The Kennebunk Land Trust this week officially unveiled its new Alewive Access Trail, marking the end of a yearlong project. 

The 1.1-mile trail was designed to make nature as accessible as possible to a wide swath of people, including wheelchair users, parents with strollers or other folks who may face obstacles enjoying the outdoors. 

Sandy Gilbreath, executive director of the Kennebunk Land Trust, said this week marks exactly one year since the project first began. 

“There were dozens and dozens of people that volunteered their time in a bunch of significant ways to help the trail,” she said. “I’m just really grateful.”

At the very heart of the project is a desire to encourage more people to explore the nature reserve.

Here’s a few things you need to know.

PARKING 

To get to the Alewive Access Trail, visitors enter from the parking lot at the Alewive Woods Preserve on Cole Road in Kennebunk. 

While there is no physical address, visitors can search “Alewive Woods Preserve” on Google Maps and get directions to the parking lot. 

Gilbreath also said if parking fills up, folks are welcome to park on Cole Road along the shoulder as long as they’re out of the roadway. 

THE TRAIL 

The Access Trail is indicated in yellow on the preserve’s maps. Proper signage and educational kiosks were a crucial part of the mission, Gilbreath said, to ensure visitors knew where they were at all times (and can learn something, too). 

The trail was designed with a wide, flat path with no more than an 8% slope to remain compliant with the Americans With Disabilities Act. 

Another aspect of the trail is regular, labeled distance markers dotted throughout every tenth of a mile in case of an emergency. 

Gilbreath said if someone is injured or needs to call for emergency assistance, they can simply say they are on the Alewive Access Trail near post B, for example, and Kennebunk Emergency Services will have their GPS coordinates. 

HIDDEN GEMS 

One less-advertised gem in the trail is a curved bridge built by one of the volunteers a little after the 0.6-mile marker. 

“You might not know that if you walked a few hundred more feet, there’s this really great feature there,” Gilbreath said. “There’s nothing else like that out there.”

Another detail Gilbreath considers a cherry on top are the plaques on the distance markers.

The plaques were initially a fundraising effort targeted at local businesses, but ultimately, more of them were purchased people who dedicated them to their loved ones. Some were even dedicated to several family dogs. 

Gilbreath said there’s a lot to see and enjoy about the trail, ranging from the rest areas and the picnic tables to the personal touches that helped fund the project. She hopes everyone finds the ability to get out there and experience it. 

The trail is open from dusk to dawn, seven days a week.