We had one more free day to explore on our own in Maine. And we were less than an hour from 2 of the most often recommended places for us to visit while in southern Maine. Both places are state parks on the ocean – Reid State Park and Popham Beach. Let’s go!
Popham beach extends for 3 miles between the Kennebec and Morse Rivers. In a way, it’s a classic beach – flat, sandy, filled with families, blankets, umbrellas, driftwood and strutting seagulls. On the other hand, it stands out in its own way. Most of the coast of Maine is rocky, though at Popham it is not. Wood and Fox Islands, rocky outcroppings visible from the sandy beach, are reminders that we’re still in Maine. The interaction of the Morse River and the tides results in waves (extra-large for our visit due to a storm the prior day) that move in unpredictable directions which were just fascinating to watch.
It’s not in our nature to relax contentedly under an umbrella on a beach, so we took a walk along the shore. At high tide, the waves tickled our feet in places where the beach narrowed. As the tide receded, it started to expose sandbars, especially near the mouth of the Morse River. We had a beautiful walk in the sun.
Reid State Park features 2 sandy beaches – Mile beach and Half Mile beach, separated by a rocky outcropping – and hiking trails along the Little and Sheepscot Rivers. This section of Maine coast was flat with salt marshes and tidal lagoons with the usual cast of shorebirds. The white egrets were particularly easy to spot and identify. We also saw 4 deer (including one spotted fawn just a few days old), feasting a long the marshes.
On a really hot day, the sea breeze was welcome, as was the shade along the Little River Trail.
For anyone who’s interested, more Popham Beach and Reid State Park pix…
