Scarborough Beach. Photo courtesy of Land for Maine’s Future and its partners.
With a long expanse of white sand and views out to the rocky shores of Prouts Neck, Scarborough Beach is an attractive setting for swimming, walking, and picnicking. Surfers routinely ride its combers in and surf-casters ply the waters for striped bass and blue fish. In wintertime, local residents come to skate on Massacre Pond, a spring-fed wetland just inland of the beach’s rolling dune ecosystem (which provides critical habitat for piping plovers, a federally protected bird). On their way to and from the beach, visitors pass by the attractive crescent-shaped pond fringed by pitch pine, oak, cattails, and woody shrubs.
Given its close proximity to Portland, Scarborough Beach gets consistent use throughout the year — with more than 60,000 visitors recorded annually. For many years, access to this site was tenuous with inadequate parking and an entrance dependent on a right-of-way. That problem was resolved in 1999 through the State’s purchase of 62 acres between the shore and Route 207, including the entirety of Massacre Pond. Support for the purchase came through the Land for Maine’s Future program and the Trust for Public Land (which purchased the site for subsequent transfer to the State). The property is owned and managed by the Bureau of Parks and Lands.
Closest Town
Scarborough
Activities
Bird & other wildlife watching, hiking, fishing, swimming, and nesting seabirds
Region
Southern Maine – York, Cumberland
Acres
62
Directions from nearest town
DeLorme Maine Atlas and Gazetteer Map 3, B-4. From Route 1 in Scarborough, take Route 207 south 3.5 miles. The Park is on the left, about 1 mile after the Route 77 intersection.
