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Boothbay Harbor, 2025, January Edition

Note: Since much of this trip report is organized by location, we will provide a link to the locations mentioned for future reference (mostly our own reference, of course).
  • The Maine State Aquarium
  • Downtown Boothbay Harbor
  • Bristol Recreational Trail
  • Cozy Harbor
  • The Cuckolds Light and Newagen
  • Damariscotta, downtown
  • Damariscotta Fish Ladder
  • Hendricks Head Lighthouse
  • Marshall Point Lighthouse
  • New Harbor
  • Oak Point Farm
  • Ocean Point, including Ram Island Light, Burnt Island Light, and Ocean Point Preserve
  • Oven Mouth Preserve
  • Owls Head Lighthouse
  • Pemaquid Lighthouse
  • Penny Preserve
  • Porter Preserve
  • Rockland
  • Thompson Ice House
  • Zak Preserve

    • We had wanted to take a winter photography vacation and what better place than a place where we know the locations: Boothbay Harbor and the surrounding areas. Since it was winter we wanted to take the truck, so we looked for a place that has a charger. Happily, it is one of the filter criteria available on both AirBnB and VRBO. We found a nice quiet house available, and up we went. The rental was on a side road that is off a side road, close to Knickerbocker Lake, and is tucked behind trees. Enhancing the winter feel, it was snowing lightly when we took these pictures.

    Looking through woods, we get a glimpse of the rental house.

    This is a view down the driveway, which is covered with snow, to the rental house.

    The charger was inside the garage; our truck was feeling spoiled, indeed, since we don't have a garage.

    The front of the rental house. There is a 2-car garage on the left, and a porch in front of living area on the right.

    A Bee Aware sign is in front of a bush.

    Included with the house is access to Knickerbocker Lake, so of course we had to check that out. It is a short walk down the road ...

    A snow-covered road leads off between trees.

    and down a hill.

    We are looking down a steep set of snow-covered stairs, to a flat area and then more stairs. There is a picnic table in the flat area.

    The stairs have signs that say No Lifeguard and Swim at Own Risk.

    Despite there being no lifeguard, we decided to go in the lake. Or, more precisely, we decided to go on the lake.

    Footsteps lead down snow covered steps and on to a snow-covered frozen lake.

    Paul is crouched with his camera.

    Anne is standing in front of the stairs that go up the hill. She is wearing winter clothing, and snow covers the ground and the frozen lake.

    This picture shows the snow-covered lake. There are a few footprints close to us.

    Anne can't resist taking pictures of small things.

    Anne is crouched down with her camera pointed at some small plants that are sticking out of the snow.

    Two very small trees are protruding from snow.

    We had snow falling a couple of times while we were there.

    The top of a small evergreen is covered with snow, and snowflakes are in the air.

    Although it is closed for the season, we visited our usual spot to stay in the Boothbay area, Topside Inn. It looks pretty much like it does in the springtime, but with snow.

    A view of Topside Inn from the lawn, with snow on the lawn. The Adirondak chairs are still set up.

    This is a view of the lawn at Topside Inn.

    This view is at the edge of the Topside Inn lawn, towards the water.

    Our rental provided a good base location for visiting some of the familiar preserves. Getting to Ovens Mouth Preserve did not even require going to Rte 27. This page from 2015 has some pictures from our 1st time staying in Boothbay Harbor and visiting this preserve. There are even fewer leaves in January than there are in May. But the bridge looks nice with a bit of snow on it.

    A gently arching wood pedestrian bridge is covered with a bit of snow, and a sign that says Vista can be seen on the far side.

    The wooden bridge is reflected in the water below. Anne is on the bridge and waving to us.

    Although it wasn't the best day to sit down on this bench...

    Snow is on a bench in front of an intersection of waterways.

    This chair was much more inviting, with a view of Back River.

    Paul is sitting on a wooden chair in the snow. His back is to us and he is looking to the right.

    A sailboat is anchored in the water.

    A preserve that has some big differences between January and May is Zak Preserve. The large field at the entrance made a pretty winter scene.

    A farmhouse is in the distance, with a field in front. The field is covered with snow but there are pieces of tough grass sticking through it.

    But the big difference is the marshy area. Last year we saw a Snowy Egret catching a fish in the water (which feeds Back River, seen above). But in January, much of the marsh was frozen and we could walk on it.

    A frozen marsh has some areas with grass and some areas with smooth snow.

    Tufts of marsh grass protrude from snow, and liquid water is visible before getting to trees on the other side of the marsh.

    Paul is standing on snow in the marsh, and there is the stump of a small tree.

    Someone else had visited earlier and had gone cross-country skiing across the marsh. By the time we were there, that path was no longer passable. This is a tidal marsh and the tide was starting to come in.

    Snow leads to water, and a track from cross country skis goes through a spot that does not look passable anymore.

    The flow was gradual, and did not disturb the ice too much as the river snakes through the marsh.

    An ice-covered stream snakes through a snow-covered marsh.

    Ice on the river, with some of the ice standing vertically.

    Penny Lake Preserve is a small preserve that we have visited a few times, but we have not taken too many pictures there. In 2022 we took a picture of these mallards in the marshy water. No swimming right now at Penny Preserve.

    Marsh grass is on either side of a path that is actually a snow-covered brook.

    Porter Preserve is where we took these pictures in 2022. When we were there in January, Porter had snow on all the paths, so we did not go into the preserve itself. We did walk through the snow to the dock for sunset one evening.

    A snow covered dock has snow covered lobster pots on it. Paul is walking through the snow towards the pier.

    Sunset over Sheepscot River

    Sunset over Sheepsoct River. The sun is lighting up the bottoms of some clouds.

    A house is on the shore of the Sheepscot River with snow covered trees behind it and a solid snow cover on the lawn. The setting sun is reflected in the windows.

    Updated April 2025