Eastbrook, Maine

Eastbrook has quietly become one of Maine’s premier destinations for backcountry access, offering the rare combination of wilderness lakes, mountain summits, and wild blueberry barrens within 25 minutes of Ellsworth. The Donnell Pond Public Lands, 15,000 acres managed by the Bureau of Parks and Lands, put world-class paddling, camping, and hiking in the backyard of this small Downeast community.

The centerpiece is Donnell Pond itself, a 1,150-acre lake with water so clear you can see the bottom at remarkable depths. Paddlers launch from the carry-in access and find miles of undeveloped shoreline, primitive campsites on shores and islands, and the kind of solitude that most people associate with far more remote locations. Tunk Lake and Spring River Lake offer additional options, each with their own character and fewer visitors than the main pond.

The hiking draws as many visitors as the paddling. Tunk Mountain rises steeply from the lowlands to offer summit views spanning from Schoodic Mountain to the Downeast coastline. On clear days, you can see Cadillac Mountain and the islands of Frenchman Bay. Black Mountain provides an alternative with its own dramatic granite ledges and different perspectives on the surrounding lakes and forests.

Between the lakes and mountains spread Eastbrook’s blueberry barrens, commercial operations that turn the landscape deep red each fall and produce the wild blueberries that have made Maine famous. August brings the harvest, with crews raking berries that will become jam, pie filling, and frozen fruit shipped around the country.

For the approximately 420 residents, Eastbrook offers a lifestyle that balances remoteness with accessibility. There are no stores, no gas stations. Ellsworth and Cherryfield handle those needs. But for those who value direct access to public lands over commercial convenience, who prefer loon calls to traffic noise, Eastbrook provides something that development has eliminated from most of coastal Maine.