A bike ride and plein air watercolor painting day trip to Isleboro Island

A quick 3-mile ferry ride to Isleboro Island gets you away from the mainland to this understated paradise. On the fall day we went, there were more construction workers with happy dogs commuting than tourists. I spent the short ferry ride petting an adorable yellow lab and enjoying the beautiful view of the bay. We walked off the ferry with our bikes and set off on our way to the town beach. We came here ten years ago with our kids and had a fabulous day so we anticipated another great experience…

Isleboro Town Beach

We did a loop around the southern half to the island. We stayed along the coastal roads as much as possible looping on West Shore Drive to Pendleton Point Rd to get to the town beach. While most of the waterfront property is privately owned, the views from the road were gorgeous. After spending an hour or so wandering the rocks at the town beach we went back along East Shore Drive and Cemetery Rd to return to the ferry. There were several nature preserves we passed that I would have loved to explore but we wanted to catch the last ferry back for our Camden dinner reservations.

We brought our mountain bikes remembering several dirt roads, but my hybrid bike would have been better with all of the gradual hills. The view of the Penobscot Bay islands from the town beach is spectacular. On a summer day you could easily just the entire day here.

Isleboro Island Painting

Of course with a view this spectacular I had to do a quick watercolor study. I sat in the shade with my single 5×7 sheet of Arches taped to gator board, #6 da Vinci sable travel brush and Winsor & Netwon travel palette and spent a very content hour painting. This little study will inform a full size painting during the winter in my studio.

After this we headed back along East Shore drive. There is a sandy beach along this road but not as dramatic as town beach. By the time we got back to the ferry landing, we were pleasantly exhausted from the hills and ready to relax back at our B&B.