We had heard such great things about Sandy Pines Campground and they all turned out to be true. We booked a couple months in advance and got the last RV site for the time period we were looking to visit Maine. Sandy Pines is located in Kennebunkport and is not far from downtown Kennebunkport and Goose Rocks Beach. We had never visited this part of Maine before and after a bit of research this seemed like THE place to stay.
Sandy Pines had a terrific salt water pool flanked by boulders and lawn games. The kids loved playing on the boulders when they needed to heat up from the cold water (seems like all water is cold in Maine). When we weren’t swimming with the kids, we enjoyed getting goodies from the snack bar and listening to 80’s music from the outdoor speakers in the pool area.
We don’t have a lot of pictures of the playground although we did visit there. It was a bit small compared to the various campgrounds we’ve been to but it may be best suited for smaller children. The real playgrounds in these parts are the beaches. Many campers choose to go out in the morning toting kayaks, SUP’s and surfboards electing to come back in the afternoon and relax by the pool. Not a bad formula for fun and one we’ve followed when we can get the kids out early enough.
Sandy Pines also had many other accommodations for campers without RV’s. From cabins to glamping tents to Conestoga Wagons. The facilities were well kept and their were many activities. They had it all and if we visit this part of Maine again we will definitely be back.
Hiking Kennebunkport was quite a different experience. We left Sandy Pines in search of The Edwin L. Smith Preserve but ended up at The Emmons Preserve quite unbeknownst to us. I just in fact figured out what had happened as I’m writing this post and researching. We followed directions for the Edwin L. Smith Preserve and ended up at The Kennebunkport Conservation Trust Headquarters (located adjacent to the Emmons Preserve). We then took a map for The Smith Preserve and proceeded to hike The Emmons Preserve with the wrong map in hand. We did not notice until a half mile in that none of the trail names and colors matched up. The very helpful man (lol) at the trust neglected to mention we needed to proceed further down a gravelly road to get The Smith preserve. We followed the learning trail and promptly left as it turned out we were walking through stagnant marshland just in time to provide thousands of mosquitos with a tasty lunch.
That’s why above I stated above: “if we visit this part of Maine again.” We missed Acadia National Park and all of it’s gems. Southern Maine is to beaches as Northern Maine is to mountains. We missed our hiking during this trip but we did have great beach experiences. You can see more of that in our previous post, “Beaches of Southern Maine”. Check out the video below to see Ryan’s first solo/unassisted swim across The Sandy Pines Campground Pool and keep watching to see our seasoned hiking family get lost on a learning trail in some pretty buggy conditions.
Thanks for stopping by and stay tuned as we head out in search of days long ago and seafaring past on our next adventure.
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