Latest News

Our archive of more in-depth news articles and reports (running back to the 1990’s) can be found here. You can also search for past articles using the search function in the left hand side column

Latest News

Eastern Trail Seeks a Firm or Individual to Provide Marketing and Creative Consulting Services

Request for Qualifications – Marketing and Creative Services

The Eastern Trail Alliance seeks a firm or individual to provide consulting assistance and creative services to develop branding and cohesive marketing for trail signage and way-finding.

Go here to review and download the full RFQ document.

Applications are due February 19.

Questions: Contact Chelsey Berlin, Executive Director for the Eastern Trail Alliance/Eastern Trail Management District, at info@easterntrail.org

Maine 2025 Maine Lighthoue Ride
Latest News

Register now for the 2025 Maine Lighthouse Ride!

Register now for the 2025 Maine Lighthouse Ride!

Join us on Saturday, September 13, 2025 for the 22nd annual Maine Lighthouse Ride!

True to its name, MLR highlights the breathtaking views of coastal southern Maine, including multiple lighthouses, rolling terrain, and stunning views of the Atlantic Ocean and the iconic Scarborough Marsh.

MLR offers four routes to challenge riders of all abilities – 25 miles, 40 miles, 62 miles, and 100 miles!

Go here to Register Now!

Eastern TrailYour participation supports the Eastern Trail Alliance, a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization that builds, maintains, and promotes the Eastern Trail, southern Maine’s premier multi-use greenway.

Turbocharge your ride! By choosing the Become a Fundraiser option during registration process, you can rally your friends, family, and community to support your participation and a great cause – the Eastern Trail.

Recruiting new ET Board Members
Latest News

Applications Open for 2025 Board Member Recruitment

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 March 3, 2025 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.

Full moon on the Eastern Trail
Latest News

February 12 Full Moon Walk on the Eastern Trail

Join the Eastern Trail Alliance for its February 2025 full moon walk in the Scarborough Marsh. This month’s full moon will be a Snow Moon!

The January Moon Walk will be held Wednesday, February 13th 5:15 – 6:45 pm. The walk leaves from the Eastern Trail’s Pine Point parking area. Registration is required (no cost – go here to register).

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

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.

Eastern Trail image
Latest News

Our impact spans southern Maine

Doug SmithDear Friend of the Eastern Trail:

As the new board president of the Eastern Trail Alliance, I am proud to support the Eastern Trail because of the transformative impact it has on my life. The Eastern Trail provides me a spectacular car-free and stress-free commute option to the office. On days that I do drive to work, the Eastern Trail provides a much-needed reprieve from screens during my lunch break.

When not working, walking on the Eastern Trail provides my family the space to connect with each other, our surroundings, and our community.

As a trail user first, I know the incredible impact the Eastern Trail has on individuals, businesses, and communities across southern Maine. Your previous support made the following achievements possible in 2024:

  • 3 active trail expansion projects including persistent efforts to close the gap between South Portland and Scarborough; engineering design on 0.7 miles of new trail in West Kennebunk and 2.0 miles in Wells and North Berwick, and an ongoing initial feasibility study from North Berwick to Kittery.
  • 850 Maine Lighthouse Ride participants, representing 33 states and spanning the ages from 10 to 87, sold-out this event and raised significant resources for the Eastern Trail Alliance to invest into the trail.
  • 20 miles of off-road trail maintained and preserved including routine monitoring and maintenance, and in response to increasingly extreme and unseasonable winter weather.

We need your support to continue this critical workPlease Donate Now, and your investment to ensure we do not lose access to federal funding for trail design and construction in Kennebunk, Wells, and North Berwick that requires local matching funds. Every dollar goes toward our mission to maintain, build, and promote the Eastern Trail. Will you be one of the trail users and supporters we need to chip in to meet our goals?

In 2025, the Eastern Trail Alliance will continue to ensure that you have a safe and accessible place to walk, cycle, and run in southern Maine. Please join us in making that possible by making a year-end contribution today. Your support is critical to our ongoing work.

Doug Smith Signature
Doug Smith
Board President
Eastern Trail Alliance

Patrick Conlon ET Trail Manager
Latest News

I Love My Job! – A message from the Eastern Trail Manager

Patrick Conlon, Eastern Trail Manager in a kayak

Trail Manager Patrick Conlon retrieves a safety pylon from the Scarborough Marsh adjacent to the Eastern Trail in August 2024. A trail manager’s work is never done and is different every day!

Dear Friend of the Eastern Trail,

One of the best parts of my job as the Trail Manager for the Eastern Trail Alliance is seeing you and thousands of people like you enjoying the Eastern Trail each year. And wow, do I love my job!

When I see families out enjoying the trail together or folks walking their dogs, I think about what an extraordinary asset the Eastern Trail is to southern Maine. Whether you cycle for daily exercise, walk to clear your mind, or run to meet your training goals, the Eastern Trail provides a car-free, nature-filled environment to make it possible.

You can safely use the Eastern Trail because I remove downed trees, clean drainage ditches, pick up trash, and so much more. Your contribution to the Eastern Trail Alliance helps make my work possible and protects the safety and natural beauty of the Eastern Trail.

Just yesterday, a trail user passed while I was working trail side and said, “I guess your work is never done.” He couldn’t have been more right. The challenges of 2024 tested us in new ways: rising tides, increasingly severe storm surges, and more frequent freeze-thaw cycles caused extensive damage to the Eastern Trail.

The ETA adapted quickly. We launched a new Trail Conditions page on our website to keep you informed and safe. We monitored the trail closely, working with our municipal partners to address conditions and tackle larger maintenance projects. On a tight budget, we kept up with essential repairs – fixing fencing, bollards, signage, and more – and removing graffiti, trash, and pet waste aplenty.

Please Donate NowIn short, what that trail user said to me is this work is needed – it matters. Please make a year-end gift to the Eastern Trail Alliance today. The challenges of 2025 are already on the horizon, and we need your help to weather whatever nature throws our way. Your support ensures that we can continue to monitor, maintain, and protect this incredible resource. Your generosity keeps the Eastern Trail beautiful and open to all. Please make a generous donation today and help us preserve this vital community asset.

See you on the trail!

Thank you,

Patrick Conlon
Trail Manager
Eastern Trail Alliance

Trail Conditions Image
Latest News

Check Out Our New Trail Conditions Page

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.

View of the Blazing the Trail South ET segment, taken July 2024
Latest News

Maine Dept. of Transportation seeks comment on two new segments of the Eastern 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.

Showing Scarborough Marsh repairs 070324
Latest News

UPDATE: Repairs Made to Scarborough Marsh Eastern Trail segment following winter storms

TRAIL CONDITION UPDATE, SCARBOROUGH: A small section of the Eastern Trail in the Scarborough Marsh segment received a new layer of stone dust and was flattened by tractor today thanks to the Town of Scarborough, Maine!
This is a big step forward and a noticeable improvement to the damage caused by storms this winter. This new topping surface will continue to harden with rain and usage.
Please continue to use caution in this segment as the stone dust was added in only one area and there is still a good bit of loose gravel in other areas.
Please excuse any brief delays to thru-traffic early next week when the tractor and dump truck are scheduled to return to add more material and to continue flattening out the trail’s surface.
https://www.easterntrail.org/