Welcome to Kennebec Messalonskee Trails

Inland Hospital Awarded Trails Grant

June 9, 2010: Inland Hospital has been awarded a $35,000 Recreational Trail Program grant to build trails on and around its Kennedy Memorial Drive campus in Waterville. Administered by the Maine Department of Conservation, Bureau of Parks and Lands, the federal trails grant program provides funds for a variety of trails across the state. The grant funding covers 73% of the $48,000 total project cost with the balance of the funding provided by the hospital and in-kind donations.

The Inland-Lakewood trails, which will be open to the community for walking, biking, snowshoeing, and cross-country skiing, will feature a 1-mile loop trail on the hospital's 17 acre property and will link to the City of Waterville's Pine Ridge Recreational Area and an extended network of trails. A 24-foot bridge crossing a small stream will be constructed by the Maine Conservation Corps in July.

The project includes walking paths for people of all ages and abilities and includes a 1700-foot paved path around the Lakewood continuing care facility, located next to Inland Hospital. Anyone with limited mobility will benefit from this path, including Lakewood residents and cardiac rehab patients from Heart First's Marden Cardiac Rehab Center at 244 KMD.

Inland Hospital is pleased to collaborate with other local organizations including Kennebec Messalonskee Trails, Waterville's Recreation Department, and the Central Maine Chapter of the New England Mountain Bike Association on the trails project and to provide community-wide efforts that have a lasting impact on the health and well-being of the people in the Central Maine region.

The Inland and Lakewood trails are expected to be completed by early fall. To learn more, visit www.inlandhospital.org or call 861-3292.

About KMTrails

Our mission is to promote, build, and maintain recreation and fitness trails along our waterways connecting the communities of Waterville, Winslow, Benton, Fairfield, and Oakland. This mission is a multi-faceted effort to improve the health of our community, embrace our historic river heritage, provide a model of regional cooperation, and attract attention to the aesthetic and economic values represented by our clean and reborn rivers.

The trails are designed for walking, running, cycling, and cross-country ski usage and showcase some of Maine’s most beautiful scenery, surprisingly hidden right amidst our neighboring towns.  Not far from bustling College Avenue, just a minute’s walk from downtown Waterville, just a quick turn off the Benton-Winslow bridges, and right behind the Alfond Center, are breathtaking vistas and paths of solitude, quiet and beauty.  KMTrails seeks to make these spots readily accessible to all citizens of Central Maine.

We are a catalyst organization, overseeing, coordinating, assisting, and inspiring town governments, organizations, businesses and citizens to cooperate in the sizeable task of creating a community-building network that will be a source of pride and benefits for generations to come.

Eventually, the trails will run along the eastern shore of the Kennebec from Mill Island Park in Fairfield to the Two Cent Bridge linking Winslow and Waterville. Crossing the Two Cent Bridge, they will continue through the new Head of Falls development, north back to Fairfield. These trails will form a circuit along both sides of the Kennebec River, providing unparalleled exercise and recreational opportunities and restoring regular traffic to the historic, rejuvenated Two Cent Bridge.

Additionally, trails will reach out from Head of Falls, through Waterville to North Street and the Alfond Center, onwards along the Messalonskee and all the way to Oakland. Currently, 18 miles of trails are under various phases of construction and planning.

KMTrails efforts have met with widespread support from the business leaders of the Greater Waterville area, as well as the City of Waterville, and Towns of Winslow, Benton, Fairfield and Oakland.

So take your time, explore our site, and share our vision by volunteering, contributing, or just voicing your support.

Kennebec Messalonskee Trails, Inc., a non-profit corporation incorporated in 2003. KMTrails has 501(c)(3) charitable status.