My family is taking a trip to Boston in August, and we plan to drive up the coast of Maine as far as Acadia. We have a three year-old who is capable of hiking in about 2-3 miles and we'd love some ideas for some family friendly backpacking spots to head to where we can enjoy New England, and ideally not be around too many other folks, and have an isolated (as much as possible) campsite to ourselves.

Any info on particular trails, trail head info, etc. would be fantastic!

Thanks for the help.

This might be one place to start:

http://www.backpackinglight.com/cgi-bin/backpackinglight/xdpy/forum_thread/30301/index.html

That Bold Coast Trail trip sounds pretty cool to me, but I think it's another two hours up the coast.

Thanks for the thread link, some of those may be longer than our little guy can do, but they are good starting point. The Bold Coast trail, looks great, it may well be worth a little more time in the car.

The Maine coast is beautiful, in my opinion the most captivating stretch of shore in the US. For moderate hiking try Camden Hills State park or a local land trust (there are many!) Here's some links to get you started:

http://www.coastalmountains.org/conserved_lands/trails.html

http://www.bbrlt.org/bbrlt_hiking.html

http://www.mltn.org/search.php

edit:
Also try Great Wass Island Preserve (hiking but no camping):
http://www.cedarholm.com/blog/2010/02/hiking-great-wass-island-preserve-maine/

Edited by jebstevens84 on 07/07/2010 17:00:23 MDT.

Once again thanks for the links, we've got some planning to do, but it looks like there are plenty of good options.

How do the bugs tend to be in Maine in August? They're pretty awful in our part of NC.

While it can definitely be hit or miss depending on conditions, I've found the bugs to dissipate considerably by August. With that said I would still prepare to encounter them and then hope for the best.