The colorful gingerbread-trimmed houses clustered around a village green that slopes to a pier and anchorage are enough to make Bayside, a village within the Waldo County town of Northport, worth a visit. For my wife and me, it’s the starting point for the walk we enjoy a few times each week. Year-round, it can’t be beat, especially since Bayside is a 10-minute drive from our home in Belfast.
We park near the pier — which, in July and August, can be quite busy — then walk uphill, making lefts and rights until we reach Shore Road, where we proceed south. It’s about seven-tenths of a mile to Kelly Cove, which features a narrow gravel beach. Along the way, there are plenty of views of upper Penobscot Bay.
Our destination is nearly another mile south, a high point near a small red cottage at which we stop and gaze down at Islesboro, Sears Island and Blue Hill Mountain, then turn around and head back to the pier. That makes for a 3½-mile walk.
In early May, we spent a lovely sunny Saturday walking even farther, to the cluster of summer cottages known as Temple Heights. We then turned right on Mountain Road, climbing steeply and then turned right (north) on Bluff Road. Before the leaves come in on the trees, the view from this height — a couple of hundred feet above the bay — is stunning.
It’s a fairly level walk along this ridge, then a steep decline to the golf course and a right turn back to the village and pier. In all, the longer walk is about 6 miles, but well worth the time and effort.