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Public Parks
Recreation Areas
Hiking Trails
Listed by Community
[Baring] [Bayside] [Bucks Harbor]
[Calais] [Campobello Island] [Charlotte] [Cutler]
[Deer Island ] [Dennysville]
[Eastport ] [Edmunds ]
[Grand Manan Island ]
[Lubec ]
[Machias] [Machiasport]
[Oak Bay]
[Pembroke] [Perry]
[Red Beach] [Robbinston] [Roque Bluffs]
[St. Andrews] [St. George] [St. Stephen]
[Trescott]
[Whiting]
Other Parks, Recreation, & Hiking Resources
Baring
Maine
Top
Moosehorn National Wildlife Refuge
Two Locations--
- Baring, Maine
- Hiking trails, birding, woodcock research. Headquarters in Baring, Maine, provides literature and an orientation display about the wildlife, trails, and programs at the refuge. Ongoing woodcock protection and research is conducted here. The Refuge's area along US Route 1 north of Calais has an Eagle Observation Area, where -- during the months of February - June -- nesting bald eagles and ospreys can be observed nearby.
- Edmunds, Maine
- Hiking trails, birding.
BaysideNew Brunswick
St. Croix Island International Historic Site
—Operated by Parks Canada
Bayside, New BrunswickTopShort walking pathway, with views overlooking St. Croix Island, and with illustrated plaques (in both French & English), a gazebo, parking area, and restrooms.
The first European settlement north of Florida, where Samuel Champlain and Pierre Dugua, the Sieur de Mons, wintered in 1604. A visitor pavilion on the St. Croix Riverbank, with displays in English and French, looks out to St. Croix Island (formerly known as Dochet's Island).
An international celebration of the 1604 settlement occurred in 2004. For details, visit http://www.digitales.ie/04stecroix/ .
Island is viewable in Maine from visitor site on U.S. Route 1 in the village of Red Beach, Calais.
Calais
Maine
St. Croix Island International Historic Site
The only international park in the US National Park System.
—Operated by Acadia National Park, US National Park Service.
Red Beach, Calais, MaineTopRiverside view of St. Croix Island, statuary, pavilion with model settlement, restrooms, parking area, and boat launch.
Including the adjoining intertidal zones, the island is 6.5 acres/2.6 hectares, and the US mainland facility is 13 acres/5.3 hectares.
The first European settlement north of Florida, named "Acadia" (Acadie) by its founders, where Samuel Champlain and Pierre Dugua, the Sieur de Mons, wintered in 1604. Displays on both the Maine and New Brunswick sides of the St. Croix River, in English and in French, look out to what the explorers named "St. Croix Island" (also known by a more recent — but discontinued — name, "Dochet Island").
Several larger-than-life bronze statues depicting Passamaquoddy Indians and the French settlers align the path from parking lot to overlook, where a bronze scale model of the original settlement stands in a rustic gazebo above the St. Croix River, with views of St. Croix Island, where the settlement of Acadia once stood.
An international celebration of the 1604 settlement occurred in 2004. For details, visit http://www.digitales.ie/04stecroix/ .
Island is viewable in New Brunswick from visitor site on Route 127 in the community of Bayside.
Campobello IslandNew Brunswick
Herring Cove Provincial Park
Welshpool, Campobello Island, New BrunswickTopRustic, wooded campground. Mile-long Herring Cove Beach on the Bay of Fundy. Playground, public golf course nearby. Hiking trails through woods, past freshwater ponds, and along rugged coastal shoreline. Boreal bog off of Herring Cove beach (see list of Quoddy Loop bogs).
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Roosevelt-Campobello International Park
Welshpool, Campobello Island, New Brunswick(Open daily, from Saturday after Victoria Day -- the Saturday before US Memorial Day -- through Canadian Thanksgiving -- U.S. Columbus Day. Visiting hours at the Visitor Centre and Cottage Museum are 7 days a week from 10 am - 6 pm AT (New Brunswick) / 9 am - 5 pm ET (Maine). Natural Area is open all year, although roads may not be plowed in winter.)
The world's first international park.
- Visitor Centre (Summers only)
- The resource and orientation center for the park offers literature, displays, and a short film about the Roosevelts, Campobello Island, and the International Park.
- Cottage Museum (Summers only)
- American Presidential couple Franklin Delano Roosevelt & Eleanor Roosevelt's summer "cottage" museum includes the neighboring ice house and Hubbard House. Four other "cottages" in the park are used for conferences.
- Natural Area (Open all year; however, road accessibility depends on winter weather.)
- Numerous hiking trails, picnic areas, rocky beaches. Overlooks with orientation displays, a boreal bog (Eagle Hill Bog; see list of Quoddy Loop bogs) with vegetation displays and rare plants, and the eastern 1/3 of the intracontinental granite Sunsweep Sculpture.
- Friar's Head (Open all year; however, road closed in winter.)
