Reid State Park | Georgetown, ME

Reid State Park is a natural wonder unto itself, containing not only rocky tidepools, beaches, dunes, and salt marshes, but also a tidal lagoon.

The first great thing about the lagoon in Reid State Park is that the waters there tend to be at least 10 to 15 degrees warmer than the numbing flow of the open ocean. Folks who turn blue after 10 minutes in the beach surf can float and soak and paddle in the lagoon all day. Naturally, the lagoon attracts toddlers like tadpoles.

The other outstanding feature of Reid’s lagoon is that when the tide turns, anyone buoyant or brave enough can ride the ebb around the cusp of the beach and out beneath the bridge to Griffith Head. The flushing action of the outgoing tide isn’t strong enough to suck the unwary out to sea–the water is shallow enough for hundreds of yards that you can simply stand up–but it’s sufficiently powerful to pull a 175-pound father and his daughters out of the lagoon and deposit them, laughing, on the open beach.

When You Go

Reid State Park 375 Seguinland Road. 207-371-2303; maine.gov/doc/parks

Southern Midcoast Maine Chamber of Commerce Information on rental cottages near the park. 877-725-8797, 207-443-9751; midcoastmaine.com