Latest News

A new video of historical significance has been added to the page containing many videos about the Eastern Trail. The new video is the first ever recorded ETA event, taking place in February 1998 before a Scarborough Council Meeting.

Many other videos about the Eastern Trail are showing up on the Internet. The 1998 Scarborough Council meeting and other some others that we have found are listed below, as a courtesy to help you find and enjoy these videos.

The Early Vision of the Eastern Trail – February 1998

Published on May 23, 2016 by Eastern Trail Alliance

This is the first ever recorded ETA event in February 1998 before a Scarborough Council Meeting. At the meeting, speakers outline the vision to build a greenway trail in southern Maine. Running Time 35:24

Eastern Trail in Three Minutes

Published on Aug 3, 2014 by Bill Bottling

Time-lapse video of a ride on Eastern Trail from Cascade Road in Old Orchard Beach, Maine to the Nonesuch River on the Scarborough/South Portland border. Running Time 3:15

The Eastern Trail, Scarborough, Maine – Aerial Drone Footage Over Marsh

Published on July 19, 2015 by DaveIn NH

Running Time 4:32

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Eastern Trail – The Trail Guide

Published on May 22, 2015 by BigD

The Eastern Trail is part of the East Coast Greenway which will connect cities from Maine to Florida. The Trail Guide has 8 Different Maps from Kittery to Portland. Running Time 3:21

Check out all the videos about the Eastern Trail on our Videos page.

“Close the G a p” is the theme of the Eastern Trail Alliance’s annual meeting, scheduled for Wednesday, May 25 from 5:30 – 7:30 pm at the Clambake Restaurant in Scarborough.

This year’s Guest Speaker is Jim Tasse, Assistant Director of the Bicycle Coalition of Maine.

All are invited – more information on this page.

Please RSVP by May 15 by calling 207-284-9260 or by email to Nancy@easterntrail.org

A postcard promoting the meeting can be viewed here.

Kate Irish Collins, kcollins@keepmecurrent.com – May 19, 2016

The final push is on to raise the remaining $1 million needed by the end of the year to build two new bridges on the Eastern Trail that would close a 1.6-mile gap between Scarborough and South Portland.

Construction of the bridges, one over the Nonesuch River and one over the Pan Am railroad tracks near Pleasant Hill Road, has been a goal of the Eastern Trail Alliance, which maintains and operates the trail, for more than a decade, according to Carole Brush.

The total cost of the bridge projects is $3.8 million, Brush said. Of that amount, $2.8 million has been raised through various funding avenues, including from the communities of Scarborough and South Portland, as well as the state and federal governments.

So far, Scarborough and South Portland have pledged a combined $70,000 toward the bridges project, with the trail alliance seeking another $216,000 from the town of Scarborough. The money is included in the town’s proposed 2016-17  budget, which the Town Council is scheduled to vote on Wednesday, after the Current’s print deadline.The 65-mile Eastern Trail in Maine extends from Kittery to Bug Light in South Portland and is part of the East Coast Greenway, which spans 2,900 miles from Florida to Maine.

Construction of the two bridges between Scarborough and South Portland would actually create a new, 16-mile section of off-road travel for the Eastern Trail, Brush said. The Maine Department of Transportation said closing the trail gap between the two communities is one of its highest-priority recreation projects.

The Eastern Trail was created 16 years ago, and since then millions of people have used it to bike, run and walk through many of southern Maine’s most scenic woods, tidal marshes and traditional New England communities, according to the Eastern Trail website.

The urgency about raising the remaining funding needed to build the two bridges is that if the $1 million is not raised by the end of the year, the money pledged by the Department of Transportation may be diverted to other projects around the state.

With that possibility in mind, Tom Hall, Scarborough’s town manager, said, “Timing is critical because we’ve raised the majority of the funds, but time is (now) running out.”

The project is in the final stages of design and is on schedule to start construction in early 2017, according to Brush.

“It’s critical that the project start (as planned because) we don’t want to risk the funding being diverted to other projects,” she said.

Hall agreed.

The article continues – Go here to read the entire article online.

By Michael Kelley Staff Writer

With Army Corps of Engineers and Maine Department of Environmental Protection approval in hand, it’s a “critical year” for a long-term project to connect the Eastern Trail….

between the Nonesuch River in Scarborough and the Wainwright Farm Recreation Complex in South Portland.

So says Scarborough Town Planner Dan Bacon.

“Completing this corridor would finally connect Scarborough, Old Orchard Beach, Saco and points south all the way to South Portland and Portland,” Bacon said at a town council workshop last week.

