QUICK TRAIL FACTS
- Preserve Size: Not sure
- Trail Mileage: 3 miles in network
- Pets: yes
- Difficulty: easy to moderate
- Sights: Cobscook reversing falls, Straight Bay, islands
One of the many Cobscook Shores preserve that dot this part of Downeast, Race Point offers the hallmarks of this park network — screened-in picnicking pavilions, well-made trails, and amazing views of the intricate and ecologically important Cobscook Bay. Additionally, parts of the trail system here are wheelchair accessible, another common feature of the Cobscook Shore parks.
Race Point is a great place to check out the dramatic reversing falls in the bay. The “racing tides,” as Cobscook Shores describes them (and warns about trying to paddle them), produce a steady roar as a sonic backdrop for your walk.
The trails bring you along the shore and through mown fields. You can extend your walk by doing a 0.8-mile loop around the adjacent Race Point peninsula, a Maine Inland Fisheries and Wildlife tract. I recommend this to check out the beauty of Straight Bay and Gooseberry Island.
We also did the short (0.35 miles) spur to Mowe’s Mountain to check out the modest view of Dennny’s Bay.
Directions: Race Point is at the end of Crows Neck Road. When the pavement ends, continue straight on a narrow lane. You’ll pass a home on the left. The first parking lot is 0.3 miles from the intersection with Porcupine Lane. Additionally, it looks like you may be able to park at a second parking area if you keep driving along the road, at a turnaround near a gate.
