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American Idyll at the Coastal Maine Botanical Gardens

January 21, 2009 - BOOTHBAY — Maine's outdoors are home to a few phenomenal deals. Consider this: Baxter State Park is free for Mainers, saltwater fishing costs nothing, and during the winter, free public skating ponds abound, even in Portland.

Think you'd get a free pass to a skating rink with nighttime lighting in Boston or New York City? No chance.

Another of Maine's remarkable resources are its free coastal trails. And this time of year, some of these public footpaths can be enjoyed for free and without crowds.

One of the newest public coastal trails is particularly awe inspiring. The more than half-mile trail that hugs the Back River at the Coastal Maine Botanical Gardens is a gem buried in the Boothbay peninsula.

Opened less than two years ago, the gardens are quickly growing into a unique outdoor oasis. And from January through March, admission is free.

Situated on a 230-acre coastal swath of forest, 12 acres have been cultivated into a moving, ever-changing museum of trees, shrubs and flowers. Every year, new sections are landscaped, and more trails are added. The tidewaters of the Sheepscot River are displayed as if from an artist's canvas. Seeing the grounds in winter on skis, it's more than a tranquil garden. With the sound of waves, images of stone benches and the feel of salt air, there are enough distractions to forget the cold, even on a windy day.

"I've come back from skiing and had white lips from the salt," said Dianne Ward, a local innkeeper and ski instructor at the gardens.

Just a few miles from Route 27 in Boothbay Harbor, the Gardens' shoreline trail has views to the islands of the Sheepscot River.

While the grounds are cultivated with exotic trees and plants, the benches are almost all made from stone, highlighting the natural world.

In winter, the bones of the gardens stand out and create a beauty all their own. Large stones, seemingly uncut, balance just above the ground, offering a respite along the water and, in some places, out of the wind.

"There are lots of benches," said Barbara Freeman, the Gardens' communications director. "Some were unearthed in the garden and set aside; other were quarried from throughout Maine. They are all Maine stones."

The woodland trails are not groomed for Nordic skiers, but Ward, who teaches cross-country skiing for free at the gardens, said the vacant wood paths beside exotic trees and sculptures slow the pace down.

"I was there one day by myself, and I was crying. As many times as I've skied in Maine, at the touring center in Bethel, that was so amazing and peaceful. It's just different," Ward said. "It's non-commercial, because there are no groomers. It's a meditation place too. I don't meditate, but I ski. For me, it's the same thing."

There are other stretches of coastal public trails in Maine, but not all are free – and not all can be navigated by Nordic skis.

The Maine Bureau of Parks and Lands preserves many with less than a mile of coastal trails, including Two Lights State Park in Cape Elizabeth, Camden Hills State Park and Holbrook Island Sanctuary State Park in Brooksville.

Some public lands have more stretches of shoreline than that.

Mackworth Island has 1.25 miles of seaside trails, and is free. Moose Point in Belfast has a mile of coastal trails, and further up the coast, Quoddy Head State Park in Lubec has just under two miles of coastal trails.

But once again, many of the coastal walkways along Maine's rugged coast are not safe to ski: Cutler's Bold Coast Trail being one example.

"That is a world-class experience, but it's called that for a reason" said Gary Best, interpretive planner for the Bureau of Parks and Lands. "It's so rare. There is three-and-a-half miles right along the shore. (But) as far as cross country skiing, it would not be recommended."

By DEIRDRE FLEMING, Staff Writer, Portland Press Herald
January 15, 2008


Lakes:
Regions: Mid Coast


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