OLD ORCHARD BEACH — At the height of summer, it seems logical to head straight for the beach. With the heat, the feel of cool ocean water between the toes is practically irresistible.

But just a mile and a half from the shore lies a different setting: the Milliken Mills Woods. Void of the downtown traffic congestion and the smell of sunscreen, the woods are currently being developed into a system of trails that will hug some of the town’s most historic sites. The trails became one step closer to completion on Sunday, getting their first set of signs that will provide information to hikers.

The trails, which are expected to officially open sometime in July, are located across the street from Milliken Woods, a 53-acre plot of land off Portland Avenue. The 17-acre trail addition is located in an area of land known as the “animal shelter” for its location behind a former police K-9 training center.

The project, a collaboration between the Old Orchard Beach Conservation Commission and local schools, is an opportunity to highlight another side of the 8,000-person town known for its sandy beach and ocean pier, said Planning Board Chair Mark Koenigs.

Working with a range of students from Loranger Middle School, the Conservation Commission developed informational material about the land’s history – which was donated to the town by the Milliken family in 1999 – and helped to put together signs, picnic tables and kiosks for the trails, as well as creating a website for the project and helping to promote the commission’s Facebook page.

“It’s a great opportunity to get the education and to make an improvement in their community and to know there’s other things but the beach,” Koenigs said. “It’s great for the tourists, too … to actually walk in the woods a mile and a half from the beach.”

Trails on the animal shelter site are being developed with an $8,000 grant from Project Canopy, a partnership between the Maine Forest Service and GrowSmart Maine that seeks to educate people about trees and work with local governments to establish educational programs. An additional $8,000 was matched by the town, according to Conservation Commission acting Chair Kimbark Smith, who said the commission stumbled upon the partnership with the school through instructors who were engaged in project-based learning.

“The idea is to get kids, rather than learning in a straight classroom, to learn how to work in groups. It’s trying to address the way our business culture is evolving,” Smith said. “Part of what I wanted to do to make this fully educational was incorporate the historical (aspect).”

“Each year we hope that a grade level will take on refreshing the project and improving the signs or adding signs,” said Cynthia Nye, a literacy specialist and curriculum teacher at Loranger Middle School who helped initiate the connection with the commission.

Nye, whose husband is a science teacher at the school, was able to incorporate the science of the trail system watershed into the school’s science curriculum and establish a website for the trail network. Nye said that in the not too distant future she hopes to incorporate more history into the trails, such as a replica of a teepee to represent the land’s history as a Native Abenaki site, and for the trails to serve as a major site for school field trips.

“We want it to keep going and growing,” Nye said of the project.

“Basically because of that project-based learning and finding Cynthia, the school system has been very heavily involved. And a lot of the field trips that they’re doing where they’re going out of town are going to start focusing on doing them here. Another thing we want to do is tie into the Eastern Trail,” Nye said.

The Eastern Trail, a pedestrian and bicycle highway that runs from Bug Light in South Portland to Portsmouth, New Hampshire, sits just about 1,000 feet from the Milliken Woods Trails. Smith said connecting the two trail systems would allow a loop of access from the Eastern Trail to downtown Old Orchard Beach.

“To be able to tie into it is another important aspect (of the new trails),” Smith said.

But above all, Smith is excited about giving local students the chance to be a part of the new trail project, which allows them to get outside and explore.

“To get the school involved … has been huge,” Smith said. “And leveraging that with (Cynthia) now we’re going to get kids coming … That’s important, because we’re making an impact at an early age. Some of these kids have never been out in the woods, so it’s neat.

“This is a jewel they that they can use,” Smith said.

— Staff Writer Alan Bennett can be contacted at 282-1535, ext. 329 or [email protected].