Rocky Lake
🏆🏆🏆🏆 Downeast Gem — Pristine Downeast lake surrounded by 10,000+ acres of conserved land — loon paradise
Rocky Lake Public Reserved Land protects a pristine lake in the Downeast Lakes region of Washington County — one of the most undeveloped landscapes remaining on the Atlantic seaboard. Rocky Lake and its surrounding 10,000+ acres of conserved land support nesting loons, bald eagles, and one of the healthiest brook trout populations in the state. The Downeast Lakes region’s low population density (13 people per square mile) creates wildlife habitat conditions unseen elsewhere in the eastern US.
Visitor Information
| Detail | Information |
|---|---|
| Location | T18 MD BPP, Washington County, ME |
| Entry Fee | Free |
| Conserved | 10,000+ acres! |
| Wildlife | Loons, eagles, wild brook trout! |
About Rocky Lake
Rocky Lake public reserved land in Washington County protects a remote lake and surrounding forest in eastern Maine’s blueberry barrens country. The lake is undeveloped and surrounded by jack pine and pitch pine — fire-dependent species that give the landscape a distinctive character different from the spruce-fir of northern Maine.
Rocky Lake in Washington County provides primitive camping on a Downeast lake surrounded by spruce-fir forest and blueberry barrens. Washington County — Maine’s easternmost — contains the first place in the United States to see sunrise (Cadillac Mountain in Acadia is nearby). The county is also the center of Maine’s wild blueberry industry — the largest in the world, producing 99% of America’s wild blueberries.
Things to Do
Fishing for brook trout and bass, canoeing, primitive camping, birdwatching in the pine barrens habitat, and wild blueberry picking in late summer. The Down East setting ensures solitude.
Primitive camping, fishing, canoeing, birdwatching, picking wild blueberries (seasonal), and experiencing the easternmost wilderness in the United States.
Insider Tips
Downeast wilderness: Rocky Lake Public Reserved Land sits in Washington County — Maine’s most remote and least populated region. Pro tip: The area protects important wild blueberry barrens and jack pine habitat. Birding: Washington County is a birding hotspot for boreal species rare elsewhere in the eastern US.
Best Time to Visit
Summer: Wild blueberry season (August). Fall: Foliage and hunting. Spring: Warbler migration. Winter: Snowshoeing in boreal forest.
Frequently Asked Questions
What makes Washington County unique?
Washington County is the easternmost county in the US, the first place in America to see sunrise. It’s also Maine’s least populated county with vast expanses of boreal forest, wild blueberry barrens, and a rugged Atlantic coastline. The area supports boreal bird species found nowhere else in the eastern US.
More parks nearby: Machias River Corridor is within about an hour’s drive, while Great Heath lies within about an hour’s drive.
