Corea’s harbor
Schoodic Section of Acadia National Park
S DONNELL POND PUBLIC RESERVED LAND
HANCOCK, SULLIVAN, AND SORRENTO
STEUBEN, MILBRIDGE, AND FRANKLIN
Prospect Harbor Light.
Look for S to find recommended sights, activities, dining, and lodging.
S Schoodic Point: Surf crashes against slabs of pink granite on the remote tip of the Schoodic Peninsula (click here).
S Schoodic Loop: Drive or bike around the tip of the peninsula and enjoy world-class scenery (click here).
S Schoodic Head Loop: Although you can drive almost to the summit, it’s far more rewarding—and peaceful—to hike it (click here).
S Donnell Pond Public Reserved Land: A treasure for outdoors enthusiasts, this reserve includes mountains to hike and ponds to paddle and fish, plus sandy beaches and backwoods campsites (click here).
S Petit Manan Point: Birds, birds, birds, as well as easy hiking with great views are your rewards for visiting this part of the Maine Coastal Islands National Wildlife Refuge (click here).
S Hancock and Sullivan Gallery Tour: Talented artists and artisans are plentiful here. Visiting their off-the-beaten-path shops and studios is a perfect way to explore the region and score some great souvenirs (click here).
Slightly more than 2,366 of Acadia National Park’s acres are on the mainland Schoodic Peninsula—the rest are all on islands, including Mount Desert. World-class scenery and the relative lack of congestion, even at the height of summer, make Schoodic a special Acadia destination.
The Schoodic Peninsula is just one of several “fingers” of land that point seaward as part of eastern Hancock County and western Washington County. Sneak around to the eastern side of Frenchman Bay to see this region from a whole new perspective. One hour from Acadia National Park’s visitors center, you’ll find Acadia’s mountains silhouetted against the sunset, the surf slamming onto Schoodic Point, and the peace of a calmer lifestyle.
As with so much of Acadia’s acreage on Mount Desert Island, the Schoodic section became part of the park largely due to the deft diplomacy and perseverance of George B. Dorr. No obstacle ever seemed too daunting to Dorr. In 1928, when the owners objected to donating their land to a national park tagged with the Lafayette name (geopolitics of the time being involved), Dorr even managed to obtain congressional approval for the 1929 name change to Acadia National Park—and Schoodic was part of the deal.
This section of Acadia National Park isn’t as awe-inspiring as that on Mount Desert, but it’s no less powerful. Even though it’s on the mainland, it feels more remote, and the landscape has a raw edge, with too-frequent fog shrouding the stunted and scraggly spruce clinging to its pink granite shores. The additions of the Schoodic Woods Campground, a parking lot, and a welcome center have increased Schoodic’s popularity, but it remains pretty quiet here.
While you’re this far east, explore a couple other natural treasures: the Petit Manan and Corea Heath sections of the Maine Coastal Islands National Wildlife Refuge, spectacular spots for bird-watching; and the Donnell Pond Public Reserved Land, an inland trove of lakes and peaks that lures hikers and anglers. Although beyond any traditional definition of the Acadia region, they’re well worth discovering. Better yet, you can loop them together via two scenic byways, one national and one state.
While most visitors still arrive by car or RV, the Island Explorer bus service’s Schoodic Route operates between late June and Labor Day and connects with ferry service from Bar Harbor. If you want to tour beyond the bus and ferry routes, you’ll need a car. There’s much to see: Besides the jaw-dropping scenery, the region’s calling cards are outdoor recreation and shopping the artists’ and artisans’ studios tucked here and there.
The biggest attractions here are the spectacular vignettes and vistas—of offshore lighthouses, distant mountains, close-in islands, and unchanged villages. Check out each small and large finger of land: Hancock Point, Sorrento, and Winter Harbor’s Grindstone Neck. Circle the Gouldsboro Peninsula, including Prospect Harbor, and detour to Corea. Meander down the Petit Manan Peninsula to the Maine Coastal Islands National Wildlife Refuge. If you still have enough time, head inland and follow Route 182, a designated scenic highway noodling between Hancock and Cherryfield, making it a point to visit the Donnell Pond Public Reserved Land. En route, be sure to dip in and out of at least some of the artisan’s studios and galleries that dot the byways. Accomplish all this and you’ll have a fine sense of place.
The Schoodic section of Acadia National Park has an entirely different feel from the main part of the park on Mount Desert. It’s much smaller, far less busy, and feels more rugged, wild, and remote. It provides fewer recreational opportunities, but it’s magnificent and well worth visiting. Here you’ll find rare stands of jack pine and maritime shrubland communities. It’s also an important breeding, nesting, and stopover for migratory songbirds.
Although still far less visited than the Mount Desert Island section of the park, Schoodic is gaining in popularity. If you can, aim for an early-morning or late-afternoon visit.
The highlight of this part of the park is Schoodic Point, with vistas that seemingly stretch all the way to Spain. The point is at the end of a two-way spur off the Schoodic Loop Road. Although crowds gather at the height of summer, especially when the surf is raging, the tiered parking lot seldom fills up. Check local newspapers for the time of high tide and try to arrive here then; the word awesome is overused, but it certainly describes Schoodic Point’s surf performance on the rugged pink granite. The setting sun makes it even more brilliant. This area is open 6am-10pm only. There are restrooms near the parking lot.
If you’ve brought children, keep them well back from the water; a rogue wave can sweep them off the rocks all too easily, which has happened. Picnics are great here (make sure you bring a bag for litter), and so are the tide pools at mid-tide and low tide. Birding is spectacular during spring and fall migrations.
And on the subject of birds, you’ll see a sign here: Do Not Feed Gulls or Other Wildlife. Heed it—but even if you don’t feed the gulls, they can threaten your lunch if you’re having a picnic here. They’ll swoop down shamelessly and snatch it away before you even realize they’ve spotted you. From extensive practice with unsuspecting visitors, they’ve become adept at thievery.
The major sights of Acadia’s Schoodic section lie along the six-mile one-way road that meanders counterclockwise around the tip of the Schoodic Peninsula. You’ll discover official and unofficial picnic areas, hiking trailheads, offshore lighthouses, a welcome center with exhibits, and turnouts with scenic vistas. From this side of Frenchman Bay, the views of Mount Desert Island’s summits are gorgeous, rising beyond islands sprinkled here and there. Although also named the Park Loop Road, this route is best referred to as the Schoodic Loop, to distinguish it from the one on Mount Desert Island. Begin at the Schoodic Woods Campground Welcome Center, where you can pick up information and leave your car to explore via bicycle or the Island Explorer bus.
Get out of your car for close-up views along the Schoodic Loop.
While a car may seem the most convenient way to see the sights, you’ll actually be better served looping via bicycle (rentals available at the ferry dock or near the park entry road) or by riding the bus. This section of the park is gaining in popularity, and the increase in cars is straining the designated parking areas along the loop. Once you’re on the one-way section, parking is only allowed in designated pull-offs and parking lots, and these often are filled. With a bike, you can stop where and when you want. The bus picks up at non-designated stops, if you flag it down. If you do drive, be especially vigilant around bicyclists; many families include young or novice cyclers. Note that neither RVs nor trailers are allowed on the loop beyond the campground.
The first landmark is Frazer Point Picnic Area, with lovely vistas, picnic tables, and wheelchair-accessible restrooms. Other spots are fine for picnics, but this is the only official one. The area takes its name from Thomas Frazer, a free African American and the first recorded nonnative resident of Winter Harbor, who operated a saltworks here and was listed in the 1790 census.
From the picnic area, the road becomes one-way; no parking is allowed in the right lane. There are periodic pullouts, but these generally hold only two or three cars. Despite the fact that this is far from the busiest section of Acadia, it can still be frustrating not to be able to find a space in the summer months. The best advice is to stay in the area and do this loop early in the morning or later in the afternoon or via bicycle. The late September-early October foliage is gorgeous, but traffic does increase then. While you’re driving, if you see a viewpoint you like with room to pull off, stop; it’s a long way around to return.
Drive roughly 1.5 miles from the picnic area to Raven’s Head, an unmarked, Thunder Hole-type cliff with sheer drops to the churning surf below and fabulous views. There are no fences, and the cliffs are eroded, so it’s not a good place for little ones. The trail is unsigned, but there’s a small pullout on the left side of the road opposite it. Be extremely careful here, stay on the path (the environment is very fragile and erosion is a major problem), and stay well away from the cliff’s edge.
At 2.2 miles past the picnic area, watch for a narrow, unpaved road on the left, across from an open beach vista. It winds for one mile (keep left at the fork) up to a tiny parking circle, from which you can follow the trail (signposted Schoodic Trails) to the open ledges on 440-foot Schoodic Head. From the circle, there’s already a glimpse of the view, but it gets much better. If you bear right at the road fork, you’ll come to a grassy parking area with access to the Alder Trail (over to the Blueberry Hill parking lot) and the Schoodic Head Trail. That said, don’t use this parking area as a hiking base; leave it for those who don’t have the time, inclination, or ability to tackle the trails.
Continue on the Schoodic Loop Road and hang a right onto a short, two-way spur to Schoodic Point. On your right is the Schoodic Institute campus (207/288-1310, www.schoodicinstitute.org), on the site of a former top-secret U.S. Navy base that became part of the park in 2002. At the entrance is a small info center (with ADA-accessible restroom), staffed by volunteers and park rangers. Continue up the road to the restored Rockefeller Hall, which serves as a welcome center. Inside are exhibits highlighting Schoodic’s ecology and history, the former navy base’s radio and cryptologic operations, and current research programs. The Schoodic Institute also offers ranger-led activities, lectures by researchers or nationally known experts addressing environmental topics related to the park and its surroundings, and other programs and events. Check the online calendar for current opportunities.0
After touring the campus, continue out to Schoodic Point, the highlight of the drive, with surf crashing onto big slabs of pink granite. Be extremely cautious here; chances of rescue are slim if a rogue wave sweeps someone offshore. In peak season, you may have to make a loop or two of the parking lot to score a space. Alternatively, park at the Schoodic Institute and walk 0.4 mile to the point.
From Schoodic Point, return to the Loop Road. Look to the right and you’ll see Little Moose Island, which can be accessed at low tide. Be careful, though, not to get stranded here—ask at the info center for safe crossing times. Continue about one mile past the Schoodic Point/Loop Road intersection to the Blueberry Hill parking area, a moor-like setting where the low growth allows almost 180-degree views of the bay and islands. There are a few trails in this area—all eventually converging on Schoodic Head, the highest point on the peninsula. (Don’t confuse this with Schoodic Mountain, which is well north of here.) Across and up the road a bit (a pullout on the right side holds about three cars) is the trailhead for the 180-foot-high Anvil headland.
As you continue along this stretch of road, keep your eyes peeled for eagles soaring above. There’s a nest on the northern end of Rolling Island; you can see it with binoculars from some of the roadside pullouts.
From Blueberry Hill, continue 1.2 miles to a pullout for the East Trail, the shortest and most direct route to Schoodic Head. From here, it’s about another mile to the park exit, in Wonsqueak Harbor. It’s another two miles to the intersection with Route 186 in Birch Harbor.
