If you’re in the Belfast, Maine area and are looking to get your beach on, you’re in luck.
There are a number of unique beaches located within a 20-minute drive of Belfast, with a handful being right in town.
Some of them are even your typical sandy beaches, which are a rarity in this part of Maine!
Here are the seven best beaches in Belfast, along with what you need to know about each before you go.
Heritage Park Beach
Right in the heart of downtown Belfast, you’ll find Heritage Park and its small beach area.
Heritage Park is a waterfront park located right on the Passagassawakeag River that looks over the Belfast Marina and features a beautiful walking path called the Belfast Harbor Walk that winds right through it.
The park offers clean, public restrooms and is a short walk from a number of restaurants and shops.
You’ll find a few different beach access points off of the Harbor Walk path, which take you a few steps down to Heritage Park Beach.
This is a small beach area consisting of mostly sand and pebbles, with a number of large rocks mixed in.
From the beach you get an excellent view out towards Belfast Bay, with a number of boats anchored just off the marina.
There are plenty of seashells and rocks to be found here, making it a fun little spot for kids to explore.
Much of this beach gets swallowed up at high tide, so check the local tide charts and plan to go when the tide is out so you can actually walk and enjoy the beach.
Steamboat Landing Park
Steamboat Landing Park is another waterfront park that connects to the southern end of Heritage Park where the Belfast Harbor Walk path ends.
This park is home to the Boathouse, which is an event venue that overlooks the river and hosts a number of concerts and other local events.
During the summer you’ll find crowds of people here sitting in lawn chairs and with blankets spread out to enjoy one of these events with the rest of the local Belfast crowd.
Down on the shore to the right of the Boathouse venue is a small beach area which makes up Steamboat Landing Park Beach.
It’s only really accessible at low tide, and consists mostly of rocks and pebbles with some intermittent sand.
Like Heritage Park Beach, it offers excellent views of the river and many boats anchored around the marina area nearby.
You’ll rarely find people here unless there’s an event going on, so it’s a great spot to sit on the beach or let the kids explore without many other folks around.
Belfast Beach (Or Allyn Street Beach)
A few blocks to the south of Steamboat Landing Park is another beach area, most often referred to locally as Allyn Street Beach but also known simply as Belfast Beach.
This public beach area stretches out along the coast to the south for about a half-mile from Steamboat Landing Park to Belfast City Park.
This beach is about what you’d expect to find in Maine – a mixture of sand, pebbles, and rocks.
It’s usually not very crowded and offers excellent views and some good areas to hunt for shells and explore along the beach.
It can be accessed from one of any of Allyn Street, Condon Street, Race Street, or Mayo Street.
There’s a public beach access located at the end of Race Street where it meets the beach, but you’ll need to find a spot to park on the street as there’s no designated parking for this beach.
Belfast City Park Beach
There’s another small beach located at the base of Belfast City Park, just to the south of the three beaches already mentioned.
This beach is more rocky with pebbles than sandy, but during low tide you can find a few sandier areas close to the water.
This is another beach that gets most swallowed up at high tide, not offering much room when the water is in.
It offers excellent views of the bay, good seashell hunting, and you can even stumble upon some sea glass here.
To access Belfast City Park Beach, you can park in the main parking lot off City Park Road.
A small stairway connects directly from the parking lot down to the beach area.
Just a short walk from the beach are a number of features of Belfast City Park including a playground area, basketball courts, tennis court, and public swimming pool if the ocean’s a little too cold for the kiddos.
Sandy Point Beach
About a twenty minute drive north of Belfast in the town of Stockton Springs, you’ll find a local favorite in Sandy Point Beach Park.
True to its name, this public beach is one of the sandier you’ll find in the area, offering plenty of fine, squishy sand most think of when sandy beaches come to mind.
The beach offers a nice view of the Penobscot River, and many days you’ll see a number of sailboats out on it.
There are also remnants of some olden wooden piers just off a small section of this beach.
This beach is one of the more popular in the area, and on the weekends during the summer you’ll find that the parking area fills up quickly, so you may want to get out here before 10 am.
Even so, the beach is lengthy enough that you’ll have room to space out even on more crowded days.
There are port-a-potty bathrooms here and the beach is dog friendly.
Lincolnville Beach
Lincolnville Beach is a small public beach in the quaint little coastal town of Lincolnville, about a 15-minute drive south of Belfast.
This beach features nice, white sand throughout with some pebbles and rocks down near the water’s edge at low tide.
There’s also a more rocky beach just to the right of the main beach that makes for great treasure hunting.
It offers excellent views of West Penobscot Bay, and you’ll see a number of boats anchored offshore most days.
There are a number of little shops and restaurants right across the street, with a small lobster place almost on the beach.
There’s plenty of parking just on the beach or across the street and port-a-potties onsite for bathrooms.
This beach doesn’t allow dogs or booze.
Kelly Cove Beach
This one is way off the beaten path, and about “in the middle of nowhere” as you’ll find.
About a fifteen minute drive south of Belfast, you’ll find the small coastal town of Northport, Maine.
Just north of Northport, near the Northport Yacht Club, you’ll find a section of coastline that overlooks Kellys Cove.
On this stretch of shoreline is a small beach area referred to locally as Kelly Cove Beach.
It is located just off of Shore Road, and features a long, slow sloping beach of a mix of sand and pebbles, with a number of tidal pools to explore when the tide is low.
It’s not technically a designated beach area, so you won’t find any parking areas or facilities here. But there are a couple of areas you can pull over and park off of Shore Road.
If you’re feeling adventurous and want to see a beach that almost 100% of the population will never see, give Kelly Cove Beach a shot.
Final Word
While some of the beaches in the Belfast area are not beaches in the typical sense, there are a number of sandy spots you can go to enjoy some fun in the sun.
And there’s not one of them that doesn’t offer an excellent view.
If you’re looking for something even more unique and you don’t mind taking a day trip north just past Bar Harbor, check out Sandy River Beach or Jasper Beach.
If you’re open to a trip to one of the uncrowded, hidden gems of Acadia National Park a couple hours north, check out Schoodic Point.
You won’t be disappointed.