City: Scarborough, ME

Category: Parks & Recreation

Telephone: (207) 883-5100

Address: Route 9

Description: The largest salt marsh in Maine lies in one of the most booming towns in the state, the Portland suburb of Scarborough, a place where shopping centers and subdivisions grow like Topsy. So the 3,000-acre estuary is something of a wild oasis. A half dozen small rivers converge in the marsh, making it rich habitat for birds and wildlife, especially during the spring and fall migrations. The Maine Audubon Society manages the site and maintains trails and a nature center where you can rent canoes and kayaks ($15 per hour for nonmembers). Paddling is really the best way to see the marsh, and it truly rewards anyone who launches a boat. Naturalists lead 90-minute tours daily at 10 a.m., which is a great introduction to the estuary, and the center hosts a whole slate of cool programs, like moonlit paddles and early-morning bird tours. The marsh is open to the public from dawn to dusk, year-round.