Greenbelt Trail is an easy, smooth ride

On Monday afternoon we took a bike ride along the Greenbelt Trail. We parked our car at Bug Light and the kids immediately made a bee line to the lighthouse. There was much talk about the rollerblading we've done around this park in past years and the need to bring along our blades for our next visit. I didn't know much about this trail beyond the park but a friend had told us there would be some road crossings along the way so Fino started out as the leader of our ride. And we did a lot of stop and go because of the many street crossings even though most were in quiet, residential areas with no cars in sight. It's just good policy when riding with kids that you stop and look both ways before crossing any street. There were two major intersections, one at Mill Creek (Broadway and Route 77) and the other on Broadway and Evans Street. We were good doobies who followed the crosswalk signals and since that took several minutes at each crossing, we had a nice break from the bike seats. We found one part of the trail a bit confusing simply because we are completely unfamiliar with South Portland. The off-the-road trail ends at Pearl Street with no trail markers on the road to confirm that you continue on Chestnut Street (we did spot a small arrow on the road at the end of Pearl Street veering to the left so we knew which way to go). We continued along the road for a short time before we picked up the trail again. It was just a matter of being uncertain we were going the right way because there is an intersection before you pick up the trail again. This ride was interesting because of the diversity of sights along the way. We had views of the water, a peak at some lovely backyard gardens (the trail abuts quite a few homes) before we headed in to the forested area and then open fields. We did have a chuckle over the "no trespassing" signs just before the Wainwright Farm Recreation Complex. As a former dumping area it's a good thing to have lots of signs telling people to stay off the grass. But the rolling hills of green are quite nice even if you can't touch them. Our ride was just shy of 11 miles and with a couple of breaks for road crossings and a longer stop to eat our snacks and enjoy Mill Creek Park, the kids didn't have any complaints about being tired. I also think the nicely paved trail and the lack of hills also contributed to this being a pleasant and easy ride for our family. TRAIL REVIEW Trail: Greenbelt Trail, which is part of the East Coast Greenway and connects to the Kennebec River Rail Trail in Augusta too Length: about 5.7 miles one way Terrain: Paved Trail use: Walking, biking Towns: South Portland Trail head: Bug Light Park, Madison Street (off Broadway) in South Portland Dog-friendly: Yes, on a leash Kid Rating: Both girls gave this trail 4 stars (on a scale of 1-the worst to 5-the best). 12-year-old: "I liked how the pavement was smooth. You could hear a lot of birds on this trail. I liked seeing Bug Light. There was a lot of places where you had to cross the street and I didn't like that too much but it was OK." 10-year-old: "I liked this trail because I could see lots of birds, like cranes and seagulls. And the trail was wide so I could bike next to my mom. We got to go and see Bug Light again and I love that lighthouse because I can run to the lighthouse and touch it and look over the edge at the water." Map of the trail South Portland Greenbelt Trail at EveryTrail