Hart Family Heritage Trail, Damariscotta

First section of boardwalk

This trail made up for yesterday's boardwalk deficit. The opening section of the Hart Family Heritage Trail features 870 feet of boardwalk curling around the edge of Great Salt Bay through eelgrass and mud. It was low tide this afternoon, so I'm not sure what this end of the cove looks like at high water.

We then passed into woods, across a small point, over a swamp bridge, and into more woods, following the shoreline of Great Salt Bay on the thumb of Glidden Point. Along the way we saw lots and lots of mussel shells nestled in the pine needles. It was puzzling, because the ground is far too soft for the shells to break... so we figured the birds are dropping the mussels elsewhere onto rock to break them open, then dining in the woods away from thieving competitors. It's a theory, anyway.

Rest area

There were near constant views of the bay, but since the afternoon was cold and grey, I didn't get good pictures of it. The trail was well-trod and easy to follow. Periodically it opened up into a park-like setting and even included a bench here and there.

Beer sled

There were less scenic moments, since the cove end is where parts of abandoned fishing shacks fetch up at winter's end. We saw lots of flotation foam, insulation material, torn up wood, and that most important piece of fishing gear: the beer sled.

The loop trail crosses under Route 1 through an old sheep tunnel, includes a spur to the shell middens, and then rejoins the Mills Road across from Louis Doe's Hardware. We turned back an hour out and retraced our steps, deciding to visit the middens another day. On the way back, Terrie and Polly had a dialog with two owls.

Following the shoreline of Great Salt Bay, the Hart Family Heritage Trail features access to the Indian shell heaps on Glidden Point. 2.7 miles, Damariscotta.