A 7.5-mile network of hiking trails laces the Schoodic section of the park. Serious hikers should park at the campground welcome center and begin there. The Blueberry Hill parking area is most convenient for most other trails, but this lot can fill. Consider parking at the welcome center and taking the bus to the trailhead. Hikers, walkers, and bicyclists should purchase the 50¢ trail system map at the center.
Distance: 2.4 miles round-trip
Duration: Varies with route; 1-2 hours
Elevation gain: 440 feet
Effort: Moderate, some steep sections
Trailhead: Blueberry Hill parking area, Schoodic Loop
The Schoodic Head Loop comprises three connecting trails, and it can be hiked in either direction. If time is tight, choose just one trail to hike. The clockwise route begins with the easiest terrain and ends with a downhill scramble over a steep and rocky hillside. It’s tough on the knees, and you have to be very careful with your footing in this direction. If you hike it counterclockwise, beginning with the Anvil Trail, you’ll get the toughest terrain out of the way first.
You can access the loop at various points, but the most parking is at the Blueberry Hill parking area. The easy one-mile Alder Trail departs from just south of the parking lot entrance and connects through the woods and some marshy areas to the unmarked Ranger Cabin Road; head left for about 50 yards and watch for the Schoodic Head Trail marker.
The moderate Schoodic Head Trail climbs for 0.3 mile, beginning in the woods and emerging onto ledges as it nears the summit. The views are expansive and well worth any effort.
The 1.1-mile Anvil Trail descends over moderate terrain with a few steep sections. A highlight here is the Anvil promontory, a rocky knoll. Whichever way you choose to hike, be extremely careful on the Anvil Trail, as the terrain is rugged, with lots of roots and loose rocks.
A fourth trail, the 0.5-mile East Trail, descends from the summit and emerges on the Schoodic Loop Road about one mile beyond the Blueberry Hill parking area. This is the shortest, steepest, and most direct route to the summit and can be hiked independently or looped in with the other trails.
Distance: 2.2-4.2 miles, one-way
Duration: 2-4.5 hours
Elevation gain: 440 feet
Effort: Moderate to difficult
Trailhead: Schoodic Woods Campground
From the day-use parking area, walk up the campground road to the group area and the trailhead. The blue-blazed trail winds through cedar groves and spruce and jack pine woodlands, crosses bike paths, threads wetlands, and passes cliffs and even a cave. From the trailhead, it’s 2.2 miles to Buck Cove Mountain’s 224-foot summit. From there the trail continues another mile and ascends the north face of Schoodic Head, where it connects with the Schoodic Head trails. It’s another mile to the Blueberry Hill parking area, a total of 4.2 miles one-way; you can return via the Island Explorer bus. Or consider doing it in the opposite direction: Take the bus to Blueberry Hill, and get the steepest hiking done early and arrive back at your car.
The Schoodic section of Acadia National Park is well on the way to becoming a world-class center for the study of science and nature, thanks to a history of benefactors dating back to the early 19th century. Maine native and Wall Street tycoon John G. Moore once owned most of Schoodic Point. In 1927, George Dorr persuaded Moore’s heirs to donate the land to the Hancock County Trustees of Public Reservations, with the stipulation that the land be used as a public park and for the “promotion of biological and other scientific research.” Seven years later, more than 2,000 acres of the peninsula were donated to Acadia National Park.
The timing was perfect. John D. Rockefeller Jr. was then working with the National Park Service to construct the Park Loop Road on Mount Desert Island. The U.S. Naval Radio Station on Otter Point was in the way, so Rockefeller, working with Dorr, helped the National Park Service work with the U.S. Navy to relocate the station to Schoodic Point. Six buildings were constructed. Most noteworthy is Rockefeller Hall, a French Norman Revival-style mansion designed by New York architect Grosvenor Atterbury, who used a similar design for the park’s carriage road gatehouses on Mount Desert Island.
In 1935, the U.S. Naval Radio Station at Schoodic Point was commissioned, and by the late 20th century, the 100-acre campus comprised more than 35 buildings and was home to 350 navy employees. When the station closed in 2002, the land was returned to the park for use as a research and education center.
It took 10 years and millions of dollars to transform the former base. The campus now offers housing and dining facilities for individual researchers, groups, and conferences, as well as classrooms, laboratories, and a modern 124-seat auditorium. A renovated Rockefeller Hall, listed in the National Register of Historic Places, now serves as Schoodic’s welcome center, with exhibits highlighting Schoodic’s ecology and history, the former navy base’s radio and cryptologic operations, and current research programs. Credit for the renovations goes to local benefactor Edith Robb Dixon, who donated $1 million in the name of her late husband, Fitz Eugene Dixon Jr.
Rockefeller Hall
Schoodic Institute at Acadia National Park (207/288-1310, www.schoodicinstitute.org) is the nonprofit that partners with Acadia to manage the campus and advance science and education throughout the park and the region. Schoodic Institute connects education with research, while managers at Acadia National Park rely on the research to restore Acadia’s ecosystems and improve their resiliency in the face of rapid environmental changes.
The Schoodic Institute offers education and research programs aimed not only at scientists and researchers but also at students and teachers. It also hosts programs for the general public, such as guided birding tours. The institute also hosts Acadia National Park’s artist-in-residence program and works with the park to present programs, lectures, special events, and ranger-led activities; check the online calendar for current offerings. Among these are “bio blitzes,” in which teams of specialists and volunteers research the park’s arthropod species in minute detail. In 2013-2014, a two-year blitz focused on beetles found more than 100 species never previously identified in the park. In 2015, the blitz collected approximately 300 species of wasps, bees, and ants. Preliminary results from 2016 blitz recorded 249 species of butterflies and moths.
Distance: 1.5 miles one way
Duration: 1-1.5 hours
Elevation gain: Minimal
Effort: Easy
Trailhead: Park at the welcome center and walk down the access road. The trailhead is across the main road. Alternatively, you can create a loop by accessing the trail from the bike path system.
An easy walk through pine forests and along the shoreline.
Distance: 1.4 miles round trip
Duration: 1-2 hours
Elevation gain: Minimal
Effort: Easy
Trailhead: To find it, take the Schoodic Loop Road, turn right to Schoodic Point, right again at the SERC campus. Follow Acadia Drive to Musetti Drive to the parking area and trailhead.
Sundew is an easy and wonderful family walk through dense woodlands. It has spurs that access pink granite shoresoffering great views. There’s a good chance you’ll have the trail to yourself, as it’s not as well known as Schoodic’s other trails. Do bring a picnic and use bug spray. Retrace your steps or return via campus roads to your car.
If you have a bike, try to pedal the Schoodic Loop Road early or late in the day—especially if you’re doing a family outing in which everyone clusters together. It’s a lovely bike route, but the shoulders on this peninsula are soft and sandy and not great for bikes. Keep to the right and use the road, not the shoulders. Leave your car at the Schoodic Woods Campground welcome center and do a counterclockwise loop through the park using the new nonmotorized paths to complete the roughly eight-mile trip without venturing onto Route 186. If you are arriving by ferry and want to avoid pedaling between the village and park, take the Island Explorer bus to the campground and begin there. It’s a fine day trip. Do purchase a Schoodic Trail System Map (50¢) at the campground welcome center.
Bicycling is a great way to explore Acadia’s Schoodic section.
Many of the park’s 8.3 miles of signed bike paths are steep and winding, but panoramic views reward your efforts.
SeaScape Kayak & Bike (207/963-5806, www.seascapekayaking.com) rents bicycles for $20 per day. If arriving by ferry, pick up at its shop in the Marine Center adjacent to the ferry dock (88 Sargent St., Winter Harbor). Otherwise, opt for the main shop (8 Duck Pond Rd., Winter Harbor) near the entrance to the Schoodic section of the park. It’s wise to make reservations in advance.
Ranger-led programs in the Schoodic section of the park include guided bird walks, naturalist walks, and hikes. There are also evening campground programs and special offerings for children such as a story hour, touch tank, and a junior naturalist program. Check the park calendar for current offerings.
The Schoodic Institute (Schoodic Point, 207/288-1310, www.schoodicinstitute.org) offers lectures, usually by researchers or nationally known experts, addressing environmental topics related to the park and its surroundings. It also offers other programs and events, including ranger-led activities. Check the online calendar for current opportunities.
Acadia National Park’s 93-site S Schoodic Woods Campground (Park Loop Rd., Schoodic Peninsula, 877/444-6777 or 518/885-3639 international, www.recreation.gov, credit or debit card required, $22-40) opened in 2015 on an approximately 1,400-acre property over which Acadia National Park holds a conservation easement. It’s located about a mile south of Route 186, north of the Frazer Point Picnic Area. Sites include remote walk-in tenting, drive-in tenting, and RV sites with water and electricity. There is also a welcome center and an amphitheater with National Park Service programming. Hiking trails connect it to Schoodic Head, and nonmotorized paths link the east and west sides of the peninsula. Note: There are no showers.
Information about Acadia National Park on the Schoodic Peninsula is available at the welcome center at the Schoodic Woods Campground and Rockefeller Welcome Center on the Schoodic Institute campus, both on the Schoodic Loop, but neither operates as a full-blown visitors center.
the welcome center at Schoodic Woods Campground
On Mount Desert Island, info is available at the park’s Hulls Cove Visitors Center and at the Thompson Island Information Center, at the head of the island.
To plan ahead, see the Acadia website (www.nps.gov/acad), where you can download a Schoodic map. To see the Island Explorer bus schedule for Schoodic as well as all of Mount Desert Island, visit www.exploreacadia.com.
The Schoodic Section of Acadia National Park is about 26 miles via Routes 1 and 186 from Ellsworth. It’s about 20 miles or 30 minutes to Milbridge, on the Down East Coast.
From Ellsworth, stay north (keep left) on Route 1 from where it splits with Route 3. Continue north on Route 1 for about 16 miles, through Hancock and Sullivan, until you reach Gouldsboro. From Route 1 in Gouldsboro, the park entrance is eight miles. Take Route 186 south to Winter Harbor. Drive through town, heading east, then turn right at the park entrance sign.
To reach the park boundary from Bar Harbor, take Route 3 north to the head of Mount Desert Island, then across Mount Desert Narrows to Trenton. The usual route is to continue to a congested intersection at the edge of Ellsworth, where you’ll pick up Route 1 north (turn right) and continue as above. But you can avoid some of the traffic congestion on Route 3 in Trenton by ducking east via Route 204 toward Lamoine and its state park, and then back up to Route 1 via Mud Creek Road.
Although Winter Harbor is roughly 43 miles or 1.15 hours from Bar Harbor by car, it’s only about 7 miles by water. Two seasonal passenger ferries make the journey on alternating schedules.
The ferry’s summer schedule is coordinated with the Island Explorer bus’s summertime Schoodic route, so you can board the ferry in Bar Harbor, pick up the bus at the dock in Winter Harbor, and be shuttled along the Schoodic Loop. Stop where you like for a picnic or a hike, and then board a later bus. Take the last bus back to the ferry and return to Bar Harbor. It makes for a super car-free excursion.