Although only 1.6 miles long, making the connection between the two communities has been, according to Scarborough Town Manager Tom Hall, a “daunting task,” in part because it requires building bridges over the Nonesuch River and Pan Am Railways tracks.

Bacon said finding a connection that works “without bumping into” private property has been challenging. Thus the proposed trail alignment follows a Central Maine Power corridor by Pleasant Hill Road before heading toward Prout’s Pond toward South Portland and eventually into the Wainwright complex. An alignment that passed by the pond prior to joining Highland Avenue and Gary L. Maietta Way was ultimately scrapped because of safety concerns for trail users.

The challenge at hand now is funding the roughly $3 million project, including the costs of the Nonesuch River Bridge ($75,000+) and railroad bridge ($700,000 to $1 million). The northern stretch – approximately 4,200 feet from Wainwright to Pleasant Hill Road – has been funded thanks to a grant from Portland Area Comprehensive Transportation System (PACTS) and local shares from Scarborough and South Portland. Funding for the southern half, which includes the two bridges, is still up in the air, but PACTS and the Maine Department of Transportation (DOT) have promised to fund sizable shares.

“The DOT sees this as the most important bike/ped project in the state right now and has dedicated almost half of the funding because of that feeling,” Bacon said.

The DOT has committed $1.5 million to the project and PACTS has committed another $650,000. The local share of the project from Scarborough and South Portland would be $216,000, meaning another $700,000 would have to be raised from other funding sources.

Despite the funding situation, Bacon said, “we are certainly much closer than we were.”

Bacon said officials are “courting organizations like Hannaford, Iberdrola (CMP’s parent company) and Cianbro for funding or in-kind donations.

Read the full article online here.

The Eastern Trail Alliance (ETA) was featured on the Derek Volk Show on April 9, 2016, broadcast on News Talk WLOB (100.5 FM / 1310 AM).

Derek interviewed Scott Marcoux of the Alliance, who spoke about the mission of the Alliance, and also in detail about the this year’s upcoming Maine Lighthouse Ride. The Maine Lighthouse Ride is the chief fundraiser for the ETA, and will be held this coming September 10.

The entire interview can be heard here.

For more details and next steps, see the full analysis on the League’s website.

Thanks to a collaboration between the Friends of Scarborough Marsh, the ETA and the Town of Scarborough, the Marsh is now home to art — created by local artist Jada Fitch — that depicts some of the wildlife that thrives there.

Near the end of 2014, the ETA received an anonymous and generous gift, and earmarked a small amount of that gift for its portion of the art’s cost.

Read more details in this online article – Art imitates life with new trail installation at Scarborough Marsh.

Stay tuned for information about a formal dedication of the art!

We recently got an email from a trail enthusiast in our neighbor state, telling about efforts to build the New Hampshire Seacoast Greenway (NHSG), NH’s segment of the East Coast Greenway (and which connects to the Eastern Trail at the ME/NH border). Read his message below:

“We recently set up a Facebook page for the

New Hampshire Seacoast Greenway (NHSG), NH’s segment of the East Coast Greenway, and are working to build following. Would you be willing to add a welcome to Facebook post on the Alliance FB page to let your members know about what is happening on the other side of Memorial Bridge?”

“The State of NH already owns the southernmost 4.5 miles of the Eastern RR corridor (locally called the Hampton Branch) from the MA border to Hampton. NHDOT is in negotiations with Pan Am to buy the remaining 9.7 miles from Hampton to Portsmouth. CMAQ funds have been set aside for the purchase and installation of an aggregate/stone dust trail on the 9.7 miles. We’re currently working in the corridor communities to establish local volunteer organizations that will work with the municipalities on trail management, negotiating a trail management agreement with NHDOT, and working with UNH Engineering Dept on a conceptual design study for the trail through the Hampton Marsh.”

“Thanks for any help you can provide, and for your work on the ET!”
“Cheers, Scott (Bogle)”

We are excited to again offer a Maine Lighthouse Bike Jersey for 2016 – you can see the new jersey design to the left. You can order one or more jerseys and they will be shipped to you – these make great gifts as well.

Jerseys can be ordered online now – directly from Atayne, which “makes performance outdoor clothing and sports apparel that is safe for people and the planet.”

You can also still order the great jersey designs from our 2015, 2014 and 2013 rides.

More info on the jerseys and pictures here

This summer we are getting a lot of inquiries from vacationing visitors looking to use our great trail.  We’re getting a lot of requests about bicycle rentals – so we’ve created a new page with the rental resources that we know. Lets us know if you know of more available along the trail. And say “hi” to all our visiting friends!