Eastern Trail - Scarborough, Cumberland County

The Eastern Trail courses nearly 80 miles on mostly quiet back roads between Strawbery Banke on the Piscataqua River in Portsmouth, N.H., and Bug Light Park in South Portland. The only off-road section of the trail runs along an upgraded rail trail through the Scarborough Marsh Wildlife Management Area.

The 5-mile, off-road section of the Eastern Trail between Black Point Road in Scarborough and Milliken Mills Road in Old Orchard Beach offers a sanctuary for bikers, hikers, birdwatchers and dog walkers. The trail is accessible from both ends and via a well-marked parking lot on Pine Point Road in Scarborough. (See Map.)

The ultimate goal of the Eastern Trail Alliance is to convert the 70-plus on-road miles to sheltered and peaceful off-road miles by upgrading the abandoned Eastern Railroad Corridor, which stretches from South Portland to South Berwick. The plan is part of the regional East Coast Greenway initiative to establish a 3,000-mile off-road route from the Florida Keys to Calais, a project that is sometimes dubbed "the urban Appalachian Trail."

Notebook:

The wide and well-maintained trail is suitable for mountain bikes, road bikes and bikes with training wheels.

The packed stone dust trail is lined on both sides by wildflowers common in other parts of the state, especially along its country roads: snow white Queen Anne's Lace, scraggly yellow St. John's Wort, towering blue-violet chicory and sweet fuchsia tea roses, among dozens of others.

Various species of birds - including the Maine state bird, the chickadee - flutter in and out of the waving marsh grass. Graceful snowy egrets high-step along the shore and blue herons swoop over the marsh waters.

[Quick-reference guide: Fee -NO | Dogs - YES | Kid-friendly - YES | Facilities - NO]