Pemaquid Peninsula

A loop around the peninsula of the lighthouse on the Maine quarter: from Damariscotta ME-129 runs south through Walpole to South Bristol and out to Christmas Cove, then the route crosses to ME-130 and rides to Pemaquid Point Light at the end of the road. It comes back through New Harbor and returns north on ME-32 by Round Pond and Bremen. It's 48 miles of easy bends between lobster harbors. In July and August, US-1 through Wiscasset, the usual way in from the south, backs up for miles.

Pemaquid Point Light is the lighthouse on the Maine state quarter of 2003, the first circulating US coin to show a lighthouse. The station was first lit in 1827; the original tower was poorly built and was replaced in 1835, and in 1934 it became the first light in Maine to be automated. It stands on a park at the end of ME-130, above wide ledges of rock, with a parking lot next to the light.

The loop starts in Damariscotta and runs south on ME-129 through Walpole to South Bristol, where the road crosses The Gut, the narrow channel that separates Rutherford Island from the mainland, on a bridge that opens for boats. Christmas Cove is the end of ME-129, so the route turns around there and crosses to ME-130 for the point. It comes back through New Harbor and up ME-32 by Round Pond and Bremen. In July and August, US-1 through Wiscasset, the usual way in from the south, backs up for miles: come early.