Back to Mid Coast

INTRODUCTION

Beyond Casco Bay the shape of Maine's coast changes-it shreds. In contrast to the sandy arc of shoreline stretching from Kittery to Cape Elizabeth, the coast between Brunswick and Rockland is composed of a series of more than a dozen ragged peninsulas extending like so many fingers south from Rt. 1, creating myriad big and small harbors, coves, and bays. Scientists tell us that these peninsulas and the offshore islands are mountains drowned by the melting of the same glaciers that sculpted the many shallow lakes and tidal rivers in this area.

The 100 miles of Rt. 1 between Brunswick and Bucksport are generally equated with Maine's Midcoast, but its depth is actually far greater and more difficult to define. It extends south of Rt. 1 to the tips of every peninsula, from Potts Point in South Harpswell and Land's End on Bailey Island to Popham Beach on the Phippsburg Peninsula and Reid State Park in Georgetown and on through the Boothbays to Pemaquid Point, Friendship, Port Clyde, and Spruce Head. Along with Rockland, Camden, Belfast, Searsport, and the islands of Monhegan, Vinalhaven, North Haven, and Islesboro, these communities have all catered to summer visitors since steamboats began off-loading them in the mid-19th century.

Each peninsula differs in character from the next, but all offer their share of places to stay and eat in settings you rarely find along Rt. 1.

North of Rt. 1, this midcoastal area also extends slightly inland. Above Bath, for instance, five rivers meld to form Merrymeeting Bay, and north of Newcastle the tidal Damariscotta River widens into 13-mile-long Damariscotta Lake. This gently rolling, river- and lake-laced backcountry harbors a number of picturesque villages and reasonably priced lodging places.

We would hope that no one who reads our book simply sticks to Rt. 1.

 

THE MIDCOAST