Happy Trails have no tar on them

John Andrews, Eastern Trail Alliance president, masters the July 1 ceremony in Old Orchard Beach.

A new trail section was dedicated yesterday linking Scarborough and Old Orchard Beach, yet another section of the East Coast Greenway that aims to connect Calais, Maine, to Key West, Florida, with an alternative off-road bike/pedestrian throughway.

Nice to see that this new section is tarmac-free and has been designed as a hard-packed dirt path about the width of a large SUV (not that there will be any allowed on there!). This new section runs through the woods along the straightaway that consists of Portland Avenue and Milliken Mills Road, connecting at Old Blue Point Road to an existing Eastern Trail section that traverses Scarborough Marsh, jumps back to the road for a bit, and then continues into South Portland behind the Fickett Fields off Highland Avenue to Broadway, where the route ties together with the SP bike path and goes all the way to Spring Point. Another along-the-road section brings you across the Casco Bay Bridge to the "trail" head (it's mostly tar) at the end of Commercial Street in Portland, which is now partially a new road and cruise ship facility along the Eastern Promenade.

This section has for decades been used by snowmobilers and dirt bikers and was known for its muddy conditions, rarely ever drying up over the hot summer months. Lots of landfill must have been added to the soggy area and it will be interesting what Mother nature has to say about the new trail construction over time.

This is a spectacular route and just an awesome way to get to Old Orchard Beach from Portland by bicycle. You will experience by cutting across the marshes of Scarborough and taking the off-road way, that the route is a lot shorter and faster than you would probably have imagined. I've made the trip in not much more than 30 minutes at a very good pace, by mountain bike, and I highly recommend you try this out as an alternative to driving to OOB for your annual Pier Fries and Bill's Pizza slices. Bring your shorts and towel for the beach: parking the bike in the front row, beach-side, is a nice amenity and will make you glad you didn't drive...