Last weekend offered two perfect autumn days–crisp and cool, and right about in the peak of leaf-peeping season. I took the opportunity to spend a little time out amongst the leaves, exploring two new trail systems weaving through the woods of Maine–one practically in our backyards and the other a fairly short and scenic drive away.

After a tasty turkey sandwich at 158 on Saturday afternoon I biked my way across the city via the Eastern Trail and more congested networks to Clark’s Pond, anxious to walk the trail freshly blazed by the South Portland Land Trust. Clark’s Pond is right in the middle of what must be one of the most densely developed areas in Maine, surrounded by I-295, I-95, the Maine Mall, the Jetport, and all the other industry and commercial development of that end of the city. But the small body of water, circled by a hilly forest, is nature’s last holdout. The pond seems to have been ignored and forgotten in recent times, thought of mainly in terms of the required setbacks and other limitations to development it mandated. But it was only a half-century ago that fisherman would line the pond’s banks, and not long before that others would rely on the pond for the ice they would harvest there in winter.

Now, once again, the value of Clark’s Pond has been redeemed–just go look for yourself. Parts of the trail are still rough, and the recent rain has left them muddy in areas, but for a trail created in two days, it’s an impressive accomplishment. I was surprised how deep the woods are, and how far the trail extends. The Land Trust had around a hundred volunteers, including most of the city council, helping create the trail two weeks ago, and it’s already getting abundant use. While I was on the trail I ran into seven people, including a young girl with her mother (or grandmother). “This trail is more difficult that I expected,” she told me, after scrambling up a muddy incline.

Other features alongside the trail include the rotting bones of a moose, a nylon tent where someone appears to have been residing, and areas of higher elevation that provide a nice view of the length of the pond. Once you’re on the trail, you only get a few glimpses of the road and surrounding businesses, and if it wasn’t for the din of planes and traffic, someone could be fooled into thinking they were really in the wilderness. The easiest way to access the trail is by the sidewalk that runs by the Home Depot. The trail also intersects Westbrook Street right by I-295, but there’s nothing marking it along that congested intersection except a bandana hanging from a tree.

On Sunday I headed for a slightly less new and much larger trail system an hour and fifteen minute drive north, in Rome, Maine. Kennebec Highlands, a 6,100-acre nature preserve established six years ago with Land For Maine’s Future funds, includes 18 miles of hiking trails that lead through the largest mountains in Kennebec County alongside the shores of the Belgrade Lakes. With at least a two-hour drive to the bigger mountains of Western Maine or the Whites, I often miss living in Farmington or Bar Harbor or Old Town where vigorous hikes are just down the street. But Rome, just east of Vienna, and west of Belgrade, (at least in Maine) is close enough to make for an easy full or half day trip. The mountains are much more like the ones in Acadia than those further west like Bigelow and Saddleback. The views, easily attainable after a short ascent, offer instant gratification with panoramas of the sprawling lakes below. If you want a challenge, one mountain won’t do it, but with 18 miles and several mountains, you can just keep on hiking. Because they’re not very steep the trails seem perfect for snowshoeing or cross-country skiing, and I’m hoping we have lots of snow this winter to blanket them.

Although my friend and I, deep in conversation, managed to get lost on the way there, finding the Highlands is actually very easy. Take 95 to Augusta, then take Route 27 past Belgrade Lakes to Watson Pond Road on your left. Drive down and park at one of the three trailheads.