The Bar Harbor Ferry (207/288-2984, www.barharborferry.com, round-trip $24 adults, $14 children, $7 bicycle, $75 family pass covering immediate family including children under 18) operates at least four times daily mid-June-late September between downtown Bar Harbor and the Schoodic Marine Center in Winter Harbor, and coordinates with the Island Explorer (www.exploreacadia.com) bus’s summertime Schoodic route, Route 8.
The nonprofit Schoodic Ferry (207/801-9444, www.schoodicferry.com, $25 pp, Maine residents $17.50 pp) runs up to six times daily Monday through Saturday between the College of the Atlantic pier, Bar Harbor, and the Schoodic Marine Center in Winter Harbor. This ferry doubles as a research vessel: Most trips offer an interactive marine education or wildlife-watching opportunity, some trips are accompanied by working scientists and sustainability engineers, and a few are narrated.
The free Island Explorer (www.exploreacadia.com) bus Route 8 covers the lower part of the peninsula, from Winter Harbor through Prospect Harbor and including the Schoodic section of the park. The bus operates roughly every half hour 8:30am-5pm late June-August, and hourly in the spring and fall. The Island Explorer bus connects with the ferries from Bar Harbor, making it possible to explore this section of the park while staying on Mount Desert Island, without driving all the way around to reach it. It’s an efficient and environmentally friendly way to go.
The Island Explorer’s Schoodic route meets the Bar Harbor Ferry and loops through the park.
Acadia National Park is why you’re here, of course, but the region also has many parks and preserves where you can slip away with little company. Birders, especially, won’t want to miss Petit National Point, a division of the Maine Coastal Islands National Wildlife Reserve that specializes in restoring seabird populations. The Donnell Pond Public Reserve Land comprises coastal lakes and mountains that offer exceptional hiking, paddling, fishing, and camping. Hike here for sweeping views over Mount Desert Island and Frenchman Bay. And the very active Frenchman Bay Conservancy, a local land trust, has preserved numerous lands offering hiking and coastal access.
More than 15,000 acres of remote forests, ponds, lakes, and mountains are open for public access in Donnell Pond Public Reserved Land, an area north and east of Sullivan that is managed by the Maine Bureau of Parks and Lands (207/827-1818, www.parksandlands.com). Developers had their eyes on this gorgeous real estate in the 1980s, but preservationists rallied to the cause. Outright purchase of 7,316 acres in the Spring River Lake area came through the farsighted Land for Maine’s Future program. Now the reserve includes five peaks taller than 900 feet, a 1,940-acre wetland, and 35 miles of freshwater shoreline, making it especially rich for bird-watchers. Hikers can climb Schoodic, Black, Caribou, and Tunk Mountains for expansive views taking in Frenchman Bay and Mount Desert Island; paddlers and anglers have Donnell Pond, Tunk Lake, Spring River Lake, Long Pond, Round Pond, and Little Pond, among others. Route 182, an official scenic highway, snakes through the Donnell Pond preserve. Hunting is permitted, so take special care during hunting season.
Why would a guidebook focused on Acadia send you inland for hiking? Views! The rewards for hiking these peaks are open ledge summits delivering panoramic views over island-studded Frenchman Bay, the rounded peaks of Mount Desert Island, and the Down East coastline. The hiking isn’t easy here, but it isn’t technical, and the options are varied. The interconnecting trail system takes in Schoodic Mountain, Black Mountain, and Caribou Mountain on Donnell Pond Public Reserved Land.
Distance: 2.8 miles round-trip
Duration: 2 hours
Elevation gain: 800 feet
Effort: Moderate to difficult
Trailhead: Schoodic Beach Parking Area, off Route 183, Franklin
Follow the Schoodic Mountain Loop clockwise, heading west first. To make a day of it, pack a picnic and take a swimsuit (and don’t forget a camera and binoculars for the summit views). On a brilliantly clear day, you’ll see Baxter State Park’s Katahdin, Maine’s western mountains, the peaks of Acadia National Park, and the ocean beyond. And in late July-early August, blueberries are abundant on the summit. Such rewards make this is a popular hike, so don’t expect to be alone, especially on fall weekends when the foliage colors are spectacular.
Schoodic Mountain, in the Donnell Pond Public Reserved Land, rises above Flanders Pond.
Trailheads can be accessed by either boat or vehicle. To reach the vehicle-access trailhead for Schoodic Mountain from Route 1 in East Sullivan, drive 4.5 miles northeast on Route 183 (Tunk Lake Rd.). Cross the Down East Sunrise Trail, a former railroad bed, and turn left at the Donnell Pond sign onto the gravel Schoodic Beach Road. Go about 0.25 mile, then bear left at the fork, continuing 2.3 miles to the Schoodic Beach Parking Area and trailhead for Schoodic Mountain, Black Mountain, and Caribou Mountain, and a trail to Schoodic Beach.
Distance: 2.9 miles
Duration: 2 hours
Elevation gain: 800 feet
Effort: Moderate to difficult
Trailhead: Schoodic Beach Parking Area, off Route 183, Franklin
This trail accesses the western side of Black Mountain. The reward for your efforts might be a refreshing swim in Donnell Pond, so come prepared. Pass through the parking lot boulder barricade, follow the beach access trail, and look for the trailhead on the right. The trail rises 1.2 miles to a junction. Bear left and continue across the cliffs before descending to the beach for an additional 1.3 miles. It’s a 0.5-mile return along the beach to the parking area. To link into the Caribou Loop Trail, go straight at the junction and continue 0.6 mile to the Black Mountain summit, which offers 360-degree views.
Follow the directions for the Schoodic Mountain Trail to the Schoodic Beach Parking Area trailhead.
Distance: 2.6 miles
Duration: 2 hours
Elevation gain: 800 feet
Effort: Moderate to difficult
Trailhead: Black Mountain Rd., off Route 183, Franklin
The ascent begins easily enough, then climbs steadily for 0.6 mile through the woods on Donnell Pond Public Reserved Land, easing off a bit before reaching bald ledges. Continue to the true summit by taking the 1.4-mile loop trail around Wizard Pond (which may seem more like Wizard Puddle). Views take in the forested lands and nearby lakes and peaks, and they extend out to Acadia’s peaks. You can piggyback this hike with Schoodic Mountain, using that trailhead as a base for both climbs. Another possibility is to add Caribou Mountain. That loop exceeds seven miles, making a full day of hiking. The Cliffs Loop departs from the Schoodic Beach parking lot.
Follow the directions for the Schoodic Mountain Trail to the Schoodic Beach parking lot, but keep right at the fork for Black Mountain Road and continue 2.2 miles to the parking area. The trailhead is just beyond and across the road.
Distance: Minimum 7 miles round-trip
Duration: 6-8 hours
Elevation gain: 900 feet
Effort: Difficult to strenuous
Trailhead: Off Route 182, T10 SD, an unorganized township east of Franklin
When you’re ready for an all-day hike, consider this backcountry beauty connecting Black and Caribou Mountains. The loop itself is 6.1 miles, but accessing it from the trailhead adds another 0.9 mile each way on the Caribou Mountain Trail. You can also create your own distance, as this loop links to the Schoodic Mountain and Big Chief trailheads.
Find the trailhead on the Dynamite Brook Road, approximately 0.5 mile off Route 182.
Distance: Approximately 4.4 miles round-trip
Duration: 4 hours
Elevation gain: 900 feet
Effort: Difficult to strenuous
Trailhead: Off Route 182, T10 SD, an unorganized township east of Franklin
A parking area with a restroom provides access to Tunk Mountain, a locally popular hike that takes in several remote ponds en route to the bald summit. The trail progresses approximately 1.5 miles to open ledges with expansive views south over inland mountains toward Frenchman Bay. Approximately 0.5 mile from the trailhead, the Hidden Ponds Trail forms a one-mile loop passing Salmon and Little Long Ponds before returning to the main trail. Not far beyond the junction with the Hidden Pond Trail, the Tunk Mountain Trail becomes steep, with stone steps and a set of iron rungs in one spot to assist hikers. If the weather is marginal, stick to the lower trail. Another 0.2 mile of trail atop the mountain ridge leads to an overlook on Nature Conservancy property with views to the north of sprawling forests and the Narraguagus River watershed. Be sure to take plenty of water and pack a lunch or energy snacks.
The Donnell Pond Public Reserved Land’s major water bodies are Donnell Pond (big enough by most gauges to be called a lake) along with Tunk Lake, Spring River Lake, and Long Pond; all are accessible for boats (even, alas, powerboats). In early August, Round Mountain, rising a few hundred feet from Long Pond’s eastern shore, is a great spot for gathering blueberries and huckleberries.
To reach the boat launch for Donnell Pond from Route 1 in Sullivan, take Route 200 north to Route 182. Turn right and go about 1.5 miles to a right turn just before Swan Brook. Turn and go not quite two miles to the put-in; the road is poor in spots but adequate for a regular vehicle. The Narrows, where you’ll put in, is lined with summer cottages (“camps” in the Maine vernacular); keep paddling east to the more open part of the lake. Continue on Route 182 to find the boat launches for Tunk Lake and Spring River Lake (hand-carry only). Canoeists and kayakers can access Tunk Stream from Spring River Lake.
Also accessed from Route 182 is Flanders Pond, 2.9 miles off Route 1 on the Flanders Pond Road. It’s a beautiful pond, with islands and mountain views. The public park has a parking area and an offshore float, as the pond is also a local swimming spot.
Two beach areas on Donnell Pond are popular for swimming: Schoodic Beach and Redman’s Beach. Both have picnic tables, fire rings, and pit toilets. It’s a 0.5-mile hike to Schoodic Beach from the parking lot. Redman’s Beach is only accessible by boat. Other pocket beaches are also accessible by boat or via roadside pullouts.
A sand beach on a remote freshwater pond is the reward for a 0.25-mile hike into the Frenchman Bay Conservancy’s Little Tunk Pond Preserve. From Route 1 in Sullivan, take Route 183 about five miles, then look for the parking area on the left. Just east of that is the Spring River Lake Beach Day Use Area, with parking and toilets.
It’s no surprise that the Donnell Pond Public Reserved Land is a favorite among anglers. Landlocked salmon can be found in Donnell Pond, Tunk Lake, and Spring River Lake. Lake trout (togue) are found in Tunk Lake. For brown trout, cast your line in Long Pond.
Open-water season in Hancock County and adjacent Washington County is April 1-September 30, but after August 16, you must use artificial lures in brooks, rivers, and streams. Check with local wardens for information regarding catch limits and other regulations for specific bodies of water, or call the Maine Department of Fish and Wildlife (207/288-8000, www.state.me.us/ifw). A copy of the rules and regulations for Hancock County can be downloaded from the website.
