Schoodic Beach
East Hancock, Maine · on Donnell Pond · Donnel Pond
Verified · 5 independent sources · top-verified
- WATER
- pond
- ACCESS
- Designated swim area
- FEE
- No fee found
- SEASON
- Varies by conditions
About Schoodic Beach
Schoodic Beach is a sand swimming beach on Donnell Pond within the Donnell Pond Unit of Maine's Public Reserved Lands, in Hancock County near Franklin and Sullivan. Maine's Bureau of Parks and Lands designates it as an official swimming and day-use area and describes this walk-in or boat-access swimming hole as the most popular recreation site in the unit.
The beach sits on the shore of Donnell Pond within a remote-to-semi-remote public reserved land unit of undeveloped shoreline, sand beaches, hiking trails, and forested hills in Hancock County, near the base of Schoodic Mountain and Black Mountain. The Bureau of Parks and Lands' management plan describes the surrounding shoreline as largely undeveloped, with views of tree-covered slopes, and notes conservation easements on the pond's northwest side that were acquired specifically to protect its visual character.
Swimming at Schoodic Beach
Schoodic Beach is one of two officially designated swimming/day-use beaches on Donnell Pond (the other being Redmans Beach on the same pond), described by the state as its most popular day-use and camping site. The management plan characterizes it as an extensive sand beach; it does not give specific water depth, bottom composition, or a description of who the swimming best suits.
How to get to this swimming hole
Access is via Schoodic Beach Road, a public access road off Route 183 in Sullivan, Maine, leading to a parking lot at its end. Boulders block motorized access beyond the lot, so the beach itself is walk-in only (about a half mile). The site can also be reached by boat, roughly three miles from the Card Mill boat launch off Route 182 in Franklin.
Parking: A parking lot at the end of Schoodic Beach Road serves as the trailhead for the beach as well as for the Schoodic Mountain and Black Mountain hiking trails; the state's management plan notes this and other unit trailheads have experienced overflow parking onto access roads during peak use.
The hike in
Schoodic Beach Trail (part of the Donnell Pond Public Reserved Land Schoodic Mountain and Beach Trails network)
- To the water
- 0.5 mi one-way
- Time on foot
- Roughly 15-20 minutes one-way at a walking pace for the flat 0.5-mile beach access route (not separately timed in sources; estimated from distance and stated easy grade).
Difficulty: Easy - Maine Trail Finder rates the beach-access route as easy (Level 1-2), following an old jeep road with no significant elevation change.
Trailhead: Schoodic Beach parking area at the end of gravel Schoodic Beach Road: from US Route 1 in Sullivan, take ME Route 183 about 4.5 miles, cross the Down East Sunrise Trail, then turn onto Schoodic Beach Road (marked with a blue-and-white Donnell Pond Public Lands sign) and continue about 2.3 miles to the lot.
The beach spur is a short, standalone 0.5-mile old jeep-trail descent from the parking lot to the shore; it is not a spur off a much longer through-trail, though hikers often pair it with the separate ~2.4-mile Schoodic Mountain/Black Mountain summit routes that share the same trailhead, descending to the beach for a swim after the climb.
Trail network is marked with blue blazes and stone cairns and crosses several streams; those stream crossings and a steeper, ledge-scrambling climb apply to the separate summit trails to Schoodic Mountain/Black Mountain, not to the easy beach-access route itself.
Plan your visit
Bringing kids
OK with supervision
Sand beach entry is gentle underfoot with no cliffs or rapids reported at the swimming area, but there is no lifeguard on duty, it's a walk-in-only site (no vehicle access for gear or emergencies), and no source found gives a description of drop-off depth or bottom composition, so young or inexperienced swimmers should be supervised closely.
Parking
Lot
Gravel lot at the end of Schoodic Beach Road, which also serves as the trailhead for the Schoodic Mountain and Black Mountain hikes; the state's management plan notes this lot has experienced overflow parking onto the access road during peak use. No day-use fee could be confirmed in any source found.
Restrooms
Yes
Privies are listed among the facilities at Schoodic Beach in the Bureau of Parks and Lands' 2007 management plan (picnic tables, privies, kiosks), but no source specifies their exact location relative to the beach or parking lot, or confirms they are still maintained/open today.
On the water
The Bureau of Parks and Lands management plan confirms Schoodic Beach can be reached by a roughly 3-mile boat trip from Card Mill Landing in Franklin, indicating non-motorized/small-boat access to the pond is possible, but no source found states which craft types are permitted, any horsepower/motor limits, or no-wake rules for Donnell Pond specifically.
Backstory
An old, abandoned building known locally as "Camp Chaos" once stood near Schoodic Beach; the Bureau's 2007 management plan recommended its removal due to disrepair.
Schoodic Beach: FAQ
Is Schoodic Beach kid friendly?
Sand beach entry is gentle underfoot with no cliffs or rapids reported at the swimming area, but there is no lifeguard on duty, it's a walk-in-only site (no vehicle access for gear or emergencies), and no source found gives a description of drop-off depth or bottom composition, so young or inexperienced swimmers should be supervised closely.
How hard is the hike to Schoodic Beach?
A hike is required, about 0.5 mi one-way to the water (roughly 15-20 minutes one-way at a walking pace for the flat 0.5-mile beach access route (not separately timed in sources; estimated from distance and stated easy grade).). Wear real shoes, since approaches to natural swim spots are often rocky or rooty.
Where do I park for Schoodic Beach?
Gravel lot at the end of Schoodic Beach Road, which also serves as the trailhead for the Schoodic Mountain and Black Mountain hikes; the state's management plan notes this lot has experienced overflow parking onto the access road during peak use. No day-use fee could be confirmed in any source found.
What are the rules at Schoodic Beach?
Managed by the Maine Bureau of Parks and Lands as part of Donnell Pond Public Reserved Land. Camping at designated sites is limited to 14 days within any 45-day period. The Bureau maintains a barrier at the parking area to keep motor vehicles off the beach and has worked to delineate day-use areas from camping areas to stop camping directly on the beach itself.
What water body is Schoodic Beach on?
Schoodic Beach is on Donnell Pond, a natural pond verified in USGS hydrography data.
