Fort McClary is a Maine State Park with a historic defensive fortification at Kittery Point near Kittery Maine. The site still contains several remaining buildings, most prominent of these is the hexagonal blockhouse; a small, isolated fort in the form of a single building (wikipedia).
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Ferry Beach State Park; Copyright © Eric Holsinger
Ferry Beach State Park is a recreational gem in the Saco area. It is a well maintained state park with wide, flat, groomed trails through oak and pine forest and a tupelo swamp, around a pond and with access to the beach.
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Mackworth Island perimeter hiking trail is highly accessible and offers excellent views of Casco Bay’s islands and Portland’s Eastern Promenade. This is an easy hiking trail suitable for children, strollers and leashed dogs. Access to the shore is steep and difficult in most places, but fishing, beach combing and bird watching for pipers and other shore birds is also popular.
The trail is 1.25 mi long and circles the perimeter of this 100 acre island, connected to Falmouth by the Andrew’s Avenue causeway, near Martin’s Point in Falmouth. There is a small parking lot and the area is maintained by the Maine Department of Conservation. There is no waiting on the island for a parking space to open.
A popular activity is fairy house building. There is a designated place on the island, called Fairy Village, where visitors are allowed to build structures with materials found on the island. Please respect the island and only build in the designated area, with natural materials – nothing alive, of course. There is plenty of material to use from fallen pines, seashells and stones. Even if you don’t build, walking through Fairy Village is worth a stop.
If you have a Maine State Parks passport, be sure to bring it – there is a passport stamp box near the parking lot.
If you have EveryTrail (affiliate link) on your iPhone or Android, here is a link to my Mackworth Island track.
Plan your trips with EveryTrail iPhone Travel Guides
We can all thank the good people of Cape Elizabeth for their overwhelming rejection of a park admissions fee. Admissions to Fort Williams Park and Portland Head Light remain free to the public.
Admissions fees have been proposed several times; most recently in 1988. The admission fee has been rejected each time.
For some reason, Deborah Fowles at about.com says the park now has a $4.50 admissions fee. Maybe her page is just out of date.
