Scott's Landing Preserve

Discover

Scott's Landing Preserve on Deer Isle brings open fields, wooded hollows, a shingle beach, and a long history of coastal use into one walking landscape. Island Heritage Trust owns and manages the former farm, where views across Eggemoggin Reach sit beside smaller habitats and surviving traces of earlier work. A visit is most rewarding when the shore and the fields are read together, allowing both wildlife habitat and human history to give the outing its shape.

The entrance is on Route 15 opposite Causeway Beach, reached after crossing the causeway onto Deer Isle. Follow current directions to the preserve's parking and trailhead, then choose a walking route from the map. The maintained open ground makes the setting immediately different from a forested summit hike. Give the fields time before continuing toward the water, noticing how woods, shrubs, and marshy ground interrupt what first appears to be a broad, simple meadow.

The trust's naturalists describe several adjoining communities, including old field, aspen-birch woodland, spruce-fir forest, alder thickets, brackish marsh, and intertidal shore. Each contributes something different to the visit. An aspen grove offers another canopy and light pattern from the conifers, while shrubs and wet margins provide habitat close to the open field. Birdwatching can begin with those relationships rather than a list of species that must be found.

The rolling ground also carries a geological story. The manager explains that glacial deposits and poorly drained marine clay helped shape today's wet areas. Along the coast, exposed Ellsworth Schist provides a different scale of observation, with folded bands recording processes much older than the farm. Look at the rocks where they lie, using the established shoreline access and taking particular care where wet algae make surfaces slippery.

This coast has long been important to Wabanaki people. The preserve's interpretation includes a Penobscot cultural consultant's perspective on enduring relationships with coastal resources and the continuing importance of access. Approach archaeological material as something to leave protected in its setting. The landscape's history is larger than the later farm and ferry, and a walk becomes more meaningful when that earlier and continuing presence receives attention too.

The later ferry began linking the island with the mainland in 1792, and the town authorized constructed ferry ways in 1807. Remains of that transport history accompany evidence of farming, including the milk house, barn foundation, and old hayfield. Rebecca Goldfine's original account particularly draws attention to the interpretive material and the relationship between open ground, beach, and earlier use. The visit can therefore move between scenery and explanation without losing the coherence of a single small preserve.

Leave pets at home to protect nesting and migratory birds, and follow the day-use, foot-traffic, and no-fire rules. Carry out waste and leave stones, shells, plants, and historical material untouched. For photographs, connect the maintained field with the Reach or frame a permitted historical feature within its landscape. Scott's Landing rewards an unhurried circuit through layers of place: glacial ground, living habitat, Wabanaki coastal connections, and the working farm and ferry all remain part of what can be understood here.

Fun facts

1. IHT purchased the former farm in 2006 with MCHT support.
2. The landscape includes field, woodland, brackish marsh, and intertidal shore.
3. A ferry began linking this coast with the mainland in 1792.

Read the official sources →

Visitor perspectives

1. Rebecca Goldfine values the interpretive material and describes the open fields, beach, and historical setting. Her account was updated July 5, 2026; exact visit date is unknown.

Capture

1. Connect an open field with the Reach from a permitted stopping place.
2. Show a visible historical feature within its surroundings without moving material or crossing protective boundaries.

Social

Scott’s Landing Preserve combines a former farm, open fields, woodland, and shingle shore on Deer Isle.

The trailhead sits opposite Causeway Beach on Route 15. Choose a route from current preserve information.

Aspen-birch woods, conifers, shrubs, marsh, and intertidal habitat give a short outing several settings.

Glacial deposits and marine clay help explain the rolling ground and wetter hollows.

The preserve’s interpretation recognizes Wabanaki coastal relationships and the continuing importance of access.

Later ferry and farming history survives in features such as the milk house and barn foundation.

Rebecca Goldfine draws attention to the interpretive material and the relationship between field, beach, and earlier use.

Leave pets at home, stay on established access, and protect historical material and nesting habitat.

Hashtags

1. #Cre8Travel
2. #Maine
3. #ScottsLandingMaine
4. #DeerIsle
5. #EggemogginReach

Sources & visitor information

• www.islandheritagetrust.org
• www.islandheritagetrust.org