views out into the Casco Bay that you can find anywhere. I have a favorite spot to take a breather with a book and a good coffee, but I'm not letting on exactly where that is : ) I also highly recommend the side paths to the pet cemetery (not Pet Sematary!) where the original owner of the island, Governor Baxter, buried his many Irish Setters and one very special horse. Check out the tombstones; it's quite moving. Also be on the lookout for the famous fairy houses (hint: there's one main area and you'll likely find random little setups hidden throughout). I don't want to ruin the sense of discovery on Mackworth--that's part of the fun!

Nice place to go for a morning stroll with good views. The…read morehistory of the school is interesting also

I'm not entirely sure how I ended up at Knight's Pond Preserve... a free afternoon on a sunny…read moreautumn day tends to inspire me to get outside and play, and before I knew it I was driving down what seemed like a very long driveway (Greely Road Extension) that eventually deposited me at a parking lot. The 300-acre preserve is the largest undeveloped parcel in Cumberland and was "created" in 2015 after conservation efforts led to the acquisition of a major portion of the land. The preserve features a 46-acre pond with an adjacent smaller pond that seems dammed-in (the trail doesn't lead to the stone wall that holds the water, but you can walk over carefully to see) that connects during wetter seasons - there's a wooden bridge to cross into the woods over any water that may be there, a fantastic trail system with great signage through dense woods (there's enough variety here that you could make your hike as short or as long as you like - personally, I like the White trail to the Blue trail, a digression to the FAA tower, to the Red trail, back to the White trail), views of Casco Bay and Mount Washington (on super clear days) from the ridgeline, an FAA radar tower, tons of birds... it's just a very, very nice spot. I came just to walk around and don't feel like I had the opportunity to see everything making me really excited to come back and explore more. Apparently in the winter it's a great spot for pick-up hockey games and ice skating, as well as snowshoeing! I'll be inside drinking bourbon and hiding from the cold then, but if you start to feel like you're getting cabin fever know this is an accessible spot year round!