Frenchboro (Long Island)

Thirty People on the Edge of the Atlantic

Frenchboro occupies Long Island in outer Blue Hill Bay, about eight miles south of Mount Desert Island. It is one of the most remote year-round communities on the Maine coast. Roughly 30 people live here year-round, almost all of them connected to the lobster fishery. The ferry comes three times a week. There is no store, no restaurant, no inn, and no cell service. When you visit Frenchboro, you are visiting the end of the road, and then going eight miles farther.

What draws visitors to this improbable place is the Frenchboro Preserve, a 1,159-acre property of the Maine Coast Heritage Trust that covers nearly half the island. The preserve encompasses 8.2 miles of shoreline including dramatic headlands, secluded cobble beaches, spruce forest, and some of the most spectacular coastal scenery on the eastern seaboard. If you want to experience the Maine coast in something approaching its original state, with no one else around, Frenchboro is where you go.

The Frenchboro Preserve

The MCHT preserve occupies the western and southern portions of the island. Trail access begins near the town dock and a network of paths leads through spruce forest to the shoreline. The hiking is moderate, with some rocky and rooted sections, but nothing technically difficult.

The highlights are the headlands on the western and southern shores. Here the spruce forest ends abruptly at cliffs that drop to the surf below. The views are open ocean, with nothing between you and Nova Scotia. On a clear day, the horizon is vast and empty. On a foggy day, the world shrinks to fifty feet and the sound of the surf fills everything.

The preserve includes several cobble beaches that are among the most pristine in Maine. Rich Beach and Eastern Beach are both accessible by trail. In summer, wildflowers bloom in the meadows above the shore.

The Community

Frenchboro’s year-round population has hovered around 30 for decades. The community is sustained by lobster fishing and a determination to maintain island life in the face of economics that work against it. There is a one-room schoolhouse (when there are children of school age), a church, a community center, and a handful of houses clustered around Lunt Harbor.

The island’s annual Lobster Festival, held on the second Saturday in August, draws hundreds of visitors by boat from the mainland. It is one of the few days each year when the island is crowded. The rest of the time, Frenchboro is one of the quietest inhabited places in New England.

Getting There

Getting to Frenchboro requires planning. The ferry runs only three times per week year-round:

The R.L. Gott, a passenger ferry operated by Bass Harbor Island Cruises under contract with the Maine State Ferry Service, runs from Bass Harbor on Wednesday, Thursday, and Sunday. The first and third Wednesdays of each month have an additional afternoon run. The crossing takes about 50 minutes.

From April through November, an additional Friday service runs, departing Bass Harbor at 8:00 AM and returning from Frenchboro at 6:00 PM (5:00 PM in November). This Friday schedule is the most practical option for a day visit, as it gives you a full day on the island.

Fares are approximately $25 to $30 round trip per adult.

When to Go

Packing List

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