York Harbor Beach
Serenity in Southern Maine

Quiet-day-York-Harbor

On a beautiful summer day, why do you find so many local mothers at York Harbor beach?

Because York Harbor beach is big enough for kids to have a blast, and small enough where you can always see them right from your beach chair.

And because it's protected and crescent shaped, there are usually no really huge waves that might bowl your toddler over. Consequently, no huge undertow either!

Except at high tide, there's plenty of wet sand for digging, sandcastle-building, and skim boarding. Bring a bucket, because there's usually a lot of small green crabs to be found in the rocks by Stage Neck Inn!

What's always a plus for a family on a coastal Maine vacation? A bathroom! The town installed really nice bathrooms a few years ago, complete with an outside shower for rinsing sand off feet and toys.

It's made spending the day here so much nicer that I couldn't resist showing you the bathrooms...

york-harbor-beach

Spend some time taking a walk along the rugged oceanfront Cliff Path. The entrance is right where Hartley Mason park slopes down to meet the rocks (directly opposite from Stage Neck Inn).

During high tide, the amount of available sand shrinks significantly for an hour or so, so keep an eye on the tide chart!

Click here for a beautiful picture of this little slice of heaven at high tide from the July 2009 issue of Down East magazine. The Cliff Path runs right along the front of the houses you see in the picture...

Parking at Harbor Beach

-Resident permit parking only on the short road leading to beach
-Public parking on Route 1A (2 hour maximum)
-Park on 1A and walk down to the sand through beautiful Hartley Mason Park (and picnic in the park later on!)