Pemaquid Area's Best Swimming Holes

   In the June 2008 issue of Downeast Magazine there is an article entitled “Maine’s Best Swimming Holes”, which touts the highlights and gives directions to a sampling of swimming areas around the state. I’m certain there are hundred’s more as well, and here in the Damariscotta area we have our own local favorites, which didn’t make the Downeast list. All of these are small swimming areas, room for only so many, but well worth visiting.

   The first is on Rte 130 on the way from Damariscotta to Pemaquid, as you pass through the village of Bristol Mills. Just beyond the fire station on the left, is a small dam on the Pemaquid River which creates a deep, cool “swimmin’ hole”. It’s a small dam and there is a fence keeping swimmers on the right side. Kids jump from the concrete block at the dam and sit in the sun alongside the grassy banks.

   If you continue on to New Harbor and turn right at Dee’s Variety (Huddle Rd.) you will find an area off the “Beach Loop Rd.,” where there is a small sandy beach on John’s Bay amongst plenty of small summer cottages. If you can find a space to park along the side of the road, (cars on one side only please, and don’t block any driveways) you will enjoy a quiet, small stretch of sand called locally, (and appropriately), ‘little beach’. Sometimes also known as ‘the mom’s beach’, since it’s a great little area with mild waves for little ones. Best at lower tides, not much beach left at high tide. (May seem like a private beach – but it’s a little known public area – so enjoy!)

   Back in downtown Damariscotta cross the bridge into Newcastle and then turn right onto Rte 215. Follow the Rte 215 signs which will bring you into the village of Damariscotta Mills (after crossing the railroad tracks and taking a left). A little further up the hill and you will find a small bridge over the water as it leaves Damariscotta Lake and makes its way down into Great Salt Bay and then the Damariscotta River. Here on a sunny summer day you will find plenty of youngsters jumping off the bridge, and swimming on either side of an old barn, (turned residence), which hangs out over the water. This “mills swimming hole” has a grassy area with a few picnic tables, and large flat rocks to jump off into deep water, or sit and dangle your legs in.

   This one is my favorite, as it’s where I often went with my kids after moving to Damariscotta 21 years ago. My kids were young (2 ½ and 5), and we would stake out our spot on the’ sandy side’ of the barn. The water here is low, the bottom sandy, and kids can easily wade in. As the years go by, the little ones become more and more interested in all the jumping and splashing going on over on the other side of the barn. The “big kids’ side”. It becomes a right of passage in childhood around the age of 8, to begin swimming at the other side, where the water is deep. You can jump off the rocks, and once you’ve mustered all your courage, climb up and finally jump off the bridge! It’s about a 15 foot drop to the water – safe enough, but scary the first time for a youngster. With other kids coaxing you to “let go”, you make that first leap. Exhilarating! Then you scramble back up and jump right back in like you’ve been doing it all along! Extra cheers for making a splash big enough to splash back up to the road and possibly get a passing vehicle wet!

   I even made the jump once or twice, about 12 years ago, at the insistence of my suddenly ‘pro’ jumpers then aged 9 and 12. The water is clean and cool. It’s such a thrill to jump in on a hot, muggy day and let that cool water cover you as you lean back, float and breathe in that wonderful lake air! One of my goals, as I get older, (this year was a big 5-0 for me), is to never get too old to jump in for a swim at Damariscotta Mills, (not necessarily from the bridge though!)

Kathy Wyman

Comments

[Bob R.]

Kathy,
Another pretty nice beach that a lot of people enjoy is the Biscay Pond beach at the head of the pond on Biscay Rd. This was donated to the town by the Reny family (Reny's Dept. Stores).