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Basket Island
Public Access: Yes, by boat
Parking location: Beaches around the island
Restrictions: No overnight camping; fires only with Town permit and then below high tide line
Description and History:
Basket Island, owned by CCLT, is one of Casco Bay's "inner islands". It lies one mile south of Cousins Island and one mile north of Clapboard Island. Depending on the time of the tide it is some 1,200 feet long, north to south, and averages 400 feet wide, to account for its approximately 10 acres.
In 1958, Robert E. Peary, Jr., the son of famed Admiral Peary, deeded Basket, which had been willed to him by his mother, to Eizabeth Brown Desseau. She most generously gave the island in 1967 to the Maine Chapter of The Nature Conservancy (TNC) to be kept natural and undeveloped. In June of 1992, TNC deeded Basket to CCLT with a covenant regarding keeping the premises forever as a nature preserve for scientific, educational and aesthetic pupses and entirely in its natural state.
For at least 50 years Basket Island has been used for daytime stops to picnic, relax, walk and swim. Its small size means a walk completely around the shore takes about an hour. Five coves and a sand/shale beach on the east side allow privacy and a great feeling of having your own tiny part of Mane, if just or a few hours. The Trust does not maintain any trails and due to considerable poison ivy, exploring the interior of the island is not recommended. To protect the island's fragile environment, camping is not allowed and fires are authorized only with a Town permit and then must be below high tide line.
There are four evidences of human activity on Basket Island, each separated by about half a century. Near the center of the south end, and hard to find, are the remains of a well, believed to be near the site of a fisherman's house which was there in the 1800's. Off the north end, large cut pieces of granite are piled outwards to form a pier foundation, part of a proposed development effort in the early 1900's. At the south end, the cement base of a navigational signal remains from WWII. Currently our CCLT brass plaque, one large welcome sign and several small regulatory signs can be found around the shore.
Basket Island is an easily accessible place for anyone with even a small boat and our Trust encourages gentle recreational use of this very special property.
George Hyde