A Different Side of Downeast: A Weekend in Machias, ME
A paddlers paradise without the crowds in Machias, ME
Big smiles from James, Olivia, and Nathan in spite of the weather.
I am familiar with summer’s transformation into “Vacationland,” having lived in Maine for most of my life. Most Mainers will tell you wonderful tales of the seafood and sandy beaches in Kennebunk, the amazing culinary scene in Portland, and the absurdly beautiful landscape of Acadia National Park.
To get all of these delights with none of the crowds, visit Machias, a quaint and classic riverside town 3.5 hours north of Portland. It would be easy to spend a whole week or more exploring the natural beauty of “Downeast” with Machias as your homebase, but for those with only a weekend at their disposal, don’t worry: we’ll cover how to make the most of your time.
Day 0: The Way Up Downeast
If you’re coming from Portland, it is worth taking the long way north via Route 1; it’s just 20 minutes longer and more scenic than I-95. We departed in the afternoon, leaving time for a stopover in Searsport at Hey Sailor!, where we ordered fantastic burgers loaded onto housemade brioche buns. We took them to go because Mosman Park is just beyond the restaurant and affords a gorgeous water view for an evening picnic. We arrived at the Machias River Inn at 10:00p and tucked into bed right away to get ready for the packed weekend ahead. One thing to note: the office closes at 9:00p and the doors are code-locked, so call ahead if you plan to arrive late!
Day 1: There are Two Rocky Lakes?
We woke up bright and early to explore the inn and were absolutely delighted by the views off the deck of our first floor room: a light and misty fog over a quiet Machias River. There are riverside seats and a firepit behind the inn that would be a wonderful place to sip coffee as you wait for the rest of your group to rise in the morning.
Start your morning at Coffee + Crisp, just 10 minutes drive from the inn and much more than meets the eye. We could’ve spent the whole morning talking to the owners about their vision for this multidimensional property: a fully functional vegetable farm, marketplace for local crafts and food, spaces for catering and large events, and a number of A-frame accommodations on the property. It sits on a vast swath of wildflower garden paths that lead down to the water’s edge: a great place to walk off your meal. We did just that after farmer’s breakfasts with homefries ordered extra crispy and a plate of corned beef hash.
Enroute to our morning canoe adventure, we stopped by the Machias River General, a gem of a place to take home some local souvenirs of art and foodstuffs, particularly some Black Fly Breeders’ Association paraphernalia (if you know, you know). The woman running the store was kind enough to recommend we stop by Tom’s Mini Mart and Deli, situated, of course, directly behind the gas station. And if the portions weren’t enough for the price, to “let her know, and she’d have a word.” Tom’s featured ready-to-go salads of the lettuce-based and bean-based varieties, as well as simple sandwiches (we grabbed an Italian cold cuts sandwich and a tuna salad sandwich), and orderable fresh seafood baskets.
The middle of our first day was spent leisurely canoeing on Rocky Lake. The area is home to not one but four lakes by this name, so make sure that if you are planning to camp and/or boat here, you’ll want to head for the South Bay Launch on Diamond Match Road. There is parking here, but only enough for six cars. We rented canoes from the awesome folks at Sunrise Canoe and Kayak in Machias who arranged for the canoes to be waiting for us at the put-in.
This Rocky Lake is stewarded by the Maine Bureau of Parks and Lands and has a number of first-come-first-serve campsites dotting the edge of the lake. A number of islands sitting on the lake make lovely areas to paddle around, but they are privately owned for the most part, so you cannot land on them. We paddled for about 3.5 hours going halfway out on the lake, ate our picnic lunch in the boats, and then turned back.
For some other recommendations we connected with Colin Brown, a local paddler and the Executive Director of Downeast Coastal Conservancy. He suggested Vining Lake Preserve (a brook trout lake with good family-friendly paddling and fishing), Hadley Lake and Bog Lake for future day trips. He also pointed us toward the Orange River Water trail, just ~15 minutes from Machias.
We’d recommend a post-paddle coffee from the Crow’s Nest and a peanut butter whoopie pie, the Maine state dessert and perfect hot beverage accompaniment. While there we talked with Kyle Winslow of the Maine Coast Heritage Trust. We spoke about his transition from studying the salmon population to land stewarding, and also about how we all can work to preserve the existing ecosystems and natural beauty as these places take on more and more visitors.
“Just because you don’t have the title of steward, doesn’t mean you aren’t one: it’s our collective responsibility to tread lightly and advocate for these places, whether that means choosing to volunteer, donate, or planning ahead for travel so as not to harm the land.”
If you need to stock up on groceries head to Hannaford, the local grocery store (for all of Maine), or stop by the French Cellar, a wine and cheese shop in the heart of Machias. The French Cellar is run by a retired couple, one of whom is a former chef of French cuisine. We picked up a bottle of Txakoli: an appley, crisp, and slightly saline Spanish-Basque white wine perfect for summer with a little chill.
In town, be sure to check out the fast moving rapids aptly named Bad Little Falls and then meander the Down East Sunrise Trail, which conveniently has an entrance right in front of the Machias River Inn. The trail is part of a bikeway that runs all the way to Florida. We walked a small portion of it through Middle River Park and along the river, identifying native flora and watching the incoming storm clouds form.
For a phenomenal dinner, check out Helen’s, right next to the inn (did I mention the town is quaint?), a spot popular with tourists and locals alike for its delicious local seafood and its homemade pies. We ordered parmesan-crusted haddock, the scallops, and shared a couple pounds of steamers and the fish chowder. We couldn’t pass up the strawberry-rhubarb pie a la mode and you shouldn’t either!
Back at the inn we closed out the night with some final preparation for the next day’s kayak camping trip out to Ram Island. An early-summer storm looked likely for Day 2, further proof that June is the new May in Maine. As such, we plotted alternate routes which were more protected and shorter than our original overnight on Ram Island. We also made sure we had safety bearings, a direction to paddle if it became too foggy to see where we were headed.
Day 2: On the High Seas
Our 7am weather check confirmed a small craft advisory (high winds, upwards of 20 knots) and a large amount of rain later in the day. It’s well known that starting early in the day usually means calmer winds, and we were already going to be fighting a very fast current. Tides in this part of Maine can be fourteen feet, which is not something to mess around with. We made sure to pack safety gear like PFDs, bilge pumps, paddle floats, VHF radios, tow ropes, spare paddles, spray skirts, deck compasses and whistles; to wear wetsuits due to the cold water and air temperatures; and to paddle close together in case something were to happen.
Because the original plan involved paddling to Ram Island from Roque Bluffs State Park, and then landing at Jasper Beach, we left a car at Jasper Beach and shuttled to the launch point. We arrived around 10:00am, a little later than we would have liked, but we needed extra time to assess the conditions. We were on the water by 11:00am: important to know that arriving at the launch and getting the boats in the water are different things, so leave yourself extra time to appropriately pack the boat.
Pro Tips: Keep things that can’t get wet in dry bags, and keep the deck of the boat as clear as possible in case you capsize and need to re-enter. Try to keep the weight low and centered, and make sure you have access to things you might need on the water like snacks, water, and a chart of the area.
Our route on Wayward shows a 6.7 mile out and back; crossing Roque Bluffs State Park by water, out around Pond Cove Island (an island that’s now part of Roque Bluffs and stewarded by MITA). In calmer weather this would have been a lovely paddle but the winds were too high to be out on open water, and the perpendicular directions of the current and wind was disorienting.
Thankfully we had our backup plan in place and visited the Maine Island Trails’ (MITA) Pond Cove Island for our PB+J lunch stop. MITA is a trail system that was put in place a few decades ago to conserve and preserve the islands off the coast of Maine. If you pay an annual membership fee, you have access to campsites on these private islands, and a guidebook to start planning trips. For those newer to ocean paddling, it’s about half a mile each way to the tent platform which makes a perfect trip for a new recreationalist. On one side of the island you can see the boat launch and if you want something a little more secluded, paddle over to the other side of the island (where we stopped for lunch in the lee of the wind). We landed our kayaks back at the boat launch around 2:30pm and with the worsening storm we decided to hang up our paddles for the weekend.
We started our road trip back to Portland with a stop at Fort O’Brien. Fun fact: Machias is the birthplace of the US Navy and the site of the first naval battle of the American Revolution. The park sits up high above the water with a short trail and some greenspace to hang out in nicer weather.
Our second stop was an hour south on our way home: the Schoodic National Scenic Byway. This stretch of coastline provides views of the classic Maine rocky coastline, with plenty of pull-out points for stops and photo opportunities.
We finished our evening with a stop in Winter Harbor at The Gallery: a local bar in a cute townhouse. There we sampled a drink called Peanut Butter Business, which is an off-menu take on a screwdriver. The origins of the drink go back to the beginning of the bar when a friend of the place asked for a screwdriver, but the bartender didn’t want to use a liquor that wasn’t house-infused.
Though more of a place to stop for happy hour drinks, the food was tasty. We ordered curried-tofu sandwiches and a pulled pork sandwich with Korean barbeque sauce. We had one final cheers to an awesome, adventure-filled weekend, and we drove off into the not-so-sunset sky back to Portland; ready to return for more when the opportunity arises.