By Suzanne Hodgson
Staff  Writer

The middle of the woods is a great place to forget the cares of the world - even if those woods are surrounded by malls, hotels, and the sound of whizzing cars passing less than 100 feet away.
If you’re going to take a walking tour of South Portland Land Trust’s new trail, Richard Rottkov should be your guide. The land trust president can point out birch trees, dried water beds, and areas of future improvement on the new North Branch Trail across the street from the Maine Mall.
Crossing Philbrook Avenue from the JC Penney’s parking lot to a sitting area for the trail with picnic tables and an empty kiosk might mean dodging speeding cars on their way to the state’s biggest mall.  
But Rottkov thinks the risk of crossing the busy street is worth the beauty found on the half-mile hidden trail.
“It’s an Acadia experience right here in South Portland,” Rottkov joked.
North Branch trail officially opened in late September with a ribbon-cutting ceremony held by SPLT, General Growth Properties, which gave SPLT an easement to use its land, and the South Portland High School’s Interact Club, the trail stewards.
The students helped clean the trail during a volunteer day, after which Rottkov says there was a rush to open the trail “Students picked up a lot of garbage, mostly tires,” he said, but there is still work to be done, including putting up more signs so visitors can easily spot the entrances to the trail and directions to other SPLT trails close by.  
Along with garbage, volunteers and the Interactive students widened the trail by hand, dug out parts of the hills where the trail was too narrow, built a bridge across one of the streams and put up a kiosk that weighs over a ton.
North Branch Trail is geared toward people who want to take a walk in the busy commercial district, but the trails also will benefit people walking other trails in the nearby area, hiking to the mall or even killing time before a movie at the nearby Cinemagic. The trail has some features for the serious hiker as well, including a hidden spot for Geocaching, a scavenger hunt-type game using a GPS (Global Positioning System) to locate hidden objects in nature.
 The trail has bridges across many streams and steps up steep hills. “Any man-made improvements should blend in with the environment,” said Rottkov. Walkers may forget they are in the middle of urban territory until they get to the end of the trail and pop out near Home Depot’s parking lot.
Clarks Hill Trail starts behind Home Depot near North Branch’s end point.  SPLT is working to find a way to better connect these two trails in the future.
“When the mall was planned there was not a lot of sensitivity to the neighborhood,” said Rottkov. “We want to provide the public with nature in an urban area.”
North Branch Trail starts on an old service trail with gravel to direct visitors to follow the new trail instead of the old service road.  The Econo Lodge on the side of the trail is turning an old drainage ditch into a water garden and sitting area, highlighting the benefits of the 20-mile trail system SPLT is slowly bringing together.
The trails are hidden all over South Portland and Portland in any empty green wooded areas the trust can find in greater Portland.  In the future these trails will connect South Portland to Portland and surrounding areas and offer a route for alternative transportation.
SPLT has a walking bridge in the works at Long Creek and a few more easements to obtain from landowners and businesses, which, with any luck, said Rottkov, will see a boost in shoppers and vacationers due to the extensive trail system.
“Hopefully area businesses will make this trail known and join us in partnership, it’s a nice feature for area people and visitors to come for off road transit,” Rottkov said.