Find the top rated trails in Orono, whether you're looking an easy walking path or a long bike trail, you'll find what you're looking for. Click on a trail below to find trail descriptions, trail maps, photos, and reviews.
The University of Maine Bicycle Path is a valuable link for non-motorized transportation, connecting campus with Old Town. Much of the trail passes through a scenic wooded corridor, following the path...
The Rotary Centennial Trail crosses two towns—Benton and Winslow—in central Maine, about 50 miles southwest of Bangor. The scenic wooded trail follows a former rail bed along the eastern shore of the...
The Ellsworth Rail-Trail runs just over 1 mile between North Street (SR 179) north of town to Birch Avenue in Ellworth. Alongside the path runs an active line on which Downeast Scenic Railways offers...
The Penobscot River Walkway runs for just 0.5 mile through Bangor's scenic Waterfront Park between Union Street and the intersection of Railroad and Front streets. The trail hugs the riverbank and...
The University of Maine Bicycle Path is a valuable link for non-motorized transportation, connecting campus with Old Town. Much of the trail passes through a scenic wooded corridor, following the path...
The Ellsworth Rail-Trail runs just over 1 mile between North Street (SR 179) north of town to Birch Avenue in Ellworth. Alongside the path runs an active line on which Downeast Scenic Railways offers...
Old Pond Railway Trail begins in the town of Hancock, about 25 miles north of Maine’s famed Acadia National Park. The beautiful hiking trail winds through forests and wetlands for nearly three miles....
The Piscataquis River bisects the tiny village of Medford; the north bank is known as Medford, the south bank as Medford Center. Before the Bangor & Aroostook Railroad opened a 600-foot-long,...
The Stillwater River Trail hugs the west bank of its namesake river through Orono, between Bennoch Road in the north (near the cemetery) and Main Street at the southern end. The trail passes through a...
The Belfast Rail Trail on the Passagassawaukeag begins in downtown Belfast, a community at the mouth of the Passagassawakeag River on the central coastline of Maine. From there, the crushed-stone,...
The Rotary Centennial Trail crosses two towns—Benton and Winslow—in central Maine, about 50 miles southwest of Bangor. The scenic wooded trail follows a former rail bed along the eastern shore of the...
The Penobscot River Walkway runs for just 0.5 mile through Bangor's scenic Waterfront Park between Union Street and the intersection of Railroad and Front streets. The trail hugs the riverbank and...
The Four Seasons Adventure Trail (sometimes also referred to as the 4 Seasons Adventure Trail or the Newport/Dover–Foxcroft Rail-Trail) runs between Newport and Dover-Foxcroft, linking five towns, two...
The Down East Sunrise Trail is an 87-mile multi-use corridor connecting Ellsworth to Ayers Junction in eastern Maine. The trail is designed to accommodate hiking, thick-tire bicycles, ATVs, horses,...
Old Pond Railway Trail begins in the town of Hancock, about 25 miles north of Maine’s famed Acadia National Park. The beautiful hiking trail winds through forests and wetlands for nearly three miles....
The Stillwater River Trail hugs the west bank of its namesake river through Orono, between Bennoch Road in the north (near the cemetery) and Main Street at the southern end. The trail passes through a...
The Rotary Centennial Trail crosses two towns—Benton and Winslow—in central Maine, about 50 miles southwest of Bangor. The scenic wooded trail follows a former rail bed along the eastern shore of the...
The Penobscot River Walkway runs for just 0.5 mile through Bangor's scenic Waterfront Park between Union Street and the intersection of Railroad and Front streets. The trail hugs the riverbank and...
The Piscataquis River bisects the tiny village of Medford; the north bank is known as Medford, the south bank as Medford Center. Before the Bangor & Aroostook Railroad opened a 600-foot-long,...
The Belfast Rail Trail on the Passagassawaukeag begins in downtown Belfast, a community at the mouth of the Passagassawakeag River on the central coastline of Maine. From there, the crushed-stone,...
The Four Seasons Adventure Trail (sometimes also referred to as the 4 Seasons Adventure Trail or the Newport/Dover–Foxcroft Rail-Trail) runs between Newport and Dover-Foxcroft, linking five towns, two...
The University of Maine Bicycle Path is a valuable link for non-motorized transportation, connecting campus with Old Town. Much of the trail passes through a scenic wooded corridor, following the path...
The Down East Sunrise Trail is an 87-mile multi-use corridor connecting Ellsworth to Ayers Junction in eastern Maine. The trail is designed to accommodate hiking, thick-tire bicycles, ATVs, horses,...
The Ellsworth Rail-Trail runs just over 1 mile between North Street (SR 179) north of town to Birch Avenue in Ellworth. Alongside the path runs an active line on which Downeast Scenic Railways offers...
This is a paved trail for both bike and walk that follows the railway thru a part of the town of Ellsworth. Very flat, this is easily traversed and works well for those looking for a good trail for morning walks, runs or rides. Pet friendly but please clean up after your pet.
