QUICK TRAIL FACTS
- Preserve Size: 55 acres
- Trail Mileage: 1 mile
- Pets: yes
- Difficulty: easy
- Sights: Frenchman's Bay, a treehouse, playground, campground
The most dramatic parts of this 55-acre park are the open fields sloping down to the pebbly-sandy beachfront, backdropped with distant views of Cadillac Mountain. The wind is a pretty near constant, I hear, and you can sit under one of the apple trees and watch the fishing boats come and go on Frenchman’s Bay.
If you want to leave this lovely spot, you can head out on the easy 1-mile trail that makes a half circle around one half of the park. Don’t skip the treehouse! It’s a sturdy structure—impossible for even the clutziest person to fall from. The loop trail, while dirt, has been widened and leveled, so makes for easy walking. You can pick it up near the beach area, or up by the ranger’s station at the top of the park.
If you visit during the summer season, from May 15-October 15, you’ll have to pay a park entry fee. During the off-season, the park is free, but you have to park outside the gate.
Directions: From Route 1 from Ellsworth, turn onto Route 183 and go about eight miles. You’ll first see a pretty iron fence, a remnant from the time when the park was a coaling, or fueling station for the US Navy, before seeing the park sign and entrance road on your right.
