a fleet of 22- to 25-foot inflatables and center consoles, which makes a nice way to explore the MITA for someone who doesn’t have or can’t BYOB (bring your own boat). CAMP OUT Overnight or multi-night camping is a big draw on many MITA islands. In the Casco Bay area, this includes 221-acre Jewell, located about 3 miles southeast of Little Chebeague and 15 miles offshore from Portland. Visitors find 12 campsites and primitive privies, and fires are allowed in designated fire rings. Raccoons make it imperative to lock up food.Those who want to camp overnight on their boats can drop anchor in Cocktail Cove on the island’s northwest side. “Jewell has several campsites and is most likely the busiest on the weekends. There are several campsites in the cove or
Great Wass Island Preserve is day-use only with a beautiful, sheltered cove rimmed with a beach ideal for picnicking. There’s also a four-mile hiking trail with rare flora along the way from the beachhead iris to huge stands of coastal jack pine and bogs where the rare edible baked-apple berry grows. Overnighters can go farther down east less than a mile across the Mud Hole Channel to the one-acre Little Water Island.There’s enough camping room for two among the spruce trees on this grassy rock of an island. It’s a location surreal enough to think you’re in Oz. But this isn’t Kansas, it’s Maine, with a jewel of an island-lined coast at its best. For more info, go to mita.org
punch bowl, which is a huge tidal pool with lots of marine life, including lobsters. My favorite is the campsite located in the middle of the island on the west shore. A private area with a spectacular sunset view and sand beach,” says Chris Saxton, manager and second-generation family owner of the 60-slip Dolphin Marina & Restaurant, located in Harpswell, ME, on Casco Bay. OFF THE BEATEN TRAIL The trail also offers great opportunities for day and overnight camping trips farther north. Seventy-acre Warren Island State Park, about 9 miles northeast of Camden in Penobscot Bay, has a dock and beach on the east side of the island, as well as a small campground. Even more off the beaten track near Jonesport, Molly Cove on the 71-acre
To view this article online, visit marinalife.com/MaineIslandTrail
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SPRING 2022
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