Sandy Point Beach

Standing on the pretty sandy beach at this state park, you can see the remains of several historical uses of this site, including 19th-century shipbuilding infrastructure, pier pilings for a fertilizer factory, and, at low tide, parts of a wharf for an early 20th-century passenger steamboat, the Boston-Bangor Packet. According to the town, you can also spot seals at a mid-river ledge! The beach makes for good walking, as do the trails that traverse this property.

Behind the beach, you’ll find a short network of mown paths. They bring you to an overlook of the moldering piers — popular with cormorants, and they pass a little pond. (There’s an unofficial short path to the pond’s edge.) Some of these little trails behind the beach are laid with gravel and some are a bit rougher.

If you decided to extend your walk along the Amazon Trail, a 1.1-mile loop, you’ll cross narrow Hersey Retreat Road and head into the woods on an accessible path of packed gravel. This section of the path is about 0.3 miles long, and extends along the start of both legs of the loop. (It follows the old Bangor and Aroostook railroad spur that ran to the fertilizer plant.) But all too soon it ends!, leaving you to a regular woods walk with some bog bridging over wet areas and uneven terrain.

In 0.7 miles or 0.4 miles, depending on which leg of the loop you take, you’ll reach the beautiful beach at Crystal Cove. You can walk along the pebbly-sandy beach for about 0.2 miles and return via the inland path, making a short loop. The mown grassy overlook of Crystal Cove is a nice place to rest.

Close to the cove overlook, you can follow a trail across private property (an open field) to French’s Point, where there is a large parking lot (that walkers aren’t supposed to use, I presume) for French’s Point estate, a wedding venue. You can walk back along the road, if you wish.

The town, which manages the park, offers more information about the trails and the interesting history of the site, which is described as “once bustling with industry, now reclaimed by nature.” By the 19th century, shipbuilding had become an important activity here. Other tidbits: “Archaeological evidence shows that Native inhabitants fished for American shad as early as 8,000 years ago. …During the American Revolution, a major naval battle unfolded in these and nearby waters. Thirty-nine American vessels were lost. …During World War I, the US set up a shipyard on the south side of the beach and completed four vessels for the war effort.“ And at one point, the site was eyed for a possible nuclear power plant!

Directions: From Route 1, turn onto Steamboat Wharf Road. If you’re coming from the south, Steamboat Wharf Road will be on your right after Pirates Cove Road. If you are coming from the north, Steamboat Wharf Road is on your left after Sandy Point Road. Drive to the end of Steamboat Wharf Road to the parking lot — the trail system is at the far end of the lot.