Presumpscot River Preserve and Oat Nuts Park

There is a waterfall here — and a view from up high down the sparkling river (well, sparkling when it’s sunny out. Atmospheric when it’s not?). Besides the obvious attraction of the falls, the 48-acre Presumpscot River Preserve offers a fabulous trail along the river — with boardwalks, bridges, river access via stairways, and little loops to enhance it. There is even a rope swing.

The trails are mostly easy, with a few short, steep sections and some uneven terrain around roots and such. If you start at the trailheads on Overset Road or Hope Ave. (the most common starting points), the charming, well-made 0.2-mile path follows a stream down the hill to the river. (Each of those little upland loops brings you right back up and down that hill, adding a little huff to your excursion!)

This trail system is popular and has several access points. If you start at Overset Road or Hope Ave. and head directly to Presumpscot Falls, it’s about 0.7 miles one way. Because most visitors do this (as they should!), the upstream portion of the trail has slightly less traffic. In total, the trail portion along the river is about 2 miles (1.2 miles within the preserve), much of it really nice.

If you have the time to include it, the paths in adjacent Oak Nuts Park are easy, wide, and well-made, bringing you through a deciduous forest, with maple and beech trees. The loop here, if you start from Summit Road, is about 0.7 miles.

History lesson! When you look at the waterfall, you are looking at the site of Maine’s first dam, built in 1734, which brought prosperity to the settlers but blocked fish passage. That structure also kicked off more than 250 years off ecological mismanagement of the river — including the pumping of industrial and municipal waste into it. The dam was removed in the early 2000s, opening the falls for the first time in 268 years and allowing alewives and shad to once again swim upstream to spawn in Highland Lake every spring.

Directions: To reach the trailhead of the Presumpscot River Preserve, take Allen Avenue to Summit Street in Portland. Follow Summit to Curtis Road and turn right. Take another right at Overset Road. Overset is a dead end with parking available at the end, marked by Portland Trails signs. There is another parking place at the end of Hope Ave., and you can also park at Oat Nuts park on the side of Summit Road.