Dolores Kong - Coastal Trails of Maine

We want to thank some key people who provided important help and guidance and always responded to our questions about the coastal trails of Maine: Gary Stellpflug, trails foreman at Acadia National Park; Charlie Jacobi, retired ranger and natural resource specialist at Acadia National Park; Michael J. Good, a registered Maine guide and owner of Down East Nature Tours in Bar Harbor, who identified most of the scores of wild birds we photographed on the coastal trails of Maine; Jill E. Weber, consulting botanist at Acadia National Park, who identified many of the flowers and other plants we photographed at the coast; Tom and Susan Hayward of Mount Desert, guides during the Acadia Birding Festival who later identified photos of birds and plants; Michele L. Brann, reference librarian at the Maine State Library, who provided invaluable research for this book; and Sam Smith, journalist, author, and also a board member of the Wolfes Neck Center for Agriculture & the Environment.

We owe a lot to the managers, staff, directors, and others of the municipal, state, federal, private, and nonprofit conserved lands that provide public access to the coastal trails of Maine, including Dick Cough of the Bar Harbor Village Improvement Association; Laura Sewall of the BatesMorse Mountain Conservation Area; Nicholas J. Ullo of Boothbay Region Land Trust; Steven Allen of the Bowdoin College Schiller Coastal Studies Center; Bill Elliot of Camden Hills State Park; Billy Claflin and Carolyn Shubert of Coastal Rivers Conservation Trust; Kurt Shoener of Crescent Beach and Kettle Cove State Parks; Jon Southern of Downeast Coastal Conservancy; Cornelia J. Cesari of Keepers of Baker Island; Tom Bradbury of Kennebunkport Conservation Trust; Charles Cannon of Holbrook Island Sanctuary; Daniel Grenier, Doug Radziewicz, and Nancy Sferra of The Nature Conservancy; Nicholas Lund and Jenn Schmitt of Maine Audubon; Brian Benedict of Maine Coastal Islands National Wildlife Refuge and Northeast Canyons and Seamounts Marine National Monument; Caleb Jackson, Jane Arbuckle, and Melissa Lee of Maine Coast Heritage Trust; Gary Best of Maine Bureau of Parks and Lands; Jeanne Roche of the Marginal Way Preservation Fund; Rebecca FitzPatrick, Frederick Faller, and Rick Cameron, all of Monhegan Associates, Inc.; Sean M. Vaillancourt of Popham Beach State Park; Shawn Goggin of Quoddy Head State Park; Kimberly Ashby and Larry Conrad of the visitor center at Quoddy Head State Park; Steve Norris and Sue Keefer of Rachel Carson National Wildlife Refuge; Samantha Wilkinson of Reid State Park; Tom Blake of South Portland Land Trust; Scott Richardson, Sue Bickford, and Paul Dest of Wells Reserve at Laudholm; and Andy Hutchinson of Wolfes Neck Woods State Park.

We are also grateful to the following people from Maine (unless otherwise noted), including Christie Denzel Anastasia, John T. Kelly, Maureen Fournier, and Anne Warner, all of Acadia National Park; John McKee of Bowdoin College; Ed and Deb Hawkes of Bar Harbor; Deborah Dyer of the Bar Harbor Historical Society; Tim Henderson of Castine; Reta Farnham Hunter of Brooksville; Ann Simonelli of The Conservation Fund in Arlington, VA; Teresa M. Bragg of the Town of Cutler; David MacDonald, Jim Linnane, Gerry Fournier, and Jack Russell, all of Friends of Acadia; Robin Emery of Lamoine; Barbara Hopp Linton of Sullivan; Shannon Knight, owner of County Road Cuts, and Tara Matthews, both of Trescott, for giving us a much-needed ride; Eleody Libby of Lubec; Charles Legris of Lubec; Jennifer Multhopp, librarian at the Town of Lubec; Steve Spencer, retired from the Maine Bureau of Public Reserved Lands; Claire L. Enterline of the Maine Coastal Program, Department of Marine Resources; Janet Parker of the Maine Department of Agriculture, Conservation and Forestry; Carl Tugend and Colin Shankland, both of the Maine Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife; Sean Birkel and Shane Moeykens of the University of Maine; Timothy J. Dugan of the US Army Corps of Engineers, New England District in Concord, MA; Teri Frady of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration Northeast Fisheries Science Center in Woods Hole, MA; Darriel Swatts of the US Environmental Protection Agency in Boston; Rachel Holland of Steuben; Mildred Dinsmore and Sean Billings of the Steuben Historical Society; Judy East of the Washington County Council of Governments; Angi King Johnston, naturalist, of Mount Desert; and staff at the Maine Geological Survey.

Perhaps the most iconic coastal trail in Maine, the estimated mile-long Marginal Way starts in a quintessential seaport community and takes you high above the Atlantic surf, with optional treks down stairs to ledges and small beaches. The trail features such sights as the Devils Kitchen gorge and a replica lighthouse and passes by resorts and private estates.

Start:Marginal Way trailhead on Shore Road at the Sparhawk Oceanfront Resort, across from Obeds Lane

Elevation gain:50 feet

Distance:2.2 miles out and back

Difficulty:Easy

Hiking time:11.5 hours

Seasons/schedule:Open year-round; best spring through fall, particularly early morning or late afternoon in summer to avoid the crowds

Fees and permits:No fees or permits

Trail contact:Marginal Way Committee, Town of Ogunquit, PO Box 875, Ogunquit 03907; (207) 646-5139; townofogunquit.org/marginalwaycommittee

Marginal Way Preservation Fund, PO Box 1455, Ogunquit 03907; (207) 641-2200; marginalwayfund.org

Dog-friendly:Leashed dogs permitted Oct 1 through Mar 31; prohibited other times of year