Stroudwater River Trail, part of Portland Trails’ extensive Forest City Trail network, is a 3.3 mile one-way (6.6 mile out-and-back) path beginning at Rivers’ Edge Drive, off outer Congress Street, that primarily follows the slow, muddy, meandering Stroudwater River where Portland meets Westbrook, crosses Spring Street, and ends at Smiling Hill Farm. This trail is popular with mountain bikers, trail runners and dog walkers.

The full trail (see Portland Trails’ page) is unavailable from November 1 to April 1, as the area west from Portland’s Blueberry Road to Westbrook’s Cardinal Street is closed in the winter as a deeryard to provide a winter habitat for these animals. Stroudwater Trail is an island of green in a fairly developed area of Maine, and the sounds and smells of industry and transit permeate much of the walk.

The trail crosses underneath noisy I-95, and is flown over by thundering Jetport air traffic, but still maintains intervals of peace and quiet. On one late June day, we saw a U.S. Marine Corps Osprey vertical takeoff/landing plane doing test flights overhead.

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