Lubec, Maine

The red and white candy-stripe lighthouse at West Quoddy Head marks the easternmost point of land in the contiguous United States. The surrounding state park has two trails worth walking: a bog loop through a rare raised peatland, and a coastal path along the granite headland with views across Grand Manan Channel toward New Brunswick. On clear mornings, before the fog moves in, the light on the water is as good as anywhere on the Maine coast. The lighthouse grounds are generally open; check the state park website for current hours and trail conditions.

The park charges a small day-use fee. Arrive before 9am for the best light and the emptiest trails.

Campobello Island sits just across the channel from Lubec — a five-minute drive over the FDR Memorial Bridge. Franklin Roosevelt spent his childhood and early adult summers here, and the 34-room cottage where he was stricken with polio in 1921 is now a museum. The park is jointly administered by the US and Canada, admission is free, and the island itself is worth more than just the house tour: there are carriage roads, a network of walking trails, and beaches along the Bay of Fundy. The gardens around the Roosevelt property are well-maintained and pleasant to walk even without joining a tour.

A valid passport is required to cross into Canada. The drive from Lubec takes about 5 minutes. Campobello is in the Atlantic time zone — one hour ahead of Eastern.

About 40 minutes west of Lubec, the Bold Coast is one of the finest stretches of coastal hiking in the Northeast. The headlands are open granite, the spruce forest is dense and quiet, and the cliffs drop straight to the Atlantic in a way that feels genuinely remote. The full loop is roughly nine miles; the out-and-back to the first headland is worthwhile if you don't have the full day. The Maine Bureau of Parks and Lands manages the trailhead in Cutler — check their site for current access and parking information.

Start early. The parking area at the Cutler trailhead fills on summer weekends. Bring water; there's no source on the trail.

The tides in Cobscook Bay reach 24 to 28 feet — among the highest on the eastern seaboard. The bay drains and floods with a force that is worth seeing at least once; the reversing falls near Pembroke are the most dramatic expression of this. The bay is also a productive wildlife area: ospreys, bald eagles, harbor seals, and an enormous variety of shorebirds are all present through the warmer months. Cobscook Bay State Park, a few miles north of Lubec on Route 1, has camping and shore access.

Kayaking on Cobscook requires care around tidal currents. If you're paddling, go with local knowledge or an outfitter who knows the tides.

Lubec was once the sardine capital of the world. At its peak, the town had dozens of canneries processing herring that came in by the ton. Most of that industry collapsed in the mid-twentieth century, and the canneries are gone. McCurdy's Smokehouse is the last intact herring smokehouse on the East Coast — a long, low wooden building on the waterfront that survived by accident as much as anything else. It reopens in spring and operates through the summer season; check their current schedule before visiting.

This is a heritage site, not a visitor attraction. Expect modest facilities. The story is the thing.

The sardine canneries are gone but the working-harbor character of Lubec's waterfront hasn't been replaced with boutiques. Low tide exposes the mudflats of Johnson Bay; the smell is real and the birds are here for it. A walk along Water Street gives a sense of the town's scale and economy without requiring a plan. The old brick buildings, the fishing boats, the view across to Campobello — it's a place that still looks like what it is rather than what someone decided it should look like for visitors.