Downeast Maine

The Maine coast from Acadia National Park to the Canadian border is called “Downeast Maine”, abbreviated from the direction sailors would travel “downwind” and “east” from elsewhere in New England. Besides the super busy area of Acadia NP near Bar Harbor, this part of Maine is a hidden gem.

After our beeline through the Maritimes, we stopped at Sunset Point RV Park in Lubec, ME for the workweek. The park delivered on their sunset promise. I think our rear widows are our favorite part of the Brinkley.

We wanted to see a couple of lighthouses in the area. The West Quoddy Head Lighthouse is the easternmost point in the US.

On Friday afternoon, we had one more Canadian adventure for the summer. We headed across a short bridge from Lubec to Campobello Island, New Brunswick, to see the East Quoddy Head Lighthouse. You can walk to the little island the lighthouse sits on at low tide.

While on Campobello Island, we also stopped at FDR and Eleanor’s summer house for a tour.

On Saturday, we moved a couple of hours south to spend Labor Day weekend and the following week in Acadia. We stayed at Schoodic Woods campground in the “quiet side” of Acadia on the Schoodic Peninsula. This is the only big-rig friendly campground in the park.

Sites in B Loop have water/electric and are huge and this was one of the quietest and nicest National Park campgrounds we’ve stayed in.

We also wanted to hike the Precipice trail on Mount Desert Island that was closed for bird nesting when we visited in the Spring. The Precipice is the craziest of all Acadia’s iron rung and ladder trails and one that really makes you wonder why the NPS allows people to do these things.

We were at the trailhead at 6:30 am to hike before it got crowded and practically had it to ourselves.

Those are just two photos of the craziness, it went on like that for nearly 3/4 of a mile to the summit of Champlain Mountain. Once at the top, there was a great view of Frenchman Bay and Bar Harbor, similar to the view from Cadillac Mountain.

We also spent some time at the viewpoints and doing a few short hikes along the Schoodic Loop road near our campground. Below are Schoodic Point (L) and Schoodic Head (R).

And Raven’s Nest, which is an unmarked stop that we almost missed. We think it is one of the most beatiful spots in Acadia!

We’ll be enjoying more of the Maine coast for the next few weeks!