Roque Bluffs State Park Beach
Roque Bluffs, ME
A cobblestone beach on Machias Bay that Down East locals treat as their own, backed by spruce woods and a freshwater pond you can swim in as an alternative to the ocean. The water runs cold even in August, but that keeps the crowds thin and the air smelling like salt and pine.
Down East locals treat this cobblestone beach as their own, cold water even in August keeps the crowds thin without taking anything away from it.
How we score beachesThe cobblestones are easier on bare feet than they look, but water shoes help if you plan on wading in.
Dogs are banned from the ocean beach from April through September, but leashed dogs are allowed October 1 through March 31.
Down East Maine's ocean water almost never gets what most people would call warm, hovering in the 50s even in August, which is why the freshwater pond here is the more popular swim. The short season runs roughly July through early September before fall chill sets back in.
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