Long Porcupine Island

Long Porcupine Island (seen just behind the ship in this photo taken from Cadillac Mountain) is located in Frenchman Bay between Mount Desert Island and Gouldsboro Peninsula on the coast of Maine. Most of its 130 acres are covered with a mature spruce-fir and deciduous tree forest. Bald eagles and other nesting birds nest here so it is closed February 15 - August 31 (or, until a park wildlife biologist determines that nesting is not occurring).

Rock and cliff climbers love the island because of its sheer 100-foot granite cliffs rising from the ocean below an it is only about a 30-minute paddle from South Gouldsboro located to the east on the mainland. Long Porcupine Island is part of the municipality of Gouldsboro.

You will notice that, like most of the mountains and other land formations in this area, the northern side has a gentle slop whereas the southern side is less so. This was caused by the glaciers that migrated from north to south, shearing off the tops of the mountains and other land formations.

The island in front of the cruise ship in the image above is Bald Porcupine Island. The one to the left is Rum Key. The one behind Long Porcupine Island is called Stave Island.

(Long Porcupine Island is managed by a non-government conservation organization.)

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