The ending to a perfect day in Maine? Watching the sunset from a jetty of course!…read more After spending the day exploring coastal areas in southern Maine, we decided to walk the jetty near Wells Harbor/York Beach. We didn't know what to expect when we discovered this spot - so when you come know that there are two jetty's. One you can access from the elongated, sandy parking area on Foster Ln (which was free to use and deserted when we came in early November); and, one you can access from a bigger, concrete parking area at the end of Atlantic Ave (beyond Sage Fishing Charters - it's pay to park here, but I don't know if that's just during the height of the summer season). These jetty's are long (I read somewhere that they're over a mile) stone breakwaters that stretch out relatively far from land into the Atlantic. It's beautiful to walk down and back as you get stunning views of Wells Harbor, the beach on either side, and great for bird watching too (we were captivated by some sanderlings!). It's important to be mindful when walking on jetty's though - these big boulders have crevices between them, so "mind the gap"; if the ocean is rough, you might also get soaked from waves crashing against them! Absolutely worth seeing, especially in the shoulder season when it's got that much more serene, humble feeling to it!

This was amazing. I'm so glad we decided to go down the coast and take this walk. We decided to go…read moreat sunrise. Although there was overcast, it was still a beautiful walk. I imagined the people who walked this jetty every single day and I was jealous. We didn't tour the lighthouse but we've seen plenty of lighthouses. We've never seen one out a mile though. Don't miss this gem! Be sure to use the bathroom before coming here as we did not see any portapods. Also, wear shoes with hood support. We saw a few wearing flip flops; so t know how they did it. I wouldn't take the risk of tripping.

This is really quite a nice little trail. You get a bit of coastline, and a bit of forest all in…read moreone. You turn onto granite point road off of route 9 near Biddeford pool. You follow the road all the way down, there is very limited parking. By limited I mean 4 maybe 5 spots, including 2 handicapped parking spots. The road and parking area are patrolled by BPD. After parking you walk along the dirt road, after the trail entrance sign and information board. You go by a few structures and viewing decks. The trail takes you all the way out to the coastline across the bay from goose rocks beach. In low tide, you can walk all the way out to timber island, but be aware of how slimy and slippery it would be. Also be sure you know the tidal chart for the day you take your walk. It's very important to know, as rescue would be costly if caught on the island. The Ewing house is the last part of this trail and it's so worth the trip. If you've never seen the house itself, check it out, it's pretty cool. They have a layout of what the old colonial style house looked like in its prime. It was a large house, and had several rooms and out buildings through the property. It's really very interesting and so worth the trip. It's not a long trip at all, maybe 1.5/2 hours if you really mosey about. An hour's if you're speed walking. Kids

Beautiful scenic trail to hike on. Very level flat pathway through woodland area and side paths…read morealong the waterfront. Smaller beach area full of rocks and shells. Amazing views and lots of birds to watch. Bring binoculars! A few benches to sit and enjoy....

There's a headquarters building for the Kennebunkport Conservation Trust (where you can park) with…read morea beautifully manicured "backyard"/garden area where they host events for NPOs and private gatherings. You'll definitely want to come check this spot on on your own, though because Emmons Preserve has it all: - A story book trail for children (follow a children's book along an easy to navigate path that includes tunnels and a hut made entirely from weaved together branches and tree limbs, faces on trees, fairy houses, log benches to sit upon, etc.) - Long bridges over the Batson River (the reflection of the leaves in the glassy surface of the water was stunning!) - Vernal pools, wetlands, wide open fields, dense forests - Informative signs about the area (including the wildlife and trees, the fire of 1947, the logging industry, and QR codes to help you identify bird calls) - Plenty of well manicured trails - I saw lots of runners on the Learning Trail; on the other side of the property, you can venture into the woods up the Batson River Trail to Jeremy's Trail which connects to Jenne's Loop. These offer more views of the river and an unexpected scenic, bubbling, babbling, absolutely lovely little waterfall. Another spot you could hideaway at with a good book or a picnic (carry in, carry out!!!). Fill up that cup with a big dose of nature therapy, my friends. Forest bathing is important.