Maine residents younger than 16 and nonresidents younger than 12 do not need licenses. Freshwater fishing licenses can be purchased online or at many stores and most town offices. Nonresident freshwater licenses for ages 16 and older are $64 for the season, $11 for one day (24 hours), $23 for three days (72 hours), $43 for seven days, and $47 for 15 days. A Maine saltwater recreational fishing registration is required for anyone over the age of 16 and can be added at no extra charge when purchasing a freshwater license. It is required to have your license with you when fishing, whether in fresh- or saltwater.
A handful of authorized primitive campsites can be found on the Donnell Pond Public Reserved land at Tunk Lake (southwestern corner) and Donnell Pond (at Schoodic Beach and Redman’s Beach), all accessible on foot or by boat. Each has a table, a fire ring, and a nearby pit toilet. Many of the sites are on the lakefront. All are first come, first served with no fees or permits required; they are snapped up quickly on midsummer weekends. You can camp elsewhere within this public land, except in day-use areas, but fires are not permitted at unofficial sites.
campsite on the shores of Donnell Pond
Restoring and managing colonies of nesting seabirds is the focus of the Maine Coastal Islands National Wildlife Refuge, which spans 250 coastal miles and comprises 55 offshore islands and four mainland parcels totaling more than 8,200 acres spread out in five refuges. Occupying a 2,195-acre peninsula in Steuben with 10 miles of rocky shoreline and three offshore islands is the refuge’s outstandingly scenic Petit Manan Point Division (Pigeon Hill Rd., Steuben, 207/546-2124, www.fws.gov/refuge/maine_coastal_islands, sunrise-sunset daily year-round). The remote location means it sees only about 15,000 visitors per year, and most of those are likely birders, as more than 300 different bird species have been sighted here. Among the other natural highlights are stands of jack pine, coastal raised peatlands, blueberry barrens, freshwater and saltwater marshes, granite shores, and cobble beaches. Note: There is no visitors center.
The moderately easy, four-mile round-trip Birch Point Trail and the slightly more difficult, 1.8-mile round-trip Hollingsworth Trail loop provide splendid views and opportunities to spot wildlife along the shore and in the fields, forests, and marshlands. The Hollingsworth Trail, leading to the shoreline, is better of the two. This is foggy territory, but on clear days you can see the 123-foot lighthouse on Petit Manan Island, 2.5 miles offshore (for a closer look at the puffin colony there, book a trip on an excursion boat from Milbridge). The Birch Point Trail heads through blueberry fields to Dyer Bay and loops by the waterfront, with much of the trail passing through woods. Family-friendly interpretive signage explains flora and fauna along the route.
If you arrive in August, help yourself to blueberries. Cross-country skiing is permitted in winter.
From Route 1, on the east side of Steuben, take Pigeon Hill Road. Six miles down is the first parking lot, for the Birch Point Trail; another 0.5 mile takes you to the parking area for the Hollingsworth Trail. Space is limited.
En route to the Petit Manan Point Division of the Maine Coastal Islands National Wildlife Refuge, you’ll pass the trailhead for Pigeon Hill, a moderate hike that reaps views taking in Cadillac Mountain, Petit Manan Light, and the island-studded Bold Coast. The 317-foot summit is the highest point on Washington County’s coastline. Since acquiring this 172-acre preserve, Downeast Coastal Conservancy (207/255-4500, www.downeastcoastalconservancy.org) has enhanced the original trail and added new ones. It now has 1.8 miles of linked trails to the summit ledges; the shortest route, 0.8 mile round-trip, ascends steeply but swiftly. For the best views on the descent, take the Summit Loop and Silver Mine Trails; the latter passes an abandoned silver mine (not much to see but a pile of rocks). This is a primo spot for spying hawks as well as migratory birds, such as spruce grouse, ruffed grouse, dark-eyed juncos, and bald eagles.
From Route 1, on the east side of Steuben, take Pigeon Hill Road 4.5 miles. The trailhead is on the western side of the road.
The very active Frenchman Bay Conservancy (FBC, 207/422-2328, www.frenchmanbay.org) manages 20 small preserves dotting the region, and most have at least one trail providing access. The conservancy publishes the free Short Hikes map, available locally, which provides directions to several of these. Trail maps also can be downloaded from the website.
FBC’s eight-acre Tidal Falls Preserve (off Eastside Rd., Hancock) overlooks Frenchman Bay’s only reversing falls (roiling water when the tide turns). The best time to view the falls is two hours before or after low tide. Bring a picnic to enjoy on a table overlooking the falls and ledges where seals often slumber. It’s an idyllic spot. A concert series takes place here on Monday evenings during the summer; bring a picnic or opt for the food cart. No dogs are permitted.
From Route 1 in Hancock, take East Side Road 0.7 miles to Tidal Falls Road. Turn left and drive to the end.
In 2008, FBC purchased 600 acres of land known as the Corea Heath, and volunteers began cutting trails that summer. Heath is a local word for peatland or bog, and this one is a rare coastal plateau bog, distinguished because it rises above the surrounding landscape. It’s a spectacular property, with divergent ecosystems including bogs, ledges, and mixed-wood forest. Natural features include pitcher plants, sphagnum mosses, rare vascular plants, and jack pines. It’s a fabulous place for bird-watching too, and the preserve borders a section of the Maine Coastal Islands National Wildlife Refuge. An easy 1.25-mile trail loops through the preserve. Check with the conservancy or stop into Chapter Two (611 Corea Rd., Corea, 207/963-7269, www.chaptertwocorea.com) for more info.
the Corea Heath Trail
From Route 186 in Prospect Harbor, take Route 195/Corea Road 1.9 miles and look for the sign and parking lot on the left.
Roughly 1.75 miles of trails network this 68-acre preserve comprising woodlands and waterfront. You’ll find two loops, the 0.5-mile Jones Cove Trail and the 0.75-mile Flanders Bay Trail. The half-mile Beach Trail, which follows the shorefront for a third of a mile, connects the two. If you only have time for one loop, opt for the Jones Trail and continue on the Beach Trail for 0.22 mile to the shorefront. The reward: gorgeous views of Acadia’s rounded peaks, Stave Island, Calf Island, Schieffelen Point, and Schoodic Mountain.
From Route 1, take the southern section of Route 186 and follow it 1.1 miles to Taft Point Road on your right. Continue on Taft Point Road for 0.4 mile, and then keep right when the road splits. There’s parking for six cars. Beyond here, the road is private.
These two adjoining preserves offer 376 acres laced with roughly six miles of trails. If you only have an hour or so and want big rewards for minimal effort, hoof it up Baker Hill. Stick to the main trail for the quickest trip. Trails pass through fir trees and over ledges before a short ascent to an overlook with views over Frenchman Bay. If you have time to linger, the Boundary Trail connects to two of eight trails on Long Ledges, making it possible to loop through that network. Highlights in this preserve include the overgrown ruins of an old granite quarry, a small pond, and vernal pools.
If you have two cars and are up for a full day’s adventure, consider the Schoodic Connector Trail, a 6.5-mile hike from the Baker Hill trailhead to the summit of Schoodic Mountain, in the Donnell Pond preserve; add another 1.4 miles to descend to the Schoodic Mountain trailhead, for a nearly 8-mile hike.
From Route 1 in Sullivan, take Punkinville Road and drive 0.2 miles to signed parking lot on the left; continue 0.4 miles to find the Long Ledges parking lot and trailhead.
In addition to the Petit Manan Point Division, the Petit Manan National Wildlife Refuge also encompasses the 623-acre Gouldsboro Bay Division; the 1,028-acre Sawyer’s Marsh Division, in Milbridge; and the 431-acre Corea Heath Division, home to one of Maine’s most significant peatlands.
Here’s a welcome find for anyone with mobility issues or pushing a stroller. The Southern Corea Heath Trail is an easy, 0.4-mile round-trip, wheelchair-accessible gravel trail to an observation platform with a panoramic view of the coastal plateau bog, also known as a peatland or heath.
the Southern Corea Heath Trail
From the intersection with Route 186 in Prospect Harbor, follow Route 195, Corea Road, 2.6 miles to the refuge parking area on the right.
Observe waterfowl, shorebirds, and eagles on this moderate, 1.6-mile round-trip hike through conifers to two observation platforms overlooking a salt marsh on Gouldsboro Bay’s West Bay.
From Route 1, take the Chicken Mill Pond Road to Fletcher Wood Road and drive 0.2 mile, continuing straight 0.1 mile when the main road veers right.
You won’t find chain restaurants or accommodations in the villages peppering the Schoodic region, but you will find a genuine slice of Down East, Maine, along with inviting shops and galleries. The towns and villages salting the region—Winter Harbor (pop. 516); Gouldsboro (pop. 1,737), including the not-to-be-missed villages of Birch Harbor, Corea, and Prospect Harbor; Hancock (pop. 2,394); Sullivan (pop. 1,236); and Sorrento (pop. 274)—seem suspended in time. They are quiet and rural, with lobster fishing still an economic anchor.
Winter Harbor is known best as the gateway to Schoodic. It shares the area with an old-money, low-profile, Philadelphia-linked summer colony on exclusive Grindstone Neck. Only a few clues hint at the colony’s presence, strung along the western side of the harbor. Winter Harbor’s summer highlight is the annual Lobster Festival, the second Saturday in August. The gala daylong event includes a parade, live entertainment, games, and more crustaceans than you could ever consume.
View whale artifacts, mounted seals, and other marine-related exhibits at the Schoodic Marine Center (88 Sargent St., Winter Harbor, 207/412-9685, 8:30am-5pm Mon.-Sat., free), which is affiliated with the Schoodic Institute at Acadia National Park. This is a young site, but plans call for developing the exhibits as well as offering marine-based educational programs, such as nature cruises and a touch tank.
The best freshwater swimming and calm-water paddling in the area is at Jones Beach (sunrise-sunset daily), a community-owned recreation area on Jones Pond in West Gouldsboro. Here you’ll find restrooms, a nice playground, picnic facilities, a boat launch, a swim area with a float, and a small beach. The beach is located at the end of Recreation Road, off Route 195, which is 0.3 mile south of Route 1. No unleashed pets are permitted.
SeaScape Kayak and Bike (8 Duck Pond Rd., Winter Harbor, 207/963-5806, www.seascapekayaking.com) has freshwater rental kayaks ($45 double, $35 single) stashed on Jones Pond. Visit the shop for directions.
Play the nine-hole Grindstone Neck Golf Course (Grindstone Ave., Winter Harbor, 207/963-7760, www.grindstonegolf.com, May-Oct., $30 for 9 holes and $40 for 18 Mon.-Fri., $35/$45 weekends, $15 twilight) just for the dynamite scenery or for a glimpse of the exclusive late-19th-century summer enclave. Established in 1891, the public course attracts a tony crowd; 150-yard markers are cute little birdhouses. Tee times usually aren’t needed, but call to make sure.
Concerts, art classes, coffeehouses, workshops, and related activities are presented year-round by the energetic Schoodic Arts for All (207/963-2569, www.schoodicarts.org), a volunteer organization. Many activities are held at historic Hammond Hall in downtown Winter Harbor. A summer series presents monthly concerts on Friday evenings May-October.
