Hiking and Biking

Downeast [1] is an outdoors-lover’s dream, with dozens of parks full of hiking trials. Many of its trails can be discovered with the help of Cobscook Trails, a 55-page booklet produced by the Quoddy Regional Land Trust (352 Rte. 1, P.O. Box 49, Whiting, 04691, 207/733-5509, www.qrlt.org [2]). Copies can be mail-ordered for $10 or purchased for $7 at local stores.

The little-visited Maine Coastal Islands National Wildlife Refuge (Pigeon Hill Rd., Steuben, 207/546-2124, www.fws.gov [3]) has many trails along its miles of rocky coastline. On a clear day, you can see the 123-foot lighthouse on Petit Manan Island.

The often fog-shrouded 1,579-acre Great Wass Island Preserve (Rte. 187, 207/729-5181, www.nature.org [4]) protects the tip of Jonesport’s peninsula with prime territory for bird-watching. Trails of between one and five miles hug the coastline.

Named for the summer cottage where President Roosevelt spent time as a boy, the Roosevelt Campobello International Park (Campobello Island, off Rte. 189, Lubec, 506/752-2922, www.fdr.net [5], free) encompasses 2,800 acres on an island off of Lubec, jointly managed between the United States and Canada. Driving roads take in much of the park, but to really get prime views of the rugged Bay of Fundy coast, take the Liberty Point to Raccoon Beach trail, which skirts treacherous cliffs on its way to a sandy beach.

For bikers, the Downeast Route—East Coast Greenway stretches 140 miles from Ellsworth [6] to Calais, taking in gobs of ocean scenery on the way. Download a free mile-by-mile guide from the website of Maine Department of Transportation (207/624-3250, www.exploremaine.org/bike/downeast.html [7]).