The most beautiful hike I've ever been on! Breathtaking views of the crystal-clear water, marsh,…read moreautumn leaves. It's like taking all the best aspects of every hike and condensing it into a one-mile jaunt that can be done in 45 min with a stroller, your dog, people of all ages. Such a clear easy path to push the stroller, no tripping on roots, dogs happily welcomed, the trail circles back so you don't see the same thing twice. I'd walk this weekly if I lived here. What a special place. 5 stars!!!!

I love walking this trail. It's very easy for my mom who uses a cane now but still loves to hike…read more They have handicapped parking for her as well. It looks different every season so it's worth doing it multiple times. I've even gone in February with the snow falling. Definitely make this place part of your Maine roadtrip!

It's seems like Mainers crave "secret beaches" more than ever before. With so many tourists in the…read moresummer time, the usual haunts can be overcrowded and offer limited parking and costly fees (because tourists are actually willing to wait in lines and fork over cash for an authentic coastal exeprience). Because going to the beach is sacred for me (I'm a mermaid, afterall) I am one of those locals looking for a spot where I can sun in splash in peace. I had heard of Laudholm Beach in passing, and decided one hot Friday to seek it out. Just a fortyish minute drive from Portland brought me to the Wells Reserve where you can access this beach after walking the Barrier Beach Trail (stay on it until it brings you out of the woods and over a wooden staircase). It's a dream come true: impressive and expansive views of sparkling Atlantic Ocean, piping plovers, waves, (comparatively) warm water, lobster boats, and limited people (and most of that small number are just here to walk the length of the beach before returning whence they came). There are quite a few rocks to navigate past at first, but that's what keeps most people at bay. You can pull up a patch of sand and spend hours uninterrupted here, or you can explore a bit and find mud flats and salt marshes that help protect various beach life (birds, fish, plants). Just be warned... at high tide there is little to no beach . Not an exaggeration. My walk back to the trail was partially in water (and back over those aforementioned rocks making it a bit dangerous...what's life without adventure though?!). Happy to know this place exists for when my other "secret" spots are overtaken by the loud, rude, non-mermaid believers.

We visited the Wells Reserve at Laudholm and decided to hike to this beach which lacks the crowds…read moregenerally found at Maine beaches. Unless your are private landowner near the beach, this is the only way to access the beach.

I stopped in late one afternoon at the Wells Reserve - right after visiting the Rachel Carson…read moreNational Wildlife Refuge - which is essentially next door to the Wells Reserve. It was close to 5:00 pm when I arrived - a cold, overcast, gloomy, rainy late October day. As with the Rachel Carson NWR - the visitor center here was also closed for the season. So I walked about the grounds a bit. I discovered an ancient, rudimentary, prototype Stargate on the grounds - out in the middle of a field. Appeared to be made of some sort of stone. #WellsReserveAtLaudholm

Looking to do a hike and decided to head over to Wells Reserve. Seven dollars a person to enter…read more This property was once a working farm. The visitor center was the home they lived in. We hike down a dirt path around a half mile to the beach. On the way back hike a different path which was grassy through the fields. Such a wonderful experience

This place is excellent for mountain biking - probably not the best place to hike. My understanding…read moreis the preserve was funded by a federal grant for George W.; an avid mountain biker to go while in KBP. For this it's one of the best places in York county but as Steff D. pointed out, there's nothing to see here. It's just a boring rooty walk in the woods and there are plenty of better places to go in southern Maine.

