Peaks Island located in the waters of Casco Bay is a popular summer destination off the coast of Maine. This island is located off the shores of Portland, Maine and only accessible by boat.
On a summer Saturday we embarked on an adventure to explore Peaks Island. We took a ferry through Casco Bay Lines in Portland. The parking garage near the ferry was full so we had to park across the street in a smaller lot, which was expensive. It was $60 for about 6 hours.
For the ferry you cannot prebuy tickets. The ticket window and waiting area for the ferry was a little chaotic. We had no issues buying tickets and were able to get a spot on the ferry. Cars and bikes also ride this ferry so I am not sure if it ever fills to capacity. The boat ride was about 20 minutes over to Peaks Island.
Once on Peaks island there are a couple options for transportation. There is a taxi, you can rent bikes, or bring your own, walk around on foot or rent a golf cart. Peaks island is about three miles wide with some small hills. We opted to rent a golf cart which we reserved in advance. I am glad we did as there was a line of people waiting for a golf cart as they did not make a reservation. I am not sure how long they waited. We reserved our golf cart through Mikes Carts, it was $120 for 3 hours and so worth it. The staff were well organized and friendly. They are located near the ferry on the left. It was so fun to drive around the island in the golf cart.
Our first stop was Torrington Point which has a rocky beach and some beautiful views.
We continued our tour around the edge of Peaks Island enjoying the beautiful views.
Our next stop was Battery Steele, which is a old military battery and supposedly one of the largest in the U.S. This is such a fun and creepy place to explore. It is very dark and wet/muddy so make sure you bring a flashlight and wear appropriate shoes. There are some cool tunnels and rooms to explore.
There are also trails you can explore, but in some places the trails are over grown and the bushes have thorns on them. If you are able to get to the top of the battery, there is a pretty view.
After spending about 45 minutes exploring the battery, we continued our drive around the island.
We did find this cute cart that had some beautiful photographs of the island on it.
As we were ready for lunch we drove through the Main Street area of Peaks Ssland where there were a couple restaurants, but we opted for II Leone an open air wood fire pizza restaurant which was near the private country club. They had a few different types of pizza on the menu and gelato for desert. My almost 13 year old declared this was one of the best pizzas she has ever had.
After lunch I wanted to check out Centennial Beach to look for sea glass. We were only successful in finding one piece, but we had a nice walk along the beach. We did not bring our swimsuits, but this would have been a nice place to swim.
After walking the beach we had about 30 minutes before we had to return our golf cart and catch the ferry back to Portland. We drove around the edge of the island one more time to enjoy the views.
Some takeaways from our trip:
If you rent a golf cart you are given a time to pick it up and drop it off. Since you cannot prebuy tickets to the ferry and parking can be tricky make sure you give yourself enough time so you do not have to pay a lot for parking like we did.
Peaks Island is a residential island with year round and summer residents that live here. We were told they are not fans of golf carts and there are private area’s of the island so please be respectful. We did not have any issues with any of the residents.
This is a laid back island. Even though Peaks Island is known as the “Coney Island” of Maine there is not a lot of activities. There is opportunity to explore shops, some art work, hiking, biking, kayaking and overall relaxing. If you are looking for a fast pace atmosphere, this is not the island to visit.
We had the golf card for three hours, but felt we could have used at least one more hour to explore a little more.
We only saw one public restroom near the ferry.
Bring a backpack with snacks, water and flashlight.
Overall, we loved our trip and would love to go back another time.
