Downeast, Maine, USA

Follow Maine’s coast northeast toward the border with Canada and where do you end up? Downeast Maine. A little-visited corner of the state, Downeast is achingly beautiful but surprisingly remote, and certainly worth a visit for anyone within a 4- or 5-hour drive. We spent a long weekend Downeast from our home in Portland.

Visited Cobscook Bay State Park. Parked at 44.849736, -67.158687.
Visited Shackford Head State Park. Parked at 44.905441, -67.012526. This park is infamous thanks to its annoying little fire ant population, but we didn’t have a problem; we just kept moving and never sat down. We wouldn’t recommend it if you have a fluffy friend in tow.
Checked into our Airbnb and settled into Eastport.
Our Airbnb had a full kitchen which we used over the course of our stay to cook some of our meals using fresh ingredients from local grocery stores.
Takeout dinner from The Happy Crab in Eastport.

Visited Quoddy Head State Park, the easternmost point in the continental US. Parked at 44.813857, -66.952459. Hiked the Inland, Bog, Thompson, and Coastal Trail. Easy hike with great coastal views. Even some of the inland sections are great; we especially liked walking through and learning about the peat bog.
Hiked the Boot Head Preserve Trail. Parked at the main parking lot. More good coastal views.
Dinner at Nook & Cranny in Baileyville.

Hiked the Bold Coast Trail. Despite the fog, rain, and mosquitos, this was one of the most memorable trails we’ve ever done. It’s a very diverse trail, taking you through the woods, along cliffs, and across beaches. And we barely ran into anyone over the whole 11 miles, which took us about 6 hours including stops.
Takeout dinner from The Happy Crab in Eastport.

If the weather was better, we would have pushed ourselves to visit the Western Head Preserve Trail.
If the US-Canada border was open, we would have visited Campobello Island.

Britt Fabello