Fore River Sanctuary, Portland

This is a beautiful 85-acre oasis in the city and popular with walkers, runners and bird watchers. If you start on Congress Street, you begin along a former canal, a lowland area with salt and freshwater. The path, in springtime, is lined with grasses, wildflowers and shrubs; butterflies and birds fly overhead. From this start, you head into the woods and eventually to Jewell Falls, Portland’s only natural (and surprisingly large) waterfall. You can do a fairly extensive walk at this preserve if you carry on all the way to Westbrook Street and back and do the loops in the woods. It’s about one mile from the parking lot on Congress Street to Jewell Falls. 

Directions: To enter at south end of the sanctuary, park in the Maine Orthopedics lot at 1601 Congress Street, using their Frost Street entrance. From the corner of Frost and Congress Streets, follow the Congress Street sidewalk to the trailhead about 450 feet to the west. A Portland Trails sign to the right of the sidewalk marks the trail. To enter the north end of the sanctuary, take Brighton Avenue to Rowe Avenue or Hillcrest Avenue and park at the end of the streets. You also can park at the trailhead on Westbrook Street, on the other side of the street across from the trailhead. It is clearly marked.