- This promontory offers a viewing platform with displays and a spectacular panoramic view. See West Quoddy Head, Lubec, the Eastport, and Deer Island, along with the adjoining waterways, Johnson Bay, Friar Roads, the Franklin D. Roosevelt Memorial Bridge, and other parts of Campobello Island. At mid-tide to low water, you'll be able to see one of the tidal dams built during the ill-fated Quoddy Tidal Power Project.
- A trail leads from the overlook down to the shore where, at low water, the adventuresome can walk the intertidal zone to visit the stoic stone "Friar," who stands watch at the foot of the head.
- The road leading to the overlook provides several pleasant picnic sites, and a hand pump for fresh water.
- Mulholland Point Light & Picnic Area (Accessible all year)
- Perhaps the first thing you'll notice after passing through Canada Customs when entering Campobello Island is Mulholland Point Light. The lighthouse and picnic area offer a wonderful view of the town of Lubec, the Roosevelt Memorial International Bridge, Lubec Channel Light, numerous islands, and 2.5-mile - distant Moose Island, Eastport.
CutlerMaine
Bold Coast Trail
Cutler, MaineTopHiking Trails.
Deer IslandNew Brunswick
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Clark Gregory Nature Preserve
Chocolate Cove, Deer Island, New BrunswickThree parcels, with cliffs; headlands on either side of Chocolate Cove; two types of forest; wetland; meadow; wide range of botanical species, including wild pear bushes; and public footpaths; 25 hectares (61.7 acres; Nature Trust of New Brunswick)
Deer Island Point Park
Deer Island, New BrunswickTopCamping, trailer hookups, picnicking, saltwater sandy and rocky beach (no swimming, due to the Old Sow Whirlpool, just off shore), laundromat, restrooms, pay telephone; 40 acres, with a nautical beacon tower, and with views of Western Passage, Indian Island, Eastport, and island other views.
Eastport
Maine
Shackford Head State Park (Open year-round. No fee)
Eastport, MaineTopHiking trails, historic monument, fossils. This state day-use park has pleasant hiking trails (the shortest is about 20 minutes) through the woods and along the shore, beginning at a circular parking lot behind the Marine Trades Center, and ending at the Shackford Head promontory. Here, there are panoramic views of Campobello Island, Lubec, Cobscook Bay, and Atlantic salmon aquaculture sites. Fossils can sometimes be found in some location s along the shore at low water.
A monument at the parking area commemorates the Civil War ships that the US government, due to the location's extreme tides, brought to adjacent Coney Beach to burn in order to salvage the vessels' metal.
Edmunds Township
Maine
Bell's Mountain & Crane Mountain
Edmunds, MaineTopTrails, Scenic Views. These small mountains offer forested trails, with views of Whiting Bay and the forests of the Moosehorn National Wildlife Refuge Edmunds division. The Bell Mountain trail passes by unusual rock outcroppings.
Cobscook Bay State Park
Edmunds, MaineTopCamping, picnicking, saltwater boat ramp, hiking, cross-country skiing.
Hallowell Island Preserve
Edmunds, Maine
Undeveloped -- no developed trails.TopThe trail is the shoreline of this forested island. Blueberry barrens and cranberry bogs edge one end of the island. Access requires a boat.
Moosehorn National Wildlife Refuge
Two Locations--Top
- Edmunds, Maine
- Hiking trails, birding.
- Baring, Maine
- Hiking trails, birding, woodcock research. Headquarters in Baring, Maine, provides literature and an orientation display about the wildlife, trails, and programs at the refuge. Ongoing woodcock protection and research is conducted here. The Refuge's area along US Route 1 north of Calais has an Eagle Observation Area, where -- during the months of February - June -- nesting bald eagles and ospreys can be observed nearby.
Grand Manan IslandNew Brunswick
Anchorage Provincial Park
Seal Cove, Grand Manan Island, New BrunswickCamping, swimming, hiking picnicking.
Numerous hiking trails on the island lead to geological formations, such as "Seven Days Work," "Flock of Sheep," and "Hole-in-the-Wall." Long Pond Bog near the campground (see list of Quoddy Loop bogs).
LubecMaine
Boot Head Preserve
Lubec, MaineTopHiking trail, scenic views, birding. One trail is along cliffs overlooking the Bay of Fundy and Grand Manan Island. Another trail leads to a pebble-cobble beach.
Horan Head
Lubec, MaineTopHiking, scenic views, wildlife. This site consists of a series of looped trails along South Bay and Federal Harbor within Cobscook Bay.
[West*] Quoddy Head State Park
Lubec, Maine
Picnic site, rugged hiking trails, boreal bog (see list of Quoddy Loop bogs). On rugged, rocky cliffs overlooking Grand Manan Island across Grand Manan Channel in the Bay of Fundy, whales are sighted here in season. Right next to the park entrance sits West Quoddy Head Lighthouse, and just offshore, Sail Rock -- the easternmost terrestrial piece of the United States.
* "Quoddy Head State Park" is a misnomer, since the location is actually West Quoddy Head. Nearby East Quoddy Head is by Head Harbour Lighthouse at the northeastern end of Campobello Island, NB, Canada.
