Kennebunk's trail built for strollers and wheelchairs is about to have its first deer season. The Kennebunk Land Trust held opening celebrations for the Alewive Access Trail June 27 through 29, so October 2026 is the first autumn the path has seen.
On Saturday, October 31, the Land Trust hosts Trail-or-Treat on the access trail from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. The Maine Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife has set the same Saturday as Maine Resident Only Day for deer hunting. Two days later, the statewide firearms season opens. Families who plan around one calendar will want to know the other one too.
A trail designed around a handful of numbers
The access trail sits inside Alewive Woods Preserve on Cole Road in West Kennebunk. Kennebunk Land Trust calls Alewive Woods its flagship preserve. The trail's design specs explain why it works differently from the rest of the preserve. The Land Trust's project page lists a firm, stable surface 5 feet wide, gentle grades, accessible parking at the trailhead, rest areas with benches, accessible picnic tables and emergency location markers. The Portland Press Herald reported that the path is 1.1 miles long, with no slope steeper than 8% so it complies with the Americans with Disabilities Act.
Executive Director Sandy Gilbreath put the reason plainly when the project was announced. "Most of our trails are very uneven," she told the Press Herald in July 2025. The same story described the route as a dry, flat, sparsely forested stretch, where the trail would wind around large trees to protect their roots.
The detail that matters most this season is the posts. There are 11 wayfinding posts, one at every tenth of a mile. Gilbreath told the Press Herald that someone who is hurt can report being on the Alewive Access Trail near a given post, "post B, for example," and Kennebunk Emergency Services will have the GPS coordinates. On the preserve map, the access trail is marked in yellow.
The posts carry something else as well. Plaques on them started as a fundraiser aimed at local businesses, but the Press Herald reported that individuals ended up buying more of them to dedicate to loved ones, and some honor family dogs. A little past the 0.6-mile marker is a curved bridge that one of the volunteers built. In the same Press Herald piece, Gilbreath said:
"You might not know that if you walked a few hundred more feet, there's this really great feature there. There's nothing else like that out there."
October belongs to the pumpkins
The Land Trust has filled this month on the trail with programming for kids. Its fifth annual pumpkin hunt at Alewive Woods runs October 1 through October 31, with 10 pumpkins hidden along the access trail. Finding them earns a candy prize, and there's an activity sheet to go with it. The hunt suits this trail better than an older one. Grade-limited ground and posts every tenth of a mile mean a 4-year-old in a stroller and a grandparent with a cane can cover the same distance.
On Monday, October 19, the Land Trust holds a Conservation Info Night from 5:30 to 6:30 p.m. at Kennebunk Free Library. Then the month builds toward Trail-or-Treat on October 31, a morning of crafts and scavenger hunts on the access trail.
The weekends the two calendars meet
Maine's deer season reaches the edge of that family calendar in two steps. The 2026 Youth Deer Hunt falls on Friday and Saturday, October 23 and 24. Resident Only Day is Saturday, October 31. The firearms season runs from Monday, November 2, through Saturday, November 28.
The Land Trust's own policy fills in what happens on its land. On some preserves, hunting is allowed by permission only. Permission is limited to active members, who have to register every year. Deer stands must sit at least 150 feet from a marked trail. The Land Trust's hunting page doesn't say which preserves are open to hunting. It does give every trail user the same guidance: "Trail Users should exercise caution from October-December and in the spring during turkey hunting season."
Blaze orange comes into this, though the legal requirement covers hunters, not walkers. State law requires anyone hunting with a firearm, muzzleloader or crossbow during the firearms or muzzleloader deer seasons to wear two articles of hunter orange. Youth days count. For everyone else outdoors, MDIFW recommends wearing at least one article of orange even when it isn't required. The Land Trust also encourages orange on its nature walks during hunting season. An orange hat or vest over a Trail-or-Treat costume follows that guidance, and the kids won't mind the extra color.
Here is the season's sequence, from today through the end of deer season:
- Now through Saturday, October 31: The pumpkin hunt continues on the access trail.
- Monday, October 19, 5:30–6:30 p.m.: Conservation Info Night at Kennebunk Free Library.
- Friday–Saturday, October 23–24: Maine Youth Deer Hunt.
- Saturday, October 31: Trail-or-Treat on the access trail, 10 a.m.–1 p.m. It is also Maine Resident Only Day.
- Monday, November 2: Firearms deer season opens statewide.
- Tuesday, November 10, 5:30–7:30 p.m.: Kennebunk Land Trust annual meeting and fall social at the Nonantum Resort in Kennebunkport.
- Saturday, November 28: Firearms deer season closes.
Why November Sundays belong to walkers
One rule in Maine law sets the weekly rhythm of November in the woods. According to MDIFW, Sunday hunting is illegal in Maine. So every week of the firearms season has one day with no hunting anywhere in the state. In 2026, those days are November 8, 15 and 22, with November 1 just before the opener and November 29 the day after it closes.
Two other limits apply every day. The Land Trust's rules for its properties say "daylight use only." November afternoons are short, and the Land Trust describes the access trail as a one-mile out-and-back. Dogs are welcome on Land Trust properties, and owners are asked to clean up and carry out all pet waste. Parking is the other thing to know. The Land Trust's preserve page says the trailhead lot is small and can fill up quickly. The access trail has no street address. The Press Herald reported that searching "Alewive Woods Preserve" on a map app finds the lot, and that Gilbreath said cars can use the Cole Road shoulder, clear of the roadway, when the lot is full.
The tenth-mile posts have their own value in the hunting months. A walker on the yellow-marked route always has a location label to hand. It was designed for emergencies, and it works just as well for meeting up with someone or telling family where you'll be.
What this first year paid for, and what comes next
The trail took about a year to build. Gilbreath told the Press Herald that opening week came exactly one year after the project began. When the project was announced in July 2025, the paper put its price at $210,000. A $100,000 contribution from Tom's of Maine was in hand, and the Land Trust still needed to raise $85,000 from the community at that point. A February 2026 Press Herald story said the rest of the funding came from grants and donors, and it didn't publish an updated total.
The same February story shows the access trail is meant as a first step. The Land Trust hopes to bring the same work to its other 13 preserves: wider paths, better signage and parking, and clearer information about each trail's layout and difficulty. As part of that effort, it launched a trail directory website with an interactive map of all its trails. The annual meeting and fall social on November 10 at the Nonantum Resort comes in the middle of firearms season. The Land Trust says it will introduce its Five-Year Strategic Plan there.
At Shanna Jadooram, we follow the Kennebunk calendar the same way we follow the market, down to the date. If you have questions about West Kennebunk, Alewive Woods or the Cole Road area, or want to talk about what's coming up locally, let's connect.
This article is general information, not legal, tax or financial advice. Consult a qualified professional about your situation.
