Posted on October 25, 2021 and last updated on October 25, 2021

Eleanor Campbell Preserve, Vinalhaven

QUICK TRAIL FACTS

  • Preserve Size: 32 acres
  • Trail Mileage: 0.7 miles in network
  • Pets: yes
  • Difficulty: easy moderate
  • Sights: Polly Cove, cobble beach, The Bathing Pool, hardwood seepage forest


The quiet cobble beach on Polly Cove is surprisingly beautiful and big, at low tide at least! The path from the designated parking area down to the beach is steep, though. If you’re not sure you can walk it, the Vinalhaven Land Trust suggests you park in the small pullout at the foot of the hill on Zeke’s Point Road, in front of The Bathing Pool, and walk the flat 200-yard path across the preserve to the cove.

Meanwhile, if you are a confident walker, you can continue your walk by heading uphill from Polly Cove to a high point with views through trees, many draped with Old Man’s Beard. You can hear the sea below. Once you’re back on Zeke’s Point Road, you can check out The Bathing Pool, a dammed pool where “rusticators” once swam.

Directions: From the ferry, go left on Sands Road or 0.4 miles, right on Old Harbor Road in 0.3 miles, then bear left on North Haven Road for 1.9 miles, and bear right onto Calderwood Neck Road. After crossing the one-way bridge, in one mile you’ll take a left onto the dirt Zeke’s Point Road. The small parking area for the preserve is on the right in 0.8 miles.

Let me know if you have any trail updates or corrections!