In our continuing quest to hike as much of the off-road portions of the East Coast Greenway, we took a walk along a stretch of the Down East Sunrise Trail! The Down East Sunrise Trail is a multi-use trail consisting of 87 miles, and is the longest off-road trail on the East Coast Greenway. Following along a former railroad corridor, this wide, flat, easy to walk trail, runs through a natural landscape of forests and wetlands, over water crossings, alongside rivers, and skirts neighborhoods.
Dogs are allowed on the trail, under owner’s control. As always, please clean up after your pet. Because this is a multi-use trail, please be aware that both non-motorized and motorized vehicles, including ATVs, dirt bikes, and snowmobiles, are permitted on the trails. However, vehicles registered for roads are prohibited. Trail etiquette requires all motorized vehicles and bicycles yield to hikers and horses, and hikes must yield to horses. Please be respectful of the private properties that abut trail, and be aware there are road crossings.
On the day we visited the Down East Sunrise Trail, we parked at the Dennysville Snowmobile and ATV Club Headquarters (4 Milwaukee Rd), and hiked the Dennysville to Edmunds portion, for approximately 2 miles before returning to our car.
There we crossed over the Dennys River…
…past wetlands, where we listened to the frogs put on a concert….
…while enjoying the beautiful fall foliage.
We also found traces of the old train railing, which ran from 1898 to 1985, and carried such notable dignities as President Franklin Delano Roosevelt to Eastport!
For those visiting in the winter or if you get caught in the rain, there are warming huts.
We enjoyed this quiet stroll through the Dennysville / Edmunds portion of the Down East Sunrise Trail, and look forward to hiking more of this trail in our quest to explore the New England portion of the East Coast Greenway, which stretches from Florida to Maine.
If you would like to plan your own visit, go to SunriseTrail.org, and to learn more about the East Coast Greenway visit Greenway.org.
