Quoddy Head State Park, Lubec

This is an amazing state park — dramatic, windswept and comfortably cool on hot summer days — with a really decent hiking loop. Actually, it has two hiking loops. The trail closest to the famous striped lighthouse (West Quoddy Head Light) is called the Coast Guard Trail. It’s about 1 mile, and is wheelchair friendly, being wide and smooth but not paved. There are a couple of spur trails to harrowing overlooks from towering bluffs, as well as to a well-built staircase that leads up to a high wooden platform.

On the other side of the park, the western side, you can do a 3.8-mile or so loop hike along the gorgeous coast to a cove with a sandy beach (there is a path across the meadow from the beach to the park’s access road if you don’t want to walk all the way along the coastline). The first 1/4-mile of this coastal path is well trafficked, and then the crowds really thin out. On a recent weekend day, there was nobody on the path. The trail on this side is very easy going up to Green Point, and then it gets a little narrower and more rooty, albeit stays well marked. You can walk back through the forest. Don’t miss the little boardwalk loop in the bog!

This is a great little guide to the trail system.

Directions: From intersection of Route 1 and Route 189 in Whiting, follow Route 189 for 8.5 miles to South Lubec Road. Turn right and continue on the road for 2 miles to a fork. Bear left and continue 2 more miles to the park entrance. You can park in one of two lots: closer to the lighthouse or closer to the trailhead for the longer loop trail. The Coast Guard Trail starts close to the lighthouse — you’ll see a sign for it on your left if you’re looking at the ocean. The longer loop trail heads off to the right.