Written By Guest Blogger and Maine Adaptive Athlete Natalie Miller
Our journey to Bug Light Park started early. We needed to be in South Portland by 9:30AM to connect with friends and volunteers from Maine Adaptive Sports and Recreation. So that meant we needed to leave our place by 6:30AM to ensure we had time to grab a quick breakfast, and make an accessible pit stop
on the way, but first… we had to pack.
- Sunscreen
- Water
- PB and J
- Sour Gummies
Life as a wheelchair aficionado can feel full of boundaries. Add in Maine’s famously rugged coastline, limited accessible bathroom facilities, and a healthy dose of unpredictable weather, and any micro adventure starts to sound a bit more like an epic saga with a variety of plausible outcomes.
We knew ahead of time that the bathroom situation would be a tricky one, so we scouted out an Irving gas station about ten minutes from our meet up location. As anyone who has spent a bit of time in Maine knows, our friends at Irving Oil are known for having clean, family-style accessible restrooms and we appreciate them for it.
With our trusty Subi programed to our destination, lunches and two wheelchairs packed, and a breakfast stop planned in Gardiner, we were off. Bug Light Park wasn’t a completely new adventure as we had visited there before but new to us was the full scope of the Greenbelt Walkway. This path is beautifully paved and serves as a multi-use trail stretching just over five miles one way. Designed with accessibility in mind, the flat surfaces make this trail feel wide open and barrier free. It’s scenic and laid back with a little traffic crossing along the way. (with push button traffic prompts and accessible curb cuts).
Before I dive into the bliss found along the Greenbelt, let me first tell you a little bit about my current recreational obsession— The Rig, This red beast is an adaptive bike from Not-a-Wheelchair. Think of it as a blend of a mountain bike and a quad ATV—designed to chew up trails while making accessibility look like its own solo adventure for both the disabled and abled bodied alike. I’ve tried a handful of adaptive bikes over the years, but nothing has come close to the freedom and pure fun that The Rig offers.
Roll, Pedal or Stroll northeast and the path winds whimsically through lush woods, open fields and wetlands, offering up unique waterfront views of Fore River and Portland Harbor. Visit Maine Trail Finder (GreenBelt Walkway) for more details.
Motoring along, I spotted birds of all sorts and wildflowers a plenty. I even paused to admire a gaggle of geese basking in the sun. Probably the most unexpected of “bird” sightings—I stopped to capture a view of the water and looked up just in time to see a nearby Delta Airlines flight making a wide bank turn. Okay, perhaps seeing a jetliner isn’t so random being that the trail itself isn’t far from PWM, however I still wasn’t fully prepared for just how low and large that Delta flight appeared to be— Caution: Objects in mirror/camera are closer than they appear.
We rode on full steam towards lunch, soaking up the sun, snapping selfies, chatting, and waving at friends we met along the way. Temperatures along the trail in South Portland hit upwards of 90 degrees by midafternoon. As they say in Maine, it was a “scorchah!”
On this ride we were a mighty group of ten participants and seven volunteers. Seeing all our bikes lined up along the Greenbelt in the summer sun was a true sight of empowered recreation. Some recumbent, some aided by e-assist and others solely peddling by good old hand power.
It took us just two hours or so, to reach BugLight Park and as the park signage came into view, I was giddy— Bug Light Park at the northern end of the Greenbelt offers breathtaking, panoramic views of Portland Harbor, this park boasts a beach and is an ideal spot for a sunset stroll or impromptu picnic. And… Did you know that Bug Light Park was the site where Liberty Ships were built during World War II.
As I whooshed past the park sign, I kicked the Rig up another gear and turned toward the shoreline path, making a beeline for Bug Light Lighthouse. The air smelled sweet like wild beach roses and there were stark white sail-clad schooners dotting the water. I love it here!
*Maine Adaptive Sports & Recreation promotes year-round education and training for individuals with disabilities to develop skills, enhance independence, and provide enjoyment through active recreation