Pike Lands & Pike Lands Cove

Description

There are two maintained trails at Pike Lands each offering a unique experience.

Huckins Beach Trail (1 mile round trip): The trail starts from the parking area on the south side of the North Lubec Road.  From the back of the parking area, the trail crosses the field and continues gently uphill through patchy woods and old fields to the height of land (the West Loop Trail diverges to the right part-way up the slope). 

Hikers can follow a loop going either direction.  At the junction of the West Loop Trail and The Huckins Beach Trail hikers can follow a spur to a pocket shingle beach, known locally as Huckins Beach.  The beach can be explored depending on the tide. The South Bay shore is very steep and cliffy; hikers are advised to stay on the trail and supervise children closely.  

Cove Trail (0.5 miles round trip): This easy walk starts at the Downeast Adventures sign on the north side of the North Lubec Road. Walk down the lane to emerge at a small field with apple trees and an old barn, used by the Regional Medical Center at Lubec's Downeast Adventures outdoor education/community health program. Continue across the field, under the "zip line", to the woods on the far side. The trail slopes down gently through woods past two lean-tos that are used for Downeast Adventures overnights. At the shore, the trail hooks right to end at the stony beach midway along the tidal cove.

At most stages of the tide, the beach can be walked to the cove mouth. For a longer hike, explore the rocky shore to the left of the cove mount as far as the barrier beach that forms the northern end of the property (distances from end of trail to barrier beach via cove mouth: 0.4 miles). Retrace your steps to return.

Other Information

ABOUT

Pike Lands is open dusk to dawn, from May to October. It is a part of Cobscook Shores, a system of fifteen waterfront parks that are privately owned and/or maintained by Cobscook Shores INC., a family funded Maine charitable foundation. The parklands offer public access and recreational use including walking, picnicking, hiking, biking, camping, and paddling in Cobscook Bay.

The Pike Lands, named in honor of Radcliffe and Sumner Pike, were acquired in 2005 by the then Quoddy Regional Land Trust and Health Ways/Regional Medical Center at Lubec with support from the Land For Maine’s Future program.  The Downeast Coastal Conservancy now owns the South Bay side of the property (Pike Lands) and holds a conservation easement on the Cobscook Bay side (Pike Lands Cove), which is owned and managed by Cobscook Shores.

GUIDELINES

• Visitors shall respect the quiet enjoyment of nature. 
• Please, no radios, drones, or loud noise.
• No RVs or other large vehicles in the parking lot.
• Paddlers are welcome; no motorboats, except for clamming access.
• Leashed dogs are welcome. Please clean up after your dog. Dog waste can cause clam flat closures, help us protect water quality and livelihoods. All other pets are prohibited.
• We are a carry in/carry out facility. Leave no trace.
• Fires are prohibited.
• Picnicking is encouraged. All food, drink, and other waste must be carried out.
• It would be very much appreciated if visitors would remove debris from trail and trash inadvertently dropped by other visitors.
• The salt marsh, tidal lagoons, and wooded "island” adjacent to the beach on the Cobscook Bay side are easily damaged by trampling. Please keep to the beach and rocky shore. 

This trail passes through a property that was acquired in part with funds from the Land for Maine’s Future program. For more information about the LMF program and the places it has helped to protect, please visit the LMF webpage.

Trail Manager

The Downeast Coastal Conservancy owns the property to the west of North Lubec Road, and Cobscook Shores owns the land to the east of the road. For more information, contact: