The Maine I Love—Textured Alpine Photography

Although Monroe Island is only 4 miles from Rockland and a mere 400 yards from Owls Head Harbor, this quintessential Maine island provides a secluded refuge with clear night skies in good weather and deserted cobble beaches. A Maine Coast Heritage Trust preserve, Monroe Island is also part of the Maine Island Trail and is an excellent example of the successful efforts to preserve Maine’s coast and islands for public enjoyment. There are hints of the island’s history in the remains of a World War II Naval range marker on the northernmost point, along with overgrown stone walls and cellar holes from abandoned logging camps. Along 2 miles of hiking trail, you can experience fern groves, salt marshes, and evergreen forests. If you’re looking for evidence of the prehistoric, don’t miss the exposed granite bluffs on the east side of the island, which are crisscrossed with pegmatite veins and littered with glacial erratics. As captain and owner of the ketch Morning in Maine, I know the island well. Every Sunday morning, I head there for a 6-hour tour with guests, who will beachcomb, hike, explore, and enjoy a lobster roll lunch on their sail home to Rockland. 

View Morning in Maine excursion details at amorninginmaine.com/sailing-trips/monroe-island-adventure.