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Walking Monhegan Island
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Written by GOseacoast Walks
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Page 1 of 3 
SCENIC WALKS
Monhegan, Maine
Among the most walkable islands in New England, practically every square foot on Monhegan is picture perfect. Off season in fall is best season since the tourists dominate the summer and the bugs take the spring. A victim of its own success, this ideal tourist and hiking destination is considering adding an access fee for daytrippers.
Name: Monhegan Island, Maine
Directions: Accessible by your boat or via ferries at Port Clyde
Details: Perfect for hikes on a variety of terrain from rounded dirt roads to rocky hilly terrain along the cliffs. Be sure to cover up and wear bug repellent. Excellent maps are available free on the island with seaside, village and wooded walks well defined.
Resources: Small restaurants, two little (one room) stores with everything you need. No public restrooms, but bathrooms at two private hotels and dining sites. Trail markers and all the resources of a small island fishing village.
Rules: Carry in, carry out. Don’t cut or damage plants or seashore. Stay on paths. Watch your step.
Dogs: Allowed on leash.
Trail map web page
 Monhegan in Maine is certainly a contender for the title of Perfect New England Island for Daytrippers. There are winding woodsy trails for the hikers, art cottages for the cultured, a funky museum in a lighthouse for the history lovers and great food and stunning scenery for everyone. Ten miles off the Maine coast, visitors can get the lay of the land and the town center in an afternoon, but it takes a couple of days to really wander the trails and coastline which includes sheer 150 foot cliffs with nary a warning sign or a guard rail. There are bugs in season, lots of bugs including ticks, if the wind isn’t up.
The boat ride from Port Clyde (about 3.5 hours from Portsmouth) is long and slow. There are only five places to stay on the island unless you know someone with a cottage or rent your own.
Ten miles from the Maine coast, the island feels very isolated, which is why hundreds of visitors make the trip daily in season. They walk the dusty roads while locals buzz by in golf carts or trucks filled with lobster traps. The island is half a mile wide and 1 ¾ mile long.
There seems to be a sense, among locals, that Monhegan is in danger of going the way of Nantucket. It would then be too costly and too cutesy for any except the rich. So far Monhegan is winning the battle to stay accessible and wild, and to that end, if I were to be imprisoned on an island of my choice, this would be it. The fact that there are more tourists from New York and New Jersey than from nearby New Hampshire means a steady input of city culture. The fact that most of the tourists still come from Maine means New Englanders outnumber the come-from-aways.
Trek through the pine woods where fairies, reportedly, build all those tiny houses made from sticks and pinecones. Wander the coastline and those same fairies have erected delicately balanced stone sculptures. We climbed all over the metal shipwreck painted and photographed by generations of artists. We slipped into every art shop twice and ate something in every food stop. We checked the island bulletin board and talked about renting a place for a month – if only we could afford it. As always, a great trip.
There is a debate on as to whether islanders should limit the number of summer visitors or charge a fee, possibly $20, to wander Monhegan. That money would go to keeping up 17-miles of trails and support the museum and protect the ecology of the island. Most people who took the recent survey said they favor limiting visitation in the future, but do not like the fee idea now. It’s true. The idea of an "access" fee to enter the town sends a strange message. But those feasibility studies don’t come cheap, and being the perfect island ain’t easy. -- JDR
Copyright © SeacoastNH.comn. All rights reserved.
OUTSIDE LINKS:
Monhegan Associates web site
Monhegan Commons web site
The Monhegan Museum web site
Hardy Boat from New Harbor web site
Monhegan Boat Line from Port Clyde web site
Balmy Days Cruise from BoothBay web site
Continue MONHEGAN TRAIL photo tour
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