Congratulations to the Sebago to the Sea Trail Coalition, which has finally realized its dream of creating a continuous trail from Sebago Lake to the Atlantic Ocean. Now, we’d like to see the Eastern Trail Alliance, which has made equally great strides in recent years connecting sections of former rail line along the southern coast of Maine, finally create an unbroken link from Kittery to South Portland.
The Sebago to the Sea Trail has been in existence since 2012, thanks to the members of the Presumpscot Regional Land Trust, which took it upon themselves to work with landowners and the state to carve a trail from Sebago Lake to the ocean. It starts out in the woods of the Sebago Lake Land Reserve, owned by the Portland Water District, and follows the Mountain Division Rail Trail from Standish into Gorham, past the Maine Correctional Facility in Windham and then into Westbrook, where it follows Bridge Street and East Bridge Street until plunging back into the woods along the Presumpscot River. It crosses into Portland near Riverton and then follows the Presumpscot through Riverside Golf Course and into Falmouth near the highway overpass on Blackstrap Road. From there it wends its way, sometimes on streets, sometimes on paths, through residential Portland and finally meets the sea at East End Beach, where “through-hikers” can celebrate with a dip in the ocean.
While envisioned as far back as 2007, when the coalition started meeting, in 2012 the group announced that the final connection of the trail was in place. But the news carried with it a caveat, that the 5-mile section from Gorham into Westbrook had to be completed by boat along the Presumpscot since an overland route was delayed due to construction on a section of rail line. Now that rail bed reconstruction is complete, coalition members are installing signage this spring to direct trail users along the completed rail section where users will be allowed to walk alongside the new tracks. So, about a decade after their vision was born, the overland Sebago to the Sea is a reality, and we think that’s a great thing not only for local hikers and cyclists, but also for further enhancing the reputation of Greater Portland as a haven for outdoor activities. The 28-mile trail is certainly a feather in the cap of the communities it passes through.
We also hope people take advantage of this new trail and have a lot of fun along the way. There are places to swim, eat picnic lunches and, of course, observe nature. Parts of the trail, which follows about 13 miles of the pancake-flat Mountain Division rail line, already get a lot of usage, and we feel this final link in the chain will increase pedestrian and bicycle traffic even more.
The Eastern Trail, on the other hand, is a much larger project, since it is tied into the East Coast Greenway, which, as the name implies, is a trail that aims to link Calais, Maine, and Key West in Florida. Similar to the Sebago to the Sea Trail, it runs along former rail lines and other pathways. In areas where no off-road route could be found, roads are used. In Maine, the Eastern Trail runs from Bug Light in South Portland to the Piscataqua River in Kittery. Of the trail’s 65 miles in Maine, only 22 are off-road.
We’re not sure of the Sebago to the Sea Trail’s economic impact, since it is so new and still trying to attract attention. But according to an economic impact study by the Eastern Trail Alliance, the Eastern Trail saw 88,828 visitors in 2014 and brought in $900,000 worth of economic activity. According to the study’s author, the trail “brings people to southern Maine, principally to communities served by its off-road sections; and those people spend money.”
While less than $1 million is small compared to the rest of the state’s tourist and outdoor-based economy, it’s a piece of the puzzle worth capitalizing and expanding on. Anything that can help Maine’s tourism-based economy, in our view, is a good investment.
While the Sebago to the Sea Trail winds through Portland Water District-owned property and along state-owned rail lines, as well as land owned and managed by Portland Trails, we’d like to see the state and local towns and cities work even harder to take the Eastern Trail completely off-road. That is the goal of the coalition in charge, but doing so can be difficult due to topography, river crossings, and private landowners. The effort is worth the trouble, we feel, and something to strive for.
Thirty years ago, the Eastern Trail was in its infancy as railroads started shutting down lines, and great strides have been made since. It’s worth carrying on the effort and hopefully someday, the Eastern Trail can boast a fully connected system just like the Sebago to the Sea Trail.
-John Balentine, managing editor
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