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The Eastern Trail Alliance Board of Trustees invites you to our 2024 Annual Meeting.

Wednesday, September 11, 2024
6:00 – 7:30 pm
Banded Brewing – Building 13-W, 32 Main St, Biddeford

CLICK HERE TO RSVP

Our new Executive Director Chelsey Berlin is excited to meet you and share what is happening along the Eastern Trail. Join us to connect with fellow trail supporters, cast your vote for new Board candidates, and weigh in on plans for the year ahead.

Advance registration is appreciated. Details regarding nearby parking options and how to access the event space within Banded Brewing will be shared with registered participants.

See you in September!

Eastern Trail Alliance Board of Trustees

Join the Eastern Trail Alliance for its September 2024 full moon walk in the Scarborough Marsh. This month’s full moon will be a Harvest Moon!

The September Moon Walk will be held Tuesday, September 17th 6:45 – 8:15 pm. The walk leaves from the Eastern Trail’s Pine Point parking area. Registration required, link coming soon!

The walk is limited to 25 people and is first come first serve.

**NOTE: Please be aware that the trail through the Scarborough Marsh is uneven in a few spots due to storm damage sustained this winter. We always encourage proper footwear on the trail and even more so at this time. Please also bring a flashlight. Your guide will alert you to the areas of trail that require your caution.

Pets and flashlights are not allowed for this event so as to ensure guests are able to best appreciate the marsh and full moon. Please email info@easterntrail.org with any questions you may have.

Visit our EVENTS page for information on other events.

We need your help, trail users! Are you a photographer? Have great photos?

We are looking for photos of the Eastern Trail and supporters enjoying the trail to publish on our website, social media, and in other materials.

For more information or to submit your images, please contact communications@easterntrail.org.

We are happy to announce the creation of a new web page on this site to provide updates on known conditions along the Eastern Trail.

This will include updates on temporary trail closures and detours, changes in surface conditions and other issues following storms or other events, and other situations that trail users should be aware of.

Our small team relies on trail users to share their trail observations and report problems by filling out this form. Trail conditions are always subject to change, be alert and use caution while on the trail.

On July 15, the Maine Department of Transportation (MDOT) launched its public project on the two end segments (2.7 miles of new trail) of the Eastern Trail’s Blaze the Trail South campaign.

From now until August 7, the public will be able to learn more and comment on this process. Go here to get more information, which will include an asynchronous virtual meeting, a storymap, and other information to help you learn more about the project and to submit input prior to construction in late 2025/early 2026.

MaineDOT wants to hear from you. Click here to submit your comments formally.

Stay tuned on our Facebook Page and on this website for updates about this project.

The Eastern Trail Alliance is recruiting new board members to join our board this year. If you are looking for a way to make a difference in southern Maine and have a passion for trails or active transportation, we’d like to hear from you!

Click here to access the board member application form. Please then complete it by the May 13, 2024 for full consideration. In particular, skills and experience sought include accounting/audit, fundraising, and previous board service. Given our active trail-building campaigns south of Kennebunk, residents of southern York County are encouraged to apply.

Led by the planning/engineering firm VHB, the Eastern Trail Alliance and Eastern Trail Management District in collaboration with the Southern Maine Planning and Development Commission (SMPDC), MaineDOT and the municipalities of Kittery, Eliot, York, South Berwick, and North Berwick are proud to release the Eastern Trail Connectivity Feasibility Study Story Map.

This story map will allow you to see information about the initial feasibility study currently underway in the Berwicks to the Border Project, considering locations for future segments of the Eastern Trail between North Berwick and Memorial Bridge in Kittery. The different types of potential route alternatives may include shared-use paths along utility corridors, shared-use paths alongside a public road, boardwalk segments over wetlands and small streams, striped bike lanes or wide shoulders on roadways, and travel lanes shared by all users on rural roads with low traffic volumes and/or speeds. The detailed information is tied to geographic information which gives the public a view of both where and how these preliminary route alternatives may be used.

This 18-month study began in late 2023 and is expected to finish in early 2025. The ultimate goal is to recommend a route for a continuous off-road trail from North Berwick to Kittery. From there, the Eastern Trail Alliance, SMPDC, and individual municipalities will seek additional funding through grants and other sources to implement the priority recommendations from the study.

To learn more, please go here to visit the Story Map.

Additionally, an Eastern Trail Connectivity Study Community Workshop will be held on Tuesday, April 30, 2024 from 6:30 – 8:00 pm at Eliot Town Hall, 1333 State Road, Eliot, ME or via this Zoom link.

Greetings!

I am honored to introduce myself as the new Executive Director of the Eastern Trail Alliance. I join the organization with over fifteen years of experience working in global nonprofits. A hallmark of my career has been addressing the universal importance of a place to seek refuge. We all need refuge, for reasons as varied as personal safety and psycho-social well-being. Public access to nature close to home provides a break from busy lives, a place to connect with friends and family, and a means of safe and climate-conscious transportation, recreation, and fitness.

My commitment to trails and to bicycle and pedestrian infrastructure is drawn from lived experience. The Eastern Trail did not exist when I was a child, growing up in Old Orchard Beach. It was only as an adult living away that I came to understand and value how trails can be a part of our everyday lives. Since the Eastern Trail was born, I have seen firsthand how it has bettered the lives of my family, friends, and community.

So please allow me to start my tenure at the Eastern Trail Alliance by thanking all of you. Thank you for the contributions you gave most recently as we closed out 2023. Thank you for all the years you have renewed your membership dues. Thank you for believing in this trail when it was just a sparkle in our founder John Andrews’ eye. Thank you for being part of our community and of our ongoing vision to complete an off-road trail that extends from Bug Light in South Portland to the Piscataqua River in Kittery. Every dollar counts. Every trail visit betters us all.

I look forward to meeting you on and off the trail. Scroll down to learn more about our trail-building campaigns and upcoming events.

Thank you,

Chelsey Berlin
Executive Director, Eastern Trail Alliance