Hiking in Maine

We’ve explored Portland’s Fore River Sanctuary many times in different seasons and conditions. This preserve, open from dawn to dusk and maintained by Portland Trails, is 85 acres of nature inside Maine’s largest city. Fore River Sanctuary contains a waterfall, as well as a lowland marsh area popular with bird watchers, and is a favorite with dog walkers. It is in fact, featured in the book Dog-Friendly Hikes in Maine, and dogs under control (voice or leash – we saw both) are welcome in the Sanctuary, as long as owners pick up after them. Regarding birds, we encountered a hardy birdwatcher braving morning bugs on a June day on the Forest City Trail (FCT) Canal Path, listening to red-winged blackbirds, song sparrows, and mockingbirds, and we saw many mallard ducks, crows, and a snowy egret.

The FCT Canal Path, covered in wildflowers and serenaded by birds, leads past a salt marsh to the alternate parking area on Frost Street at Maine Orthopaedic Center’s lot (parking available only in five marked spaces closest to Frost), and destinations beyond. Parking is also available at the end of Rowe Avenue, on Hillcrest Avenue (as of June 2023, this trailhead is closed due to city sewer work), across the street from the Westbrook Street trailhead, and in designated spaces on Starbird Lane. We’ve enjoyed an out-and-back lollipop loop to Jewell Falls from the Frost Street trailhead, mainly using the FCT, of about 3.2 miles.

The marsh along the Fore, lined with salt hay grass, is home to many plant and animal species, including the rainbow smelt and one of its predators, the osprey. Several interpretive signs describe the marsh, as well as the Cumberland & Oxford (C&O) Canal, a toll waterway which connected the Portland waterfront to Sebago Lake from 1830 to 1870, when its utility for moving commercial goods was replaced by the railroad.

Even on a cold February day, Jewell Falls via the Forest City Trail and Railroad Loop from the Hillcrest Trailhead was an easy lollipop loop of about 1.2 miles (35 minutes), but the preserve has 5.6 miles of trails, so many other routes are possible. In the winter, we didn’t see many birds, but plenty of people enjoying the trails with their dogs. The trail was hard-packed snow, with icy sections, and Yaktrax, microspikes, or other traction devices would be advisable in-season. Portland Trails has a digital map page with links to every type of map you would want for completing this hike, and any other in their network.

It is a short walk from the Hillcrest trailhead to Jewell Falls, the star attraction of the preserve. Tactically, for those with small children, it may make more sense to use the Rowe Avenue or Starbird Road trailheads, and loop counterclockwise, so that Jewell Falls is the big payoff in the second half of the hike. Jewell Falls in winter is a white cascade of ice, snow, rock, water, and sound, and we picked our way down the stone steps next to the falls to watch and listen.  The falls are named for Tom Jewell, a Portland Trails founder, whose family donated the land around the falls to Portland Trails.

In summer or winter, the woods on the Forest City Trail are mostly open and quiet, punctuated by birdsong and the scampering of red squirrels. The FCT leads down across the railroad tracks to a lowland marsh, where water carves its passage through the salty hummocks, a pleasant place to watch for wildlife. Viewpoints and benches are scattered throughout the Sanctuary, mostly overlooking water and/or wildlife habitat, a calm retreat in the Forest City.

(Disclaimer: This post contains affiliate links, and as an Amazon Associate Hiking in Maine blog earns from qualifying purchases.)