Schoodic Point, Acadia National Park

Schoodic Point, located at the southern tip of Schoodic Peninsula in Winter Harbor, Maine, provides one of the best places to view pounding surf during rough seas. (photos) It is also one of the best places to view diabase dikes. These are large veins of dark basalt that have forced their way through the older granite along the shore.

Although only 4 miles as the crow flies from Mount Desert Island, Schoodic Point is about 45 miles away via coastal roads. Ellsworth, the closest commercial center and considered the gateway to Downeast Maine, is about 30 miles away.

The shoreline consists of exposed and weathered red granite that varies from 10 to 100 feet in width from ocean to the beginning of plants and forest. Several islands of various sizes are nearby including Little Moose Island, Schoodic Island, Pond Island, and Rolling Island.

Schoodic Point is part of Acadia National Park. It has a good size parking area with a turnaround, interpretive panels, and restroom facilities.