Seawall Beach
Phippsburg, ME
Seawall Beach sits at the end of a two mile trail through the Bates-Morse Mountain Conservation Area in Phippsburg, Maine, a stretch of sand few visitors bother reaching. No road runs anywhere near it, so the crowd thins fast past the parking lot. Dune grass and pitch pine line most of the walk, and low tide reveals a wide, hard packed shoreline good for miles of walking.
The two mile walk in keeps the crowd thin and the dune system genuinely wild, though the tiny lot fills early and there isn't a backup plan once it does.
The trailhead lot off Morse Mountain Road holds thirty cars max and is usually full by 10am on clear summer weekends. Arrive earlier, or plan on a different beach that day since there's no overflow lot.
The only parking is a small free lot off Morse Mountain Road in Phippsburg, capped at about thirty cars. It fills by mid morning on nice summer days and there's no overflow area nearby.
From the lot it's a two mile walk on a mostly flat forest and marsh trail to reach the sand, with one short hilly stretch. Strollers can manage it, but bikes and pets aren't allowed on the conservation land.
Summer and early fall are the easiest times for the walk in, once the trail has dried out from spring mud. Water stays cold for swimming most of the year, rarely climbing out of the 60s even in August, so this is more a walking and beachcombing spot than a swimming one.
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