Fort Point State Park

In this 120-acre state park, you’ll find a beautiful pier that extends out into the Penobscot River, a lighthouse with an old fog horn bell, and a pebbly beach. The park, which requires a small fee for visitors from May to October, offers a mix of easy forested paths, short dirt roads, and open mown areas with apple trees. At summer’s end, you can have your fill of blackberries growing alongside the trails. There are a number of private picnic table nooks.

While there aren’t lengthy walking trails here, you can make a fairly long hike if you walk down the 1.2-mile paved access road (State Park Road), around the small point, and back along Lighthouse Road (1.1 miles), a pretty residential lane. A 0.1-mile side trail off State Park Road provides access to Grant’s Landing, a small cove where I’ve seen people clamming. There’s two parking spots here.

The fort is named for Fort Pownall, established in 1759, and today you can walk around the fort’s stone ruins (they’re just collapsed stone walls, really). The estate-like feel of the park might be leftovers from when a luxury seasonal hotel drew wealthy guests from Boston and New York City. They arrived by steamboat, lured by the Maine coast and the hotel’s amenities: running water, gas lights, stables, and two dance pavilions. The hotel burned down in 1898.

Directions: The address is 207 Lighthouse Road. Turn onto W Main Street from Route 1 in Stockton Springs. Then turn down Cape Jellison Road, which makes a loop around the point. You can access the park from State Park Road or Lighthouse Road. There are a number of parking lots in the park, with lots of spaces. The park is open May 15 to October 15 and requires a small charge. Off season, visitors can park outside the gate and walk in free of charge.