The Schoodic Arts Festival takes place over two weeks in early August and is jam-packed with daily workshops and nightly performances for all ages. Call for a schedule, and register early for any program that you don’t want to miss.
Winter Harbor’s biggest wingding is the annual Lobster Festival, on the second Saturday in August. The gala daylong event includes a parade, live entertainment, lobster boat races (a serious competition, with 13 classes determined by size and power), a crafts fair, games, and lots and lots of crustaceans. For more information, visit www.acadia-schoodic.org.
You can find just about anything at the Winter Harbor 5 & 10 (349 Main St., Winter Harbor, 207/963-7927, www.winterharbor5and10.com). It’s the genuine article, an old-fashioned five-and-dime that’s somehow still surviving in the age of Walmart.
In the village center is Artisans & Antiques (357 Main St., Winter Harbor, 207/963-2400), a 15-member group shop with a nice mix of craftwork and treasures.
Winter Harbor Antiques and Works of Hand (424-426 Main St., Winter Harbor, 207/963-2547) is a double treat: Antiques fill one building, and a well-chosen selection of distinctive works by local craftspeople and artists fills the other. It’s across from Hammond Hall and set behind colorful, well-tended gardens.
Works by contemporary Maine artists, including noted painters and sculptors, are exhibited in rotating shows at Littlefield Gallery (145 Main St., Winter Harbor, 207/963-6005, www.littlefieldgallery.com). Works are displayed both in a purpose-built gallery and in the house, as well as a few in the yard.
Prospect Harbor Soap Co. (4 Duck Pond Rd. at Rte. 186, Winter Harbor, 207/963-7598, www.prospectharborsoapco.com) maintains an outlet where you can purchase lotions, handmade soaps, and other skin-care products.
J. M. Gerrish (352 Main St., Winter Harbor, 207/963-7000, 8am-5pm daily) has had its ups and downs, but locals are confident that the century-old store is now back in local, reliable hands. Open for breakfast and lunch, it also has a classic ice cream counter along with a small penny candy section. Food is served until 3pm; ice cream until 5pm.
J. M. Gerrish
Stock up on gourmet goodies at Grindstone Neck of Maine (311 Newman St./Rte. 186, Winter Harbor, 207/963-7347 or 866/831-8734, www.grindstoneneck.com), just north of downtown Winter Harbor, which earns high marks for its smoked salmon, spreads and pâtés, and smoked cheeses, all made without preservatives or artificial ingredients. Also available are fresh fish, wine, and frozen foods for campers.
Pick up veggies, meats, eggs, cheeses, and handcrafted fiber products as well as jams, preserves, and baked goods at the Winter Harbor Farmers Market (Newman St., Winter Harbor, 9am-noon Tues. late June-early Sept.).
The best place for grub and gossip in Winter Harbor is Chase’s Restaurant (193 Main St., Winter Harbor, 207/963-7171, 7am-8pm daily, 7am-2pm Sun.), a seasoned but updated, no-frills booth-and-counter operation turning out down-home American fare and decent seafood.
Chef Mike Poirier and baker Alice Letcher’s S The Salt Box (10 Newman St., Winter Harbor, 207/422-9900, http://saltboxmaine.com, 4:30pm-9pm Wed.-Sun., $16-28), in a contemporary building overlooking the harbor, has earned a following. The decor is open and upscale, the food is sophisticated yet approachable and focused on fresh seasonal ingredients, and the service is excellent. It’s easy to make a meal from small plates and salads, or opt for entrees such as rabbit pot pie, lobster risotto, or broiled swordfish ($22-32).
The Fisherman’s Galley (7 Newman St./Rte. 186, Winter Harbor, 207/963-5585, www.fishermansgalleymaine.com, 11am-8pm daily mid-May-mid-Oct.) is a cool, rustic, earth-friendly lobster and seafood spot, with options for landlubbers and a full bar with Maine craft beers on tap. Although there’s nothing fried on Culinary Institute of America-trained chef/owner Carl Johnson’s menu, you’ll find options such as house-smoked pulled pork, house-smoked ribs, salmon, haddock, and scallops, in addition to Maine lobster. Guests order at the counter, and the food is delivered to their tables. The menu makes it easy to cobble together a meal that fits your appetite and budget. Dine inside, outside under a tent, or get a lobster boil in a bucket to go. There’s no tipping, and no lunch early or late in the season.
Carl’s daughter-in-law operates Nui’s, a food cart (11am-3pm) out front, serving meat-packed lobster rolls and gourmet hot dogs (from $3) for lunch.
The Lobstore (258 Newman St./Rte. 186, Winter Harbor, 207/963-8600, www.thelobstore.net, 11am-6pm daily) is more than a seafood market. Pick up fresh fish for your campsite or kitchen, or opt for chowder, lobster cooked to order, and even sushi.
Roger and Pearl Barto, whose family roots in this region go back five generations, have four rental accommodations on their Henry Cove oceanfront property, S Main Stay Cottages (66 Sargent St., Winter Harbor, 207/963-2601, www.mainstaycottages-rvpark.com, $100-135). Most unusual is the small, one-bedroom Boat House, which has stood since the 1880s. It hangs over the harbor, with views to Mark Island Light, and you can hear the water gurgling below at high tide (but it is cramped, be forewarned). Other options include a very comfortable efficiency cottage, a one-bedroom cottage, a 2nd-floor suite with a private entrance, and a four-bedroom house ($150-250/night). All have big decks and fabulous views over the lobster boat-filled harbor; watch for the eagles that frequently soar overhead. Main Stay is on the Island Explorer bus route and just steps from where the Bar Harbor Ferries dock.
Find the Winter Harbor Public Library (18 Chapel Ln., Winter Harbor, 207/963-7556, www.winterharbor.lib.me.us) in the 1888 beach-stone and fieldstone Channing Chapel.
Winter Harbor is about 26 miles via Routes 1 and 186 from Ellsworth. It’s about 20 miles or 30 minutes to Milbridge, on the Down East Coast.
From Ellsworth, stay north (keep left) on Route 1 from where it splits with Route 3. Continue north on Route 1 for about 16 miles, through Hancock and Sullivan, until you reach Gouldsboro. From Route 1 in Gouldsboro, the park entrance is eight miles via Route 186 south through Winter Harbor.
To reach the town from Bar Harbor, take Route 3 north to the head of Mount Desert Island, then across Mount Desert Narrows to Trenton. The usual route is to continue to a congested intersection at the edge of Ellsworth, where you’ll pick up Route 1 north (turn right) and continue as above. But you can avoid some of the traffic congestion on Route 3 in Trenton by ducking east via Route 204 toward Lamoine and its state park, and then back up to Route 1 via the Mud Creek Road.
Although Winter Harbor is roughly 43 miles or 1.15 hours from Bar Harbor by car, it’s only about 7 miles by water. Two seasonal passenger ferries make the journey on alternating schedules.
Passenger ferries connect Winter Harbor with Bar Harbor.
The ferry’s summer schedule is coordinated with the Island Explorer bus’s summertime Schoodic route, so you can board the ferry in Bar Harbor, pick up the bus at the dock in Winter Harbor, and be shuttled along the Schoodic Loop. Stop where you like for a picnic or a hike, and then board a later bus. Take the last bus back to the ferry and return to Bar Harbor.
The Bar Harbor Ferry (207/288-2984, www.barharborferry.com, round-trip $24 adults, $14 children, $7 bicycle, $75 family pass covering immediate family including children under 18) operates at least four times daily mid-June-late September between downtown Bar Harbor and the Schoodic Marine Center in Winter Harbor, and coordinates with the free Island Explorer (www.exploreacadia.com) bus’s summertime Schoodic route, Route 8.
The nonprofit Schoodic Ferry (207/801-9444, www.schoodicferry.com, $25 pp, Maine residents $17.50 pp) runs up to six times daily Monday through Saturday between the College of the Atlantic pier, Bar Harbor, and the Schoodic Marine Center in Winter Harbor. This ferry doubles as a research vessel: Most trips offer an interactive marine education or wildlife watching opportunity, some trips are accompanied by working scientists and sustainability engineers, and a few are narrated.
The free Island Explorer (www.exploreacadia.com) bus Route 8 covers the lower part of the peninsula, from Winter Harbor through Prospect Harbor, late June-August. The bus circulates roughly once an hour, with a schedule that coordinates with the ferry.
Gouldsboro—including the not-to-be-missed villages of Birch Harbor, Corea, and Prospect Harbor—earned its own minor fame from Louise Dickinson Rich’s 1958 book The Peninsula, a tribute to her summers on Corea’s Cranberry Point, “a place that has stood still in time.” Since 1958, change has crept into Corea, but not so as you’d notice. It’s still the same quintessential lobster-fishing community, perfect for photo ops.
An old post office is the location for Lee Art Glass (679 S. Gouldsboro Rd./Rte. 196, Gouldsboro, 207/963-7280, www.leefusionartglass.com). Although Rod Lee has died, his works live on, thanks to Wayne Tucker and Sheldon R. Bickford, who purchased the business after training with Lee. The fused-glass tableware is created by taking two pieces of window glass and firing them on terra-cotta or bisque molds at 1,500°F. What makes the end result so appealing are the colors and the patterns—crocheted doilies or stencils—impressed into the glass. The almost magical pieces are beautiful and delicate-looking, yet functional.
The folk-art funk begins on the exterior of the Salty Dog Gallery/Hurdy Gurdy Man Antiques (173 Main St., Prospect Harbor, 207/963-7575), a twofold find. The lower level is filled with fun folk-art vintage goods. Upstairs, owner Dean Kotula displays his fine art: documentary-style photographic prints.
Salty Dog Gallery/Hurdy Gurdy Man Antiques
Visiting the U.S. Bells Foundry & Watering Cove Pottery (56 W. Bay Rd./Rte. 186, Prospect Harbor, 207/963-7184, www.usbells.com) is a treat for the ears, as browsers try out the many varieties of cast bronze bells made in the adjacent foundry by Richard Fisher. If you’re lucky, he may have time to explain the process—particularly intriguing for children, and a distraction from their instinctive urge to test every bell in the shop. The store also carries quilts by Dick’s wife, Cindy, and wood-fired stoneware and porcelain by their daughter-in-law Liza Fisher, as well as works by other area artisans. U.S. Bells is 0.25 mile up the hill from Prospect Harbor’s post office.
The nifty Chapter Two (611 Corea Rd., Corea, 207/963-7269, www.chaptertwocorea.com) is home to Spurling House Gallery, Corea Rug Hooking Company, and Accumulated Books Gallery. Spread out in three buildings is a nice selection of used and antiquarian books, fine crafts, and hand-hooked rugs. Yarn, rug-hooking supplies, and lessons are available.
