Glorious Hiking in West Quoddy State Park - Lubec, Maine [Bay of Fundy]

Forest Path

Adjacent to the West Quoddy Lighthouse is a lovely state park with fabulous short hikes.

We started from the parking lot along an inland trail that took us through a thickly wooded conifer forest with sun dappling the moss and ferns carpeting the forest floor.  It was quiet and peaceful.  In a short while, we turned onto the "Bog Trail".

Sun dappled moss and ferns along the forest path

We love bogs.  These basins of special wetland have no source of water other than rain, and have no mechanism for the water to run off or soak into lower layers of soil.  You find hardy plants here, like peat moss and pitcher plants, that are specialized to live in this nutrient poor environment.  The West Quoddy bog is a round basin with raised land areas all around it.  It is an arctic bog with several plants that are rarely found in the US lower 48 including the tiny plants with orange berries known as the baked apple berry.  There is another bog in the park that we passed along the road as we cycled in.  We stopped and wondered at the field of pitcher plants on the side of the road!  Not a common sight.

After we left the bog we continued on the coastal trail where every turn in the trail revealed another breathtaking view of the rugged, rocky Maine coastline.  Spectacular!

The boardwalk protects the fragile bog

More bog - you can see the edges of the basin in the distance

Pitcher plant

Baked apple berry

Coastal trail view

Coastal trail had its ups and downs

The Maine coastline is so photogenic!