Ready to roll outside?

Ready to roll outside?
Warmer weather is on the way – really! – so here's a primer on getting out, and getting all you can out of it.
By DEIRDRE FLEMING
Staff Writer Portland Press Herald

Sick of winter? Sick of snow? Sick of not reading about summer activities?

Well, these suggestions will warm your spirit like the sight of green grass. In honor of this year's long winter (for those who enjoyed it) and to reward those who endured it (for those who didn't), here is the first installment of "Get Out."

This new recurring feature is aimed at enticing folks to enjoy inexpensive, easy, fresh-air activities.

Every one of the suggestions guarantees success, be it seeing colorful birds, enjoying traffic-free biking or seeing fish (but maybe not on your line).

And the best thing about trying all of these activities now, as the temperatures rise, is that you can enjoy them before the tourists arrive. So don't wait for summer vacation. This is Maine, which means winter might finally be over ... but it's also not far away.

FIRST DIP

Come May, lakes and ponds in Maine will be cold, but they also will be the first swimming holes to warm up.

While the rivers carry cold snowmelt down from the mountains, many of the small ponds in the midcoast will feel like bath water come June, and warm enough for some sooner.

There are more than a dozen inland state parks that have lakes, ponds and beaches for swimming fun. Some of the smaller ones in the midcoast and southern part of the state are Range Ponds State Park in Poland, Damariscotta Lake State Park in Jefferson, Lake St. George State Park in Liberty and Peacock Beach State Park in Richmond. All open in May.

Tim Hall, park manager in the northern region office of the Bureau of Parks and Lands, said generally swimming doesn't get good at these parks until mid-June. But Steve Curtis, park manager in the southern region office, said folks are known to start swimming earlier.

Lake St. George park ranger Louis Stanley said hardy people start swimming there in mid-May.

"A lot of people come a long way away," Stanley said. "The water is so pure, the lake is so clean, you can drink the water."

Day use fees at most state parks run $3 to $4.50.

OFF ROADING

A spring bike trip through Acadia National Park carriage roads requires a six-hour round-trip drive from Portland, but it's worth it when the park is empty of tourists.

To hit the national park on a warm April day and ride those rolling hills with ocean views when few others are there is one of the best reminders why we're lucky to live in Maine.

But you don't need to go that far to enjoy an off-road biking experience free of crowds in the spring.

Those who don't know about the Eastern Trail or South Portland Greenbelt need to, because these trails will soon connect Old Orchard Beach with Bug Light Park in South Portland.

Today, the Eastern Trail has significant off-road stretches that can be accessed easily by families with small children in Scarborough at Pine Point Road, and in South Portland at Wainwright Farm Fields and Bug Light Park.

That's been true for years. Yet Eastern Trail executive director John Andrews said many people still don't know these paved trails exist.

"When I meet someone who has never heard of the Eastern Trail, I think, 'We're not doing our job,' " Andrews said.

Happy to assist, Andrews.

http://pressherald.mainetoday.com/story.php?id=182086&ac=Outdoors








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