(Photograph: Sail Rock with ice & seasmoke in winter. © 1997 Old Sow Publishing.)
Top
South Lubec Sand Bar
Lubec, MaineTopBirding, scenic views, intertidal zone. A sand "spit" within Lubec Channel, this site affords a walk on a sand bar (a rarity in this region), by a salt marsh, with views of the Lubec Channel Light and Carrying Place Cove Bog, and expansive clam flats which contribute to the area economy. The flats also serve as a "refueling" site for migratory shore birds.
Stockford Park (Town Park)
Lubec, MaineTopBeside the international Franklin Delano Roosevelt Memorial Bridge, on Lubec Narrows, Stockford Park overlooks Campobello Island, with views of Mulholland Point Light, Lubec Channel Light, and West Quoddy Head in the distance. Seals are frequently seen swimming nearby in the roiling tidal currents.
MachiasMaine
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Bad Little Falls Park
Machias, MaineScenic view.
Although a glimpse of the falls can be had while driving along Highway US 1 through town, the best viewing is by parking in the lot along Rt 92. This provides easy access to the footbridge suspended above the torrential falls. Here, water frequently turns reddish-brown and foams, due to tannin from cedar trees in distant tributaries.
MachiasportMaine
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Fort O'Brien State Park
Machiasport, Maine
Oak BayNew Brunswick
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Oak Bay Campground
Oak Bay, New BrunswickCamping, Swimming. Sandy, estuary beach spills into saltwater Oak Bay.
Note: Formerly Oak Bay Provincial Park, this is now leased by the provincial government to private enterprise.
PembrokeMaine
[Cobscook] Reversing Falls Park (Town Park)
Pembroke, MaineTopCamping, picnicking, brief hiking, fossil hunting along the shore at low water, wildlife. Overlooks beautiful Cobscook Reversing Falls, an impressive tidal eddy over large rocks in Cobscook Bay, which reverses nearly instantaneously -- there is no "slack water" between tides. The water rushing over the rocks gives the impression of a waterfall. Seals, eagles, and seabirds are frequently seen here.
Note: High and low water at this location occur more than one hour later than at Eastport's tide sensing station, so you may want to plan accordingly.
PerryMaine
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45th Parallel Geographical Marker & Roadside Rest
Perry, MaineGranite marker indicates the halfway point between the Equator and the North Pole.
Gleason Cove Park & Boat Ramp
Perry, MaineTopLarge Grassy Area, Boat Ramp, Beach, with views of Gleason Cove, Western Passage, and Deer Island. This is an excellent location for night skywatching and observing the occasional aurora borealis.
Red Beach, CalaisMaine
—Operated by Acadia National Park, US National Park Service.
Red Beach, Calais, MaineRiverside view of St. Croix Island, statuary, pavilion with model settlement, restrooms, parking area, and boat launch.
The first European settlement north of Florida, named "Acadia" (Acadie) by its founders, where Samuel Champlain and Pierre Dugua, the Sieur de Mons, wintered in 1604. Displays on both the Maine and New Brunswick sides of the St. Croix River, in English and in French, look out to what the explorers named "St. Croix Island" (also known by a more recent — but discontinued — name, "Dochet's Island").
Several larger-than-life bronze statues depicting Passamaquoddy Indians and the French settlers align the path from parking lot to overlook, where a bronze scale model of the original settlement stands in a rustic gazebo above the St. Croix River, with views of St. Croix Island, where the settlement of Acadia once stood.
An international celebration of the 1604 settlement occurred in 2004. For details, visit http://www.digitales.ie/04stecroix/ .
Island is viewable in New Brunswick from visitor site on Route 127 in the community of Bayside.
Roque BluffsMaine
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Roque Bluffs State Park
Roque Bluffs, Maine
St. AndrewsNew Brunswick
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St. Andrews Blockhouse National Historic Site
St. Andrews, New BrunswickA restored, authentic blockhouse with cannon, built to defend St. Andrews from American attack during the War of 1812.
Sunbury Shores
St. Andrews, New BrunswickTopShore hiking (and Art Gallery)
St. StephenNew Brunswick
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Ganong Nature & Marine Park
350 Todd's Point Road
Dufferin Parrish [6 miles downriver of St. Stephen]
New Brunswick
— Owned & operated by St. Croix Estuary Project Inc.(Open year around. Special events held throughout the year.)
Seven trails, learning stations, scenic views of Oak Bay, St. Croix Island, Devil's Head (Maine), and Passamaquoddy Bay; property includes Ganong Cottage, the Quoddy Kiosk and artificial tide pool.
TrescottMaine
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Commissary Point & Rocky Point
Trescott, MaineHiking trails, scenic views, wildlife. A series of trails with views of Whiting Bay and the Orange River.
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Morong Point
Trescott, MaineUnmarked walking route, wildlife. Open fields and wetlands adorn this site, along the mudflats of Morong Cove.
Other Parks, Recreation, & Hiking Resources
The Fundy Footpath A coastal wilderness at Fundy National Park, New Brunswick, Canada
© 1996 2017 Old Sow Publishing