We live in such a glorious corner of the world, that I'm trying to see as absolute much of it as I…read morecan. Each Winter when the snow begins to feel overly oppressive, I curl up on the couch with a hot mug of tea and craft a list of all the outdoor places I want to explore. The Edwin L Smith Preserve came up in my research and, since it was a place I had never gone, I made it a point to seek it out first. On a sunny spring Sunday, we decided to spend a couple hours of hiking as much of the trail system in the preserve as we could. But we got bored and left. Yeah, you read that right. It's a trail. It's JUST a trail. A very, very, very long trail through the woods. There's no destination to get to, there's no scenic overlooks, there's no ruins of any kind, there was no nature other than the sound of bird call to admire, there's literally nothing here but trail and woods. Oh, but you won't actually be able to enjoy the woods because you'll be spending most of your time looking down at your feet because: 1) much of the trail is irritatingly windy and hilly - not so much that you'll break a sweat, but just enough to inconvenience you. It seems to just go up and down, and up and down, and up and down... without getting anywhere but up and down, and up and down, and up and down. 2) the impressive amount of roots to trip on... at one point we joked that it felt like we were in some sort of fairy tale where the roots seemed to be multiplying in an effort to eventually entangle us thereby forcing us to stay in the most boring woods for the rest of our lives. I admit: I'm privileged by living in Maine. There are beautiful walking paths, hikes, beaches, mountains to climb, and gardens to both wander and wonder in pretty much everywhere you look. As such, it's always a little disappointing when you find yourself walking a trail that could be any trail in any part of any woods anywhere in the world. That's just not for me. But maybe it's exactly what you're craving. If you need to clear your head and breathe in some of that refreshing Maine air, if you need a peaceful walk through nothing but woods uninterrupted by literally anything, if you need a little gentle monotony in your life, even if you're a mountain biker looking for ten mile work out... then this Preserve might be everything you've been looking for.

Cold clear and…read morequiet Wonderbrook Park is a eighty acre tract of land that is a combination of two donations. One by the Wellman family in 1994 and the Murphy family in 1997. The park is now part of the Kennebunk Land Trust. The park has one main trail that sort of wanders around through the woods. I've actually only been here in the winter but of course it is open all year long. I imagine it gets really buggy in the spring and has a whole different feel and look during the warmer months. Unfortunately the small parking lot isn't plowed in the snowy season and parking can be iffy. Dogs are allowed as long as they are well behaved and the owners clean up and mountain bikes are also permitted to use the trails although it can get very muddy and narrow in here so the biking can be technical. Lots of lovely old trees and ferns, in the winter the entire place is dead quiet, peaceful and eerie. I've never seen another person here but I suspect that in the warmer months it gets lots of use. It does get icy and difficult in the winter but in heavy snow it would be a nice place to snow shoe or cross country ski as long as the skier is really good at turning and stopping. Wonderbrook is a cool and peaceful little park that offers a lot of different things to do throughout the year. A nice park to find some quiet and solitude.

Wonderbrook Park is tucked in the back of a neighborhood but has the ability to park about 10 cars,…read moreno more than that. It does not have bathroom facilities. There are two walking/hiking paths that are decent in length but unfortunately I cannot tell you how long because it was not marked anywhere. Our guess is about 2.5 miles? The walking paths are defined but you need to watch out because there are a lot of roots, rocks and branches. Overall the hike was great exercise through the woods but there weren't any notable views worth stopping and taking a long look at. It was also surprising that we did not see all that much wildlife. We very rarely saw a squirrel or a chipmunk which was sort of unusual. I'm glad we went and we would visit again but if you are going for more than just exercise (views, animal life, easy walk) this one may not be for you. Oh and be sure to bring your bug spray. You really don't need sun block because it is in the woods.

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? Kind of. Loop trail? No. Well marked signs? No. When you arrive (according to Google Maps) there will be a pump station with signs in front of it that say No Parking. However, if you pull onto the dirt path next to it you'll see a handful of parking spots behind it. There were other cars here with people getting out to run, and walk their dog, so I assume it's cool to park here? I did. Then you have two options: keep walking into the woods, or cross the very busy street you just pulled off from to go to the trail on the other side of the road. There's no signage here regarding trail stuff, so I randomly picked the second option. After walking through the trees a bit, suddenly I was exposed to completely open views of coastal salt marsh on both sides of me. This is the Mousam River Marsh. It was low tide, but the sea grass is beautiful this time of year, and being able to look out to a beach (and the open ocean) in the distance made for a lovely, quick walk. Eventually you get to a giant sign in front of returned forest that says Madelyn Marx Preserve and... well, that's it. Sure the trail continues on through the woods and all the way to Sea Rd, but you have to doubleback at some point, so I decided to when I reached the sign. Lovely spot to stretch your legs a bit, but not necessarily somewhere you have to check out. I am appreciative to the Kennebunk Land Trust, though, whose "mission is to permanently conserve and steward land to benefit natural and human communities." Thanks for the good work you all are doing across this region of Maine!