Down the first dirt lane after the Corea post office is the Corea Wharf Gallery (13 Gibbs Ln., Corea, 207/963-2633, www.coreawharfgallery.com). Inside a humble wharf-top fishing shack are displayed historic photographs of Corea, taken in the 1940s-1960s by Louise Z. Young, born in Corea in 1919. She was a friend of painter Marsden Hartley, and took many candid photographs of him around the area. Young also worked with noted photographer Berenice Abbott. Also here are artifacts from Corea’s history, especially ones connected to fishing. The gallery doubles as a food stand selling lobster, lobster rolls, hot dogs, and ice cream.
At 150-acre certified-organic Darthia Farm (51 Darthia Farm Rd., Gouldsboro, 207/963-7771, www.darthiafarm.com), the Farm Store (8am-5pm Mon.-Fri., 8am-noon Sat. June-Sept.) sells fresh produce as well as herbal salves and vinegars, hand-spun hand-dyed yarn, and other products. Check out Hattie’s Shed for Cindy’s outstanding ikat weavings and work by half a dozen other craftspeople. Sleigh rides are also available in the fall and winter.
German and Italian presses, Portuguese corks, and Maine fruit all contribute to the creation of Bob and Kathe Bartlett’s award-winning dinner and dessert wines at Bartlett Maine Estate Winery (175 Chicken Mill Pond Rd., Gouldsboro, 207/546-2408, www.bartlettwinery.com, 10am-5pm Mon.-Sat. June-Oct., or by appointment), just north of the Schoodic Peninsula. Founded in 1982, the winery produces more than 20,000 gallons annually in a handsome wood-and-stone building designed by the Bartletts. Not ones to rest on their many laurels, in 2008 the Bartletts introduced grape wines, and more recently, the Spirits of Maine Distillery; do try the Rusticator Rum. There are no tours, but you’re welcome to sample for a small tasting fee. Reserve wines—the dry blueberry is excellent—and others of limited vintage are sold only on-site. A sculpture garden patio makes a nice spot to relax. Bartlett’s is 0.5 mile south of Route 1 in Gouldsboro.
Downeast Mexican Takeout (888 Rte. 1, Gouldsboro, 207/963-2448, 11am-7pm Tues.-Sun., $3-8) doesn’t look like much, but it turns out excellent, made-to-order homemade Mexican fare. Patience is key here, as it takes a while to prepare, especially if there are other orders in the queue. Get it to go; the seating is limited to one inside and a few outside picnic tables.
Shoot pool, play darts or horseshoes, watch the game on TV, sip a cold drink, and savor a burger or fried seafood at the family-friendly The Pickled Wrinkle (9 E. Schoodic Dr., at the intersection with Rte. 186, Birch Harbor, 207/963-7916, www.thepickledwrinkle.com, 11am-9pm daily, $8-20). Don’t be fooled by the humble appearance; the owners know their way around the kitchen and opt for local and organic whenever possible. That said, the overall atmosphere is more tavern than restaurant. There’s often live music, and Thursday jazz afternoons always draw a crowd. The Friday-night all-you-can-eat haddock fry is a deal.
Aim for a table either outdoors on the terrace or by the window at Bunker’s Wharf (260 East Schoodic Dr., Birch Harbor, 207/963-9111, 11am-9pm daily, $15-35), which overlooks postcard-perfect Wonsqueak Harbor. After a three-year hiatus, Bunker’s reopened in 2017. The New American menu emphasizes seafood—the crab cakes and the lobster stew earn raves—and of course there’s lobster. There are also choices for landlubbers, and vegetarians can mix and match a meal from starters, salads, and pasta. Or go for lunch and opt for a burger, crab cake BLT, or Portobello burger.
You’d be hard-pressed to find a better place to enjoy a lobster than the S Wharf Gallery & Grill (13 Gibbs Ln., Corea, 207/963-8888, www.corealunch.com, 11am-5pm daily), an eat-on-the-wharf food stand overlooking dreamy, lobster boat-filled Corea Harbor. The menu includes lobster rolls, lobster grilled cheese (trust me, try it), crab claws, hot dogs, sausages, and ice cream. Owner Joe Young is a 6th-generation lobsterman and a descendant of Corea’s original settlers. Images taken by his aunt, photographer Louise Z. Young, are displayed in the shed gallery. Ask Joe to share a few stories about his aunt and the family’s relationship with painter Marsden Hartley; he’s a great storyteller.
The Wharf Gallery & Grill is on Corea’s harbor.
Elsa’s Inn on the Harbor (179 Main St., Prospect Harbor, 207/963-7571, www.elsasinn.com, $140-175) overlooks a harbor filled with lobster boats and beyond to a lighthouse. Every room has an ocean view, and a few have separate entrances. Innkeepers Scott and Cherrie Markwood pamper their guests with nice linens, down duvets, terry robes, and afternoon refreshments. A hearty hot breakfast is served either indoors in the dining room or outside on the porch or patio After a day of exploring, settle into a rocker on the veranda and gaze over the boat-filled harbor out to Prospect Harbor Light. One room is ADA-accessible.
Black Duck Inn on Corea Harbor (Crowley Island Rd., Corea, 207/963-2689, www.blackduckme.com, May-mid-Oct., $150-200) has four handsomely decorated guest rooms that can be rented individually or as suites, as well as plenty of common space. Innkeepers Will and Rae Mathewson also operate a gallery at the inn and are the founders of a nonprofit dedicated to music and arts education.
Just off the peninsula and set well back from Route 1, Acadia View Bed and Breakfast (175 Rte. 1, Gouldsboro, 866/963-7457, www.acadiaview.com, $169-199) tops a bluff with views across Frenchman Bay to the peaks of Mount Desert and a path down to the shorefront. Pat and Jim Close built the oceanfront house as a bed-and-breakfast and filled it with antique treasures. Each of the four guest rooms has a private deck. The Route 1 location is convenient to everything. It’s open year-round.
Overlooking the Gouldsboro Peninsula’s only sandy saltwater beach, S Oceanside Meadows Inn (Rte. 195/Corea Rd., Prospect Harbor, 207/963-5557, www.oceaninn.com, May-mid-Oct., $179-219) is an eco-conscious retreat on 200 acres with organic gardens, wildlife habitat, and walking trails. Fourteen guest rooms are split between the 1860s captain’s house and the 1820 Shaw farmhouse next door. Rooms have a comfy, old-fashioned, shabby-chic decor. Note that there are no TVs or air-conditioning, and many of the bathrooms are tiny. Breakfast is a multicourse vegetarian event, usually featuring herbs and flowers from the inn’s gardens. The husband-and-wife team Ben Walter and Sonja Sundaram, assisted by a loyal staff, seem to have thought of everything—hot drinks available all day, a guest fridge, beach toys, even detailed guides to the property’s trails and habitats (great for entertaining kids). A beautifully restored shed serves as reception area and guest library. As if all that weren’t enough, Sonja and Ben have totally restored the 1820 timber-frame barn out back—creating the Oceanside Meadows Institute for the Arts and Sciences. Local art hangs on the walls, and the 125-seat barn has a full schedule of concerts and lectures June-September on natural history, Native American traditions, and more, usually on Thursday nights. Some are free, some require tickets; all require reservations. Oceanside Meadows is six miles off Route 1. There are no nearby restaurants, so expect to head out for lunch or dinner.
The Oceanside Meadows Inn fronts a sand beach.
Simple and rustic, but charming in a sweet, old-fashioned way, Albee’s Shorehouse Cottages (Rte. 186, Prospect Harbor, 207/963-2336 or 800/963-2336, www.theshorehouse.com, May-mid-Oct., $85-150, no credit cards) comprises 10 vintage cottages decorated with braided rugs, fresh flowers, and other homey touches. They’re spaced out along the shoreline and on the lawns amid gorgeous gardens and mature shade trees. Two things make this place special: the waterfront location—which is truly waterfront, as many of the cottages are just a couple of feet from the high-tide mark—and the management. Owner Richard Rieth goes out of his way to make guests feel welcome. If you’re staying a week, pick up lobsters and say what time you want dinner, and they’ll be cooked and delivered to your cottage. He’s fixing up the cottages, but these will never be fancy; if you’re fussy or bothered by water stains or spring-coil beds, go elsewhere. In peak season, preference is given to Saturday-Saturday rentals, but shorter stays are often available. Dogs are welcome.
Albee’s Shorehouse Cottages
Check out the Dorcas Library (Rte. 186, Prospect Harbor, 207/963-4027, www.dorcas.lib.me.us).
Gouldsboro is about 18 miles via Route 1 from Ellsworth. The town straddles Route 1 and includes the upper and eastern portions of the Schoodic Peninsula. Route 186 loops the peninsula, but Route 195 provides the fastest access from Route 1 to Prospect Harbor. From Prospect Harbor it’s about 2 miles to Birch Harbor via Route 186 or about 3 miles to Corea via Route 195. From Prospect Harbor, it’s about 4 miles or 10 minutes to Winter Harbor via Route 186 or about 10 miles or 15 minutes to Steuben or 15 miles or 20 minutes to Milbridge via Routes 186 and 1.
The free Island Explorer (www.exploreacadia.com), Route 8, covers the lower part of the peninsula, connecting Winter Harbor and the ferries to the Schoodic section of Acadia, Birch Harbor, and Prospect Harbor, from late June through August. You’ll need a car to explore Corea or other parts of Gouldsboro.
Between Ellsworth and Gouldsboro, the villages of Hancock, Sullivan, and Sorrento straddle Route 1, which ties the region together and provides inviting glimpses and vistas of Frenchman Bay and glacial-sculpted mountains of Mount Desert Island. Venture down the ocean-side back roads and you’ll discover an old-timey summer colony at Hancock Point, complete with a library, post office, yacht club, and tennis courts. Meander inland and you’ll be rewarded with artisans’ studios, especially in Sullivan, and easily accessed ponds and lakes and mountain trailheads along the byway.
In its heyday, Sullivan was a center for shipbuilding and quarrying. Interpretative signage at two roadside pullouts, one before the bridge and another next to the former Dunbar’s Store, provide information on the area’s heritage, flora, and fauna. The town also has the distinction of being where two Nazi spies, William Colepaugh and Erich Gimpel, landed in the dark of a snowy November night in 1944, dropped off by the submarine U-1230.
Tiny Sorrento isn’t really much more than a classic summer colony, and that’s all the reason you need for a leisurely drive down the peninsula. It has tennis courts, a yacht club, a nine-hole golf course edging the ocean, and what’s left of a swimming pool, created in 1913 by damming a cove just above the village. If you fall for the place, try to find a copy of Sorrento, A Well-Kept Secret, by Catherine O’Clair Herson, published in 1995 for the town’s centennial. It’s filled with historical photos and stories.
Hike, mountain bike, snowshoe, cross-country ski, or ride an ATV, snowmobile, or even a horse on the Down East Sunrise Trail (www.sunrisetrail.org). The gravel-surfaced trail, a joint effort by the Maine Department of Transportation and Maine Department of Conservation, stretches 85 miles along a rehabilitated discontinued railroad bed between Washington Junction, in Hancock, and Ayers Junction, south of Calais. Maps, available to download from the website, show trailheads, highlights, and parking lots along the route. The 30-mile section between Washington Junction and Cherryfield roughly follows the Down East coastline of the Schoodic region. Additional access points include Franklin and Sullivan; see the map for details and directions.
The seven-mile Franklin Crossing to Tunk Lake Road section edges Schoodic Bog and the southwest corner of the Donnell Pond Public Reserved Land and offers fine views of Schoodic Mountain. There’s limited parking on both ends: the Franklin Crossing intersection with Route 182 and the Tunk Lake Road intersection on Route 183.
Antonio Blasi, a Registered Maine Sea Kayak and Recreational Guide, leads guided tours of Frenchman and Taunton Bays and hiking and camping expeditions through Hancock Point Kayak Tours (58 Point Rd., Hancock, 207/422-6854 or 207/366-4449, www.hancockpointkayak.com). A three-hour paddle, including all equipment, safety and paddling demonstrations, and an island break, is $45 per person; $30 for two hours without the break; or $20 for a one-hour lesson. Overnight kayak camping trips are $150 per person. Antonio also leads hiking and snowshoeing tours for $15 per hour.
lobster boats anchored on the Schoodic Peninsula
Do-it-yourselfers may also rent a canoe or kayak from Water’s Edge Canoe & Kayak Rentals (222 Franklin Rd., Franklin, 207/460-6350 or 207/460-7734). Canoe rentals are $25 for one day, $65 for three days, or $125 per week; single kayaks are $30, $80, or $150; double kayaks are $40, $100, or $200. Although the location is at the water’s edge on Hog Bay, it’s tidal, so it’s advisable to take the craft elsewhere; delivery is possible. Credit cards are not accepted.
The Pierre Monteux School for Conductors and Orchestra Musicians (Rte. 1, Hancock, 207/422-3280, www.monteuxschool.org), a prestigious summer program founded in 1943, has achieved international renown for training dozens of national and international classical musicians. It presents two well-attended concert series late June-July. The Wednesday series (7:30pm, $12 adults, free kids/students) features chamber music; the Sunday concerts (5pm, $22 adults, $5 students/kids) feature symphonies. An annual free children’s concert usually is held once each season and followed by an instrument petting zoo. All concerts are held in the school’s Forest Studio; payment is via cash or check only.
On Monday evenings in July-August, weather permitting, the Frenchman Bay Conservancy (207/422-2328, www.frenchmanbay.org) presents a concert series at its Tidal Falls Preserve. Pack a picnic supper or purchase one from the food cart. Music might include jazz, steel pan drums, ukuleles, or an orchestra.
Ray Murphy began wielding his dad’s chainsaw to create sculptures in 1952. Since then, the Wild Mountain Man (742 Route 1, Hancock, 207/565-3377, www.thewildmountainman.com) has crafted more than 50,000 pieces. He shows his works at a roadside gallery and demonstrates his art form (7pm daily, $10 pp).
From Route 1 take Eastside Road, just before the Hancock-Sullivan Bridge, and drive 1.6 miles south to the Wray family’s Gull Rock Pottery (103 Gull Rock Rd., Hancock, 207/422-3990, www.gullrockpottery.com). Torj and Kurt Wray created this gallery, which daughter-in-law Akemi now runs. She’s continued crafting their wheel-thrown, hand-painted, dishwasher-safe pottery decorated with cobalt blue and white Japanese-style motifs, but has added some of her own designs. Complementing the indoor gallery is an outdoor, oceanfront sculpture gallery with views to Mount Desert Island.
Cross the Hancock-Sullivan Bridge, then take your first left off Route 1 onto Taunton Drive to find the next four galleries, beginning with Dan Farrenkopf’s and Phid Lawless’s Lunaform (66 Cedar Ln., Sullivan, 207/422-0923, www.lunaform.com), set amid beautifully landscaped grounds surrounding an old quarry. At first glance, it appears that many of the wonderfully aesthetic garden ornaments created here are hand-turned pottery, when in fact they’re hand-turned steel-reinforced concrete. Take the first right off Taunton Drive onto Track Road, proceed 0.5 mile, then turn left onto Cedar Lane.
Return to Taunton Drive and take the next right onto Quarry Road, then left on Whales Back Road, a rough dirt lane, to find granite sculptor Obadiah Bourne Buell’s Stone Designs Studio and Granite Garden Gallery (124 Whales Back Rd., Sullivan, 207/422-3111, www.stonedesignsmaine.com). Bourne displays his home accents and garden features in a self-serve gallery adjacent to a quarry and in the surrounding gardens. This really is a magical spot, and if you time it right, you might be able to see the sculptor at work.
Continue north on Taunton Road as it changes its name to South Bay Road. Bet you can’t keep from smiling at the whimsical animal sculptures and fun furniture of talented sculptor-painter Philip Barter. His work is the cornerstone of the eclectic Barter Gallery (South Bay Rd., Sullivan, 207/422-3190, www.bartergallery.com). But there’s more: Barter’s wife and seven children, especially son Matt, along with son-in-law Brian Emerson, have put their considerable skills to work producing hooked and braided rugs, jewelry, and paintings as well as wood sculptures. The gallery is 2.5 miles off Route 1.
Continue on South Bay Road (note that it becomes dirt for a roughly 0.5-mile section) and turn left, heading north, when it meets Route 200/Hog Bay Road. Almost immediately on your left is Charles and Susanne Grosjean’s Hog Bay Pottery (245 Hog Bay Rd./Rte. 200, Franklin, 207/565-2282), in operation since 1974. Inside the casual, laid-back showroom are Charles’s functional, nature-themed pottery and Susanne’s stunning handwoven wool rugs. Pottery seconds are often available.
Next, head south on Route 200/Bert Gray Road. Handwoven textiles are the specialty at Moosetrack Studio (388 Bert Gray Rd./Rte. 200, Sullivan, 207/422-9017, www.moosetrackhandweaving.com), where the selections range from handwoven area rugs to shawls of merino wool and silk. Camilla Stege has been weaving since 1969, and her exquisite work reflects her experience and expertise. The gallery is 1.8 miles north of Route 1.
Continue south. Just before the intersection with U.S. 1 is a double hit. Artist Paul Breeden, best known for the remarkable illustrations, calligraphy, and maps he’s done for National Geographic, Time-Life Books, and other national and international publications, displays and sells his paintings at the Spring Woods Gallery and Willowbrook Garden (19 Willowbrook Ln., Sullivan, 207/422-3007, www.springwoodsgallery.com or www.willowbrookgarden.com). Also filling the handsome modern gallery space are paintings by Ann Breeden. Be sure to allow time to meander through the shady sculpture garden, where there’s even a playhouse for kids.
Defying its name, Sullivan Harbor Smokehouse (U.S. 1, Hancock, 207/422-3735 or 800/422-4014, www.sullivanharborfarm.com), which produces excellent smoked seafood, is located in spacious, modern new digs in Hancock. Big interior windows allow visitors to see into the production facility and watch the action.
Have a hankering for Korean? Sonye Carroll and family serve bi-bim-bahp, boul-koh-kee, barbecued ribs, and kimchee, along with top-notch crabmeat rolls, as well as burgers and dogs, homemade doughnuts, and Gifford’s ice cream at the seasonal YU Takeout (674 Rte. 1, Hancock, 207/667-5500, www.yutakeout.com, 11am-8pm daily, $7-18).
The gastropub menu at Ironbound (1513 U.S. 1, Hancock, 207/422-3395, www.ironboundinn.com, from 5pm Tues.-Sun. mid-June-mid-Oct., $13-30) ranges from burgers and salads to ribs and ribeye, making it easy to please everyone. A huge brick hearth adorned with copper pots anchors one end of the main dining room. The atmosphere is casual, with wood floors and undressed tables. The fare complements the setting, with ingredients sourced locally whenever possible. Play bocce on the lawn while enjoying the outside bar, The Bounder.
The unpretentious dining rooms at the S Crocker House Country Inn (967 Point Rd., Hancock Point, 207/422-6806, www.crockerhouse.com, 5:30pm-9pm daily May 1-Oct. 31, 5:30pm-8:30pm Fri.-Sun. Apr. and Nov.-Dec., entrées $29-38) provide a setting for well-prepared New American fare with flair, crafted from fresh and local ingredients. This is one of the area’s most consistent and popular dining spots, making reservations essential. On Friday nights, a jazz trio provides background music.
Another dependable dining experience is Chipper’s (1239 U.S. 1, Hancock, 207/422-8238, www.chippersrestaurant.com, 5pm-9pm Wed.-Sat.). Owner Chipper Butterwick opened his popular restaurant in 1995 and expanded the simple cape-style building in 2010, adding a pub. The restaurant’s wide-ranging menu includes rack of lamb and filet mignon, but the emphasis is on seafood; the crab cakes earn rave reviews. Entrees include a sampling of tasty haddock chowder and a salad, but save room for the homemade ice cream for dessert. Entrées are in the $20-34 range, but some appetizer-salad combos provide budget options, and lighter fare is available in the pub.
Tracey’s Seafood (2719 Rte. 1, Sullivan, 207/422-9072, 11am-8pm daily, $5-20) doesn’t look like much from the road, but don’t be fooled. The Tracey family harvests the clams and catches the lobsters, shucks and picks, and dishes out ultra-fresh lobster, chowders, and fried seafood. There’s a takeout window and picnic tables on the lawn as well as a dining room with waitress service. Portions are big, prices are low—$4 burgers, two-fer lobster rolls (usually around $12-18, but I’ve seen them as low as $10), and weekend fish fries and clam fries with free seconds. Don’t miss the homemade pies. For inside dining, BYOB.
lobster
Machias native Dottie Mace operated a bed-and-breakfast in Virginia before returning to Maine to open Taunton River Bed & Breakfast (19 Taunton Dr., Sullivan, 207/422-2070, www.tauntonriverbandb.com, $115-125) in a 19th-century farmhouse with river views. Two of the three guest rooms share a bath. A full breakfast and Wi-Fi are included in the rates. It would be easy to spend the day just sitting on the porch swing, but it’s an easy pedal or drive to local art galleries. The inn is just a stone’s throw off Route 1, so traffic might bother the noise sensitive.
Sustainable living is the focus of Karen and Ed Curtis’s peaceful S Three Pines Bed and Breakfast (274 East Side Rd., Hancock, 207/460-7595, www.threepinesbandb.com, year-round, $125), fronting Sullivan Harbor, just below the Reversing Falls. Their quiet off-the-grid 40-acre oceanfront organic farm is home to a llama, rare-breed chickens and sheep, ducks, and bees as well as a large garden, berry bushes, an orchard, and greenhouses. Photovoltaic cells provide electricity, and appliances are primarily propane powered. Two inviting guest rooms have private entrances and water views. A full vegetarian breakfast (with fresh eggs from the farm) is served. Bicycles, a tandem kayak, and a canoe are available. You can walk or pedal along an abandoned railway line down to the point, and you can launch a canoe or kayak from the yard. Children are welcome; pets are a possibility.
Follow Hancock Point Road 4.8 miles south of Route 1 to the three-story, gray-blue Crocker House Country Inn (967 Point Rd., Hancock, 207/422-6806, www.crockerhouse.com, $125-165), Rich and Liz Malaby’s antidote to Bar Harbor’s summer traffic. Built as a summer hotel in 1884, the inn underwent rehabbing a century later, but it retains a delightfully old-fashioned air. Breakfast is included. A few bicycles are available; clay tennis courts are nearby. If you’re arriving by boat, request a mooring. The inn’s dining room, open nightly for dinner in season, is a draw in itself. Some rooms are pet-friendly.
Although Ironbound (1513 U.S. 1, Hancock, 207/422-3395 www.ironboundinn.com, $165-185), a five-room country inn located above the restaurant of the same name, is right on Route 1, when you’re on the garden-view balconies, or on the lawn out back, you’re oblivious to the traffic whizzing by. Rooms are bright and airy. Continental breakfast is included. Guests have use of a comfy sitting area downstairs, adjacent to the restaurant. The inn adjoins Crabtree Neck Conservation Trust lands, laced with trails and a pond.
About 12 miles east of Ellsworth is the oceanfront Acadia Bay Inn (12 Miramar Ave., Sullivan, 207/422-3031, www.islandviewinn.net, $175-245), a Shingle-style inn with wraparound porch and extensive balconies. Out front are the peaks of Mount Desert across Frenchman Bay. Four of the seven rooms, all with decks, capture the view from this updated 1889 summer home that evokes the easy elegance of days gone by. Many of the furnishings are original. The inn has a private beach, but the water is terminally chilly. A full breakfast is included; dinner is available by advance reservation (entrees $20-30).
The views to Mount Desert are dreamy from Edgewater Cabins (25 Benvenuto Ave., Sullivan, 207/422-6414 May 15-Oct. 15, 603/472-8644 rest of year, www.edgewatercabins.com, $595-995/week), a colony of seven housekeeping cottages on a spit of land jutting into Frenchman Bay. The well-tended four-acre property has both sunrise and sunset water views, big trees for shade, and lawns rolling to the shorefront. Stays of at least three nights ($95-175/night) are possible, when there’s availability.
The inviting octagonal Hancock Point Library (Hancock Point Rd., Hancock Point, 207/422-6400, summer only) was formed in 1899. More than a library, it’s a center for village activities. Check the bulletin boards by the entrance to find out what’s happening when.
Find out what’s happening in Hancock at the Hancock Point Library.
Gouldsboro is about 18 miles via Route 1 from Ellsworth. The town straddles Route 1 and includes the upper and eastern portions of the Schoodic Peninsula. Route 186 loops the peninsula, but Route 195 provides the fastest access from Route 1 to Prospect Harbor. From Prospect Harbor it’s about 2 miles to Birch Harbor via Route 186 or about 3 miles to Corea via Route 195. From Prospect Harbor, it’s about 4 miles or 10 minutes to Winter Harbor via Route 186 or about 10 miles or 15 minutes to Steuben or 15 miles or 20 minutes to Milbridge via Routes 186 and 1.
The free Island Explorer (www.exploreacadia.com) bus Route 8 covers the lower part of the peninsula, connecting Winter Harbor and the ferries to the Schoodic section of Acadia, Birch Harbor, and Prospect Harbor, from late June through August. You’ll need a car to explore Corea or other parts of Gouldsboro.
Continue northeast beyond the Schoodic Peninsula, and you’ll arrive in Steuben, on the far side of Gouldsboro Bay. Not that you’ll notice; frankly, there’s little here to mark its presence on Route 1, and only a small village if you venture off it, although that’s changing as the land is carved up by developers (the number of Land for Sale signs is frightening). Only a small sign indicates that the Petit Manan section of the Maine Coastal Islands National Wildlife Refuge awaits those who turn down Pigeon Hill Road.
If you want to see this part of the coast from the sea, especially Petit Manan lighthouse and its puffin colony, you have to venture up to Milbridge. Although not truly part of the Acadia region by any definition, it’s the closest port with lighthouse-sighting, bird-watching, or scenic nature cruises. If you’re camping in Steuben, it’s also the closest option for food, with a supermarket and a few restaurants.
From Milbridge, you can loop back to Hancock along Route 182, the Blackwoods Scenic Byway, which moseys through the Donnell Pond Public Land Reserve, with access to ponds, lakes, and trailheads. En route is the vest-pocket village of Franklin. It’s a beautiful route, especially in autumn, when the leaves are brilliant and the blueberry barrens in Cherryfield and Franklin are crimson.
Well off the beaten path is Dyer Harbor in Steuben. Take Dyer Bay Road off Route 1, then go left on Pinkham Bay Bridge Road. Just before the bridge is a boat launch for small craft. It’s a fine spot to launch a kayak for a coastal paddle in relatively protected waters.
Captain Jaime Robertson’s Robertson Sea Tours and Adventures (Milbridge Marina, Fickett’s Point Rd., 207/483-6110 or 207/461-7439, www.robertsonseatours.com, May 15-Oct. 1) offers 2-4-hour cruises ($65-85 adults, $50-65 children) from the Milbridge Marina aboard the Kandi Leigh, a classic Maine lobster boat. Options include puffins and seabirds, lighthouses, lobster fishing, and a family-pleasing Maine-themed tour highlighting lobstering, sea life, and islands. Captain Robertson also offers a 4-5-hour whale-watching cruise aboard the six-passenger, 33-foot Elisabeth Rose or the 28-foot Kandi Leigh ($125 adults, $95 age 12 and younger). For all cruises, boat minimums may apply.
The Eagle Hill Institute (59 Eagle Hill Rd., Steuben, 207/546-2821, www.eaglehill.us) presents advanced natural history seminars and scientific illustration workshops and publishes peer-reviewed scientific journals. It also sponsors various opportunities to meet and mingle with scientists and others. If you’re especially interested in natural history and the arts, the institute offers longer programs as well. The institute is located four miles off Route 1. Take Dyer Bay Road off Route 1, bearing left at the fork on Mogador Road, for a total of 3.6 miles, and then go left on Schooner Point Road and right on Eagle Hill Road. Programs take place in the dining hall lecture room.
Free public lectures, by recognized experts on often fascinating topics, are offered two or three times each week. Subjects have included Maine Poets and the Natural World; Lichens After Death: The Lichens of Graveyards; Bees of Maine Gardens; and A Maine Man to be Proud of: Joshua Lawrence Chamberlain. Guests are invited to arrive early to hike the institute’s 2.5-mile network of easy to moderate trails (pick up a trail map in the office) or to peruse the library, which offers 8,000 books on natural history science and 1,000 books about art history.
Arthur Smith (Rogers Point Rd., Steuben, 207/546-3462) is the real thing when it comes to chainsaw carvings. He’s an extremely talented folk artist who looks at a piece of wood and sees an animal in it. His carvings of great blue herons, eagles, wolves, porcupines, flamingos, and other creatures are incredibly detailed, and his wife, Marie, paints them in lifelike colors. Don’t expect a fancy studio; much of the work can be viewed roadside.
Also in Steuben, but on the other end of the spectrum, is Ray Carbone (460 Pigeon Hill Rd., Steuben, 207/546-2170, www.raycarbonesculptor.com), whose masterful wood, stone, and bronze sculptures and fine furniture are definitely worth stopping to see and perhaps buy. Don’t miss the granite sculptures and birdbaths in the garden.
Although it’s cultivating a small vineyard out front, Catherine Hill Winery (661 Blackswoods Rd., Cherryfield, 207/546-3426, www.cathillwinery.com) is currently making small-batch wines from grapes sourced elsewhere. Stop by the tasting room (noon-5pm Tues.-Fri. and Sun., 2pm-5pm Sat.) to learn more.
Take Route 182 to Route 200 (Eastbrook Rd.) and go 1.6 miles to family-operated Shalom Orchard Organic Winery (158 Eastbrook Rd., Franklin, 207/565-2312, www.shalomorchard.com). The certified-organic farm is well off the beaten path but worth a visit for its organic fruit and wines as well as for its yarns, pelts, fleece, and views of Frenchman Bay from the hilltop.
Thank the migrant community who arrive here in summer to pick blueberries for Vazquez Mexican Takeout (38 Main St., Milbridge, 207/546-2219, 10am-7pm Mon.-Sat., $3-8). What began as a food truck serving authentic Mexican fare to blueberry pickers has evolved into a family-operated permanent seasonal takeout, with picnic tables on a covered patio and on the lawn. The food is excellent, the portions are generous, and the Mexican fare is delicious and authentic, with house-made tortillas and salsas.
Hikers frequent Maple Knoll Pizza (138 Blacks Woods Rd./Rte. 182, Franklin, 207/565-8822, 11am-8pm Mon.-Sat.), a hole-in-the-wall on the edge of Franklin serving pizzas, subs, calzones, and sandwiches using family recipes rooted in the old country.
Cheery waiters serve big portions of home-cooked fare at 44 Degrees North (17 Main St., Milbridge, 207/546-4440, www.44-degrees-north.com, 11am-8pm Mon.-Sat.). The front room is family oriented, with booths, tables, and cheerful decor. The back room doubles as a bar and has a big-screen TV. As is typical in this part of Maine, there’s a case full of mouthwatering desserts. Most heartier entrée choices are less than $17.
The Aerie Restaurant (59 Eagle Hill Rd., 207/546-1219, www.eaglehill.us/aerie, $45) serves set five-course dinners, with varied options, in a woodland setting at the Eagle Hill Institute. The inspired menu is rooted in classical technique and accented with local fare. Pair dinner with attending an Eagle Hill lecture. Call for current hours.
Since 1958 the Ayr family has welcomed campers at its quiet, well-off-the-beaten-path waterfront property on Joy Cove. With a convenient location 15 minutes from Petit Manan National Wildlife Refuge and 20 minutes from Schoodic Point, Mainayr Campground (321 Village Rd., Steuben, 207/542-2690, www.mainayr.com, late May-mid-Oct., $30-33) has 35 tenting and RV sites, 5 with full hookups, spread out among woodlands and meadows with mature trees. Also on the premises are a playground, a laundry, a beach for tidal swimming, clamming flats, a grassy launch area for kayaks and canoes, a camp store, berries for picking, and fresh lobsters.
Info on the area is available from the Milbridge Area Merchants Association (www.milbridge.org).
From Ellsworth, it’s about 9 miles or 15 minutes to Hancock or about 11 miles or 15 minutes to Sullivan via Route 1. From Ellsworth to Sorrento is about 17 miles or 25 minutes via Routes 1 and 185. From Sullivan, it’s about 15 miles or 20 minutes to Winter Harbor via Routes 1 and 186; about 17 miles or 25 minutes to Corea via Routes 1 and 195; and about 16 miles or 20 minutes to Steuben or about 21 miles or 25 minutes to Milbridge via Route 1.
From Ellsworth, it’s about 12 miles or 20 minutes to Franklin via Routes 1 and 182/Blackwoods Scenic Byway. From Franklin, it’s about 22.5 miles or 30 minutes to Milbridge via Routes 182/Blackwoods Scenic Byway and Route 1.