The South Portlander: Multimedia

VIDEO: Long Creek Trail Developed

The South Portland Land Trust, city of South Portland and Maine Conservation Corps have partnered to develop a unique trail system along Long Creek that offers a stunning walk through a woodland of old growth trees that has been undisturbed for a century. Members of the conservation corps are completing the trail this week, but there are long-range plans to provide parking off Westbrook Street, a boat ramp for kayaks and canoes and a connection to Portland’s trail network.
Hikers have views of Long Creek, tall oaks and pines, and the cityscape of Portland. Although you feel as though you are walking back in time—to an era when SoPo was less settled—the woods are located in the middle of the most developed part of the city.
Once completed, the trail head will be near Wild Willy’s Burgers and wind behind the former Youth Center. The best way to access the trail now is to park behind Youth Alternatives, located in the former Youth Center cattle barn, in the Brick Hill development.
Here is a video of City Councilor Tom Blake, a founder of the Land Trust, talking about this most unusual trail: