If you read nothing else: We highly recommend that you visit Warren Island State Park. A day trip would be nice but camping here is a must! 

Warren Island State Park is in fact an island off the coast of Lincolnville, near Camden. No one is trying to trick you with the name, but it seems that people tend to think there is a bridge that might connect you or a ferry to directly transport you. Like many islands in Maine, this is not the case. What seems to throw so many people off, and makes this island very different is that it’s also home to one of the Maine Bureau of Parks and Lands’ 12 family campgrounds. You have to find your own way out there. Luckily there are options, so don’t be too intimidated just yet. It does take some homework but hopefully we can provide you with some answers to the logistical questions. It is a heavier lift than normal but we can now tell you it is worth every bit of the effort, and then some. 

This trip also happened to be #12 out of 12 and our final Maine State Park family campground since we started our mission in 2017. We’ve been to a few of them more than once now but this was the final one, and one that we’ve been a little afraid of attempting, even way before Adeline was born. Just when we thought Eloise would be old enough (in our minds) to pull it off, along came Adeline and we became quite concerned and reluctant all over again. This being our last official campground, it was time to rip the Band-Aid off regardless of their ages. 

The hardest thing about visiting this park has already been made quite clear to you. How do you get to the island? Well, we are going to tell you the easiest way first. If you have your own boat, you can transport yourself. There is an official dock to tie up to and moorings to rent (first come, first serve). Since more than 90% of U.S. households don’t own a boat, this might not work for you, like it didn’t work for us. Second option, you can take a ferry from Lincolnville to Islesboro (3.5 miles) and then canoe or kayak to the island. This appears to be the most popular way but still takes some homework with logistics (ferry times, gear, parking, etc.). In the past there were rowboats you could rent on Islesboro at the ferry landing that could take you over, but with Covid-19, that option was no longer available. This is what we had planned to do with Eloise but now with no easy rental options and a 1 ½ year old added to the boat crew, this wasn’t panning out to be a the safest or most viable option in 2020. That being said, the trip from Islesboro to Warren is only ¼ mile from island to island or ½ mile from dock to dock. It is not intimidating once you can see it for yourself in person and we thought that might be the case but we didn’t want to take any chances with the kids, especially if the water was rough that weekend. It did end up being foggy on our final morning and it would have been a sketchy trip out if we had gone this route, so we had zero regrets. 

So how did we safely and conveniently get to this place? Quicksilver Water Taxi!

Captain Ben was really the man who helped make this trip still happen in the middle of a pandemic. To be honest, take the virus out of the equation and we will still use this service the next time we go, regardless of the other options available. Pulling off this trip with small children isn’t the easiest of things to do so having Quicksilver take us to and from made it A LOT easier. Yes, it costs money and made for one of the more expensive camping trips we’ve ever done, but this wasn’t an average camping trip and it was worth every penny. It also meant that we were able to bring some of the usual camping items we wouldn’t have been able to bring over in a row boat or canoe. Same with our food and drinks, we didn’t skimp and it made things all that more enjoyable. 

Warren Island State Park is a gift from Maine to you. We can’t imagine the cost but it has to be in the red every year to operate such a place. So in our minds, it is a gift and you definitely should take advantage of it because if you don’t someone else will. The history here is something you need to envision for yourself and not just read about online. We recommend you stand in the foundation of what was once regarded as the most expensive cabin in New England or visit Zilica’s headstone. We explored the perimeter of the 70 acre island one morning with mimosas in hand for the adults and a chocolate-coin treasure hunt for the kids.

We’re pretty good at finding online resources for the parks, but we had trouble with this one. It is slim pickings for insider information on this campground, so we thought this post would end up being one of our longest but once you get here and get settled in, you’re on island time and the livin’ is easy. There are some helpful things that we know now and we will list a handful below, but really there is no need to overthink it. 

• The tides play an important role with loading and unloading your gear. The dock at low tide is like walking straight up a hill.

• If you plan to bypass the dock and row to your site (which you can do for some), just know you might be walking in a ways on rocks and slippery seaweed. Best to arrive/leave at high tide. 

• There are carts at the main kiosk to help you rickshaw your gear all around the island. We brought a collapsible wagon and didn’t have to use it because these were life-savers.

• There is drinking water here and it’s quite good so no need to transport any.  

• There is a ranger on the island; which is comforting. We will get to him later…

• Apparently the mosquitoes can be bad in the summer months but it’s Maine so bug wise, we didn’t see anything to fret about. 

• You have cell service if you want it, but you won’t. 

• For wildlife, you don’t have to worry about skunks and bears here but there are lots of birds, some deer and we made friends with a few mice at our site.

If you’ve been following along with us for a while you’d know we value privacy. Campsite #5 might have been the most leg room we’ve ever had camping at the 12 parks.

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There are only 12 campsites on the whole island!

Most of the sites are VERY private except for a couple. Some parks have 100+ and 200+ sites so something like this is unusual unless you are backcountry camping. If the baby is having a rough night and Adeline did on night #2, no need to worry about the neighbors. You could be camping in some amazing places across Maine but if the site next to you can see what you’re eating for dinner, it loses points for us. We felt like we were wealthy for a weekend. We had a structure (lean-to) to help give cover in the rain; which we took advantage of during a quick shower on day #1.

This site was an easy acre plus of land, with a path to a small private beach when the tide was out and another path to a beautiful lookout when the tide was in. The sunsets last longer than any kids movie and on our final night, the sun felt like a band who just stayed on stage for encore after encore. This was easily the best site we’ve ever camped at as a family. 

Ranger Byron is not human. He’s a one man show who keeps this island in tip top shape. Easily puts in 12 hours days and his body looked to be in constant motion for all 12 of them. At one point we joked that he must burn 6,000 calories a day and he quietly agreed. He never looked stressed or flustered, Ranger Byron just chipped away, all day. He was patient when his flip phone rang with loads of questions. We had called him a couple times before arriving as well. It only cost $7 a day for an unlimited amount of split and stacked firewood. Guess who makes that happen? Easily the best firewood set-up out of all the parks. The outhouses were the cleanest as well, and who came through multiple times a day to clean and check on them?…Ranger Byron. There is no way we would have had the same experience without the dedication and service of this soft spoken, hardworking man. The staff at all the parks play such a vital role and we appreciate each and every one of them; especially during these difficult times.

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We’ve been to 33 Maine state parks and had 15 or 16 camping trips at them with the kids at this point. To be honest, it’s actually hard to remember the numbers and they don’t really matter much. What matters is that when we are old and gray, this long weekend will somehow stand out among them. It was an experience and a time that was so special, it will be something we hold onto for the rest of our lives. Pretty wild when we think of the things we’ve done so far but it was that wonderful. Warren Island State Park will always be more than just a family trip, it will be a memory we hold onto long after the others start to fade. Yea…..it was a 10 alright.