We were excited to accept the challenge of the 85 mile rail-trail. We bicycled from Ellsworth to Columbia Falls in 8-10 mile chunks parking at different entry points along the way, making a 16-20 mile ride round trip each time. Every time we rode we encountered an abundance of ATVer's who dusted us out each time we passed each other, and since they were approaching us at rather high speeds, we stopped and got off of the trail each time. We did the majority of our rides mid-week hoping to avoid a lot of ATV traffic but also tried riding on the weekends, same story. The scenery in many of the areas was very nice but on our final ride there was deep, loose gravel and we sadly abandoned the challenge to ride the entire trail. From research after we threw in the towel, it appears that the ATV folk have financed a large part of this trail and are enjoying it thoroughly. In my opinion, I don't think that the ATV/Bicycle mix is a good fit.
a wonderful thing about this trail is that it is handicapped accessible from the outer High Street parking lot in particular. The stone dust surface is impervious to wheels and motor driven and otherwise propelled wheel chairs are very easy to use on the trail.
That said... the trail is a wonder. There are three parking area access points. 1. downtown/intown where it intersects the Armistice Bridge walking bridge and Harbor Walk, 2. Upper Bridge (on High Street) and 3. out at the The Brooks Preservation railroad yard, station, and museum.
It is a remarkable 2.2 miles of natural world.
My girlfriend and I. During the summer. Was staying at balsom woods camp ,so on the way back we saw. A ATV park. Passing. In Newport.so we stop to. Check it out. For a a ride. We liked what we saw. So we. Came back 10/15/16 we are amazed on the amount of. ATV etc on this trail and all the connection s the trail s have to offer. ,it is worth the trip. To visit these trail
The trail is beautifully groomed and hugs the Passagassawakeag river for over 2 miles. We started at the north end (13 Oak Hill Road) of the trail by the rail yard. The parking lot was packed when we got there as the excursion train was getting ready to leave. They have rides Saturdays and Sundays at 1 PM. The trains travel north from the parking lot and the trail goes south. The trail surface is perfect for walking and biking. It is treelined and has many small bridges that carry you over creeks. It took us 45 minutes of walking to get to the southern end at the intersection of Pierce St. and Front St. in Belfast. There is now a trailhead with a small parking lot at the southern end (not listed in the description). The trail connects there to the Belfast Harbor Walk which is an awesome urban trail through Belfast harbor and Front Street shipyard with a long pedestrian bridge across the Passagassawakeag.
Was looking for a new "Rail" trail. Pulled into the parking area in Ellsworth, about 40 trucks with trailers. Very dusty with all the ATV traffic. I guess it is called the Sunrise Trail and not the Sunrise "Rail" trail. Everyone needs a place to ride so leave this one to the motorized vehicles and find a Bicycle trail.
I rode from Ellsworth out 20 miles and back yesterday and it was a pleasure! I have a fairly new mountain bike and my only regret was that I did not put knobby tires on it because the loose gravel and sand sometimes posed a challenge. However, for the most part with my 2.0 inch wide slick tires, I had no problem gaining purchase on the surface (it probably helped that the conditions were very dry).
I found the ATV riders to be courteous and they slowed to pass. There were not very many and I was alone for long stretches in the Maine wild. The scenery is excellent, although at times the bogs and forest can seem a bit monotonous. I saw beaver, osprey, eagle, hares, and various other birds (a nice flock of cedar waxwings, for example). I'm sure there are moose and bear in the area, particularly the former, but I did not see any (next time?!). Schoodic Mountain is a great place to stop for a picnic and there are ample picnic benches along that section of the trail to stop for snacks and pictures. I highly recommend the general store in Franklin, which is about 0.25 mile off the trail.
I can't wait to go back and ride the trail from end-to-end when the weather warms up a bit. This being Maine, I'm not sure when that will happen, although we're already into mid-June.
Great trail system use it all the time it's completely awesome atv
Went to go on a nice day to the trail but the trail is closed until May 30th, 2016. FYI .
My buddy, and I, biked 35,25,and 21 miles on DEST in June,2015.It was great biking except for the ATV traffic. But the trail would never have been built w/out the local support. It's a tradeoff, as always. You'd never see the swamps, beaver ponds, animals, and backwoods w/out the Trail. I lived in Washington County for five years; it needs all the help, and support it can get! Take a trip. See the County. It's what Maine used to be. They should put the whole thing in a museum, to be preserved.
The Centennial trail is very close to our home so we enjoy walking on the trail multiple times each week. This trail's accessibility is weather dependent. The railroad bed is flat and the 'superhumus' bark mulch surface is accessible to individuals in wheelchairs when it is not snow covered.
During the winter many people snowshoe, ski, walk and run on this trail so the path is well used and snow becomes packed. This surface becomes slippery when it freezes and ice grippers for your boots are recommended. The trees along the trail provide a nice wind break.
Many people walk with dogs, not all dogs are on leashes. More than one dog has wandered the short distance through the woods and broken through winter ice into the Kennebec River.
The river is visible through the trees along the entire length of the trail. Children should be made aware of the dangers of ice and moving water.
Individuals with visual impairments should not find this path difficult to follow. There are many people who walk on the trail every day and clean obstacles such as trash and fallen branches out of the way. The trail mile marker posts may not be visible to those users with limited vision.
Regular walkers are friendly and respond to greetings. Bundle up and enjoy your winter walk!
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