Cobscook’s scenic beauty is big draw

I’m gonna let you in on a little secret. If you enjoy camping, the ocean, wildlife, and hiking, and you don’t like the idea of sharing your experience with hundreds of others, you owe it to yourself to check out Cobscook Bay State Park.

You may have read last week that many of the state’s parks had increased attendance this summer and that many had to turn away visitors. There’s nothing worse than heading out for an enjoyable outing and find the outdoors off limits because you were not waiting in line at the gate at the crack of dawn. Hey, it happens. I was in Baxter State Park this summer interviewing a park ranger and listened to the two-way radio traffic – campground after campground was full at 3 p.m.

Of course making reservations might be one way to assure admission, but some parks are getting so busy you may not find the date you want. Heck, if you want a prime choice at Baxter in August you need to stand in the cold on New Year’s Day to sign up.

Based on this past summer’s experience, you won’t have that trouble on most days at Cobscook Bay State Park. Park Manager Stuart Wagner said this season the park was 75 percent full on any given day, with some weekends closer to 100 percent, but no one was turned away.

While availability is a plus, the best selling point of this park is its beauty. There are a few special places in Maine such as the Allagash Wilderness Waterway and Baxter. You probably have your own short list. When you visit Cobscook, I’m sure you’ll add it to yours.

Located on the western shore of Whiting Bay, the 888-acre park is carved out of the 7,200-acre Moosehorn National Wildlife Refuge’s Edmunds Unit. And from my perspective it got the best part. Nearly half of the well-spaced 106 camping sites are located on or near the shore – where you can dig up to a peck of clams to eat – and many of the others are tucked away so as to give you a feeling of privacy. Wagner said some folks told him they felt too isolated and asked for sites nearer other campers.

And if day or picnic use is what you’re looking for, you won’t find better day-use facilities anywhere. The whole south end of the park is set aside strictly for you. You’ll have to be quiet, though, because there’s an eagle’s nest within view (if you know where to look). Picnic tables are sheltered and there are six Adirondack-type log shelters dating back to the time of the Civilian Conservation Corps (1933-42).

And if boating is more your style, there is a public boat launch ramp adjacent to the park with floats that will accommodate anything you can tow and for all but the lowest of the 24-foot tides you’ll experience. It’s the cooperative result of a Community Development Block Grant to Washington County, the park, and Moosehorn National Wildlife Refuge. It’s a wonderful launch ramp and you won’t be charged for using it. There’s even a sheltered picnic table and pit toilet.

The area of Whiting Bay in front of the campground is well-suited for canoeing and kayaking. While I was there for a night last week, I paddled my kayak along the frontage of the park after launching from my campsite. My only regret was that I didn’t have more time to explore the area. My wish is to return and paddle more of the upper reaches of the bay. From the campground you could paddle up to Whiting (four miles by road).

I met a couple from Bath who had spent the week paddling in the area. They had camped and canoed there before, but this was their first time kayaking and they told me they were having a ball. Wagner said the park has become a popular paddling destination.

When you boat in this area, you should be aware of the extreme range of tides and the resultant currents they produce. Be careful! Not far from here is the awesome reversing falls where Whiting and Dennys bays empty into Cobscook Bay. Stay away from the falls in any boat. Drive your car down Leighton Neck from Pembroke and take a look from shore. You’ll be impressed at the power flowing past your eyes.

Whoever designed the park had tent campers in mind. The Cobscook Point area has 31 tent-only sites – some several yards from where you can park – 18 of which have water frontage. There is a recreational vehicle section with 27 sites, many of them pull-through. All campsites are primitive. Trash cans are located in central areas of each camping area, there are some 84 pit toilets, and water is available at specified locations. Other than that there are no amenities such as electric and sewer hookups. There is one central shower building with an honor system 25-cent charge.

Wagner said the park has three cemeteries and loads of old apple trees, evidence of the many farms which used to exist on the land now within park boundaries. There are six miles of roads in the park (bring your bike) as well as a nature trail along Burnt Cove, and just outside the park is a fire tower which provides magnificent views of the entire region. The sunset is spectacular from atop the tower.

Perhaps Wagner best summed up the park when he told me that he’d worked at “a lot of campgrounds. This is the best by far.”

Moosehorn National Wildlife Refuge is just across Route 1 with its 50 miles of roads and trails open for hiking, cross country skiing, and snowmobiling. Established in 1937 as a refuge and breeding ground for migratory birds and other wildlife, it is the first on a chain of migratory bird refuges extending from Maine to Florida. In recent years as many as three pairs of eagles have nested at Moosehorn. Some 140-plus bird species and some 35 animal species have been observed in the area.

A little farther afield are Campobello Island, New Brunswick, Quoddy Head State Park, and Machiasport with Fort O’Brien State Park which overlooks the site on Machias Bay where the first naval engagement of the American Revolution took place (five days prior to the Battle of Bunker Hill).

Other places of interest include Shackforth Head, Roque Bluffs State Park, and the Patrick Lake and Rocky Lake Management Units run by the state’s Bureau of Parks and Lands. Also within an easy drive is another of the Bureau’s units, the Cutler Coast, nicknamed the Bold Coast. When you see it you’ll know why. I’ll tell you more about this special place in a future column.

To get to Cobscook Bay Campground from the Bangor area, drive east on Route 1 through Ellsworth, Milbridge, Machias, and Whiting. The park is 4 miles north of Whiting. Coming south on Route 1, it is 4 miles south of Dennysville. The distance from Bangor is 107 miles. For more information call 726-4412, or you can check out the website at www.state.me.us/doc/prkslnds/cobscook.htm. The park is open until Oct. 15.

Jeff Strout’s column is published Tuesday and Thursday. He can be reached at 990-8202.