PUBLIC ACCESS is one of the most important issues along the Eastern Seaboard. Fortunately, Maine coastal towns, often with the help os State money, have been successfully addressing this issue by preserving coastal land and creating public boat ramps. Most are free to use. Some can be used at all tides. Some are limited to higher tides. Some have ample parking. At others parking is at a premium.

In addition to these town ramps, many marinas and boat yards along the coast have their own ramps that are available to the public for a fee. These are, perhaps, better bets if you plan an extended small-boat trip and need to arrange long-term parking.

Portable boats, such as kayaks and canoes, have more options. Convenient public put-ins are mentioned in the following tables. Please be sure a put-in is not private property.

With the assumption that trailered and portable boats will first arive at ramps by land, we have used the grid coordinates from Delorme's Maine Atlas and Gazetter to locate each ramp.

Finally, a note on ramp courtesy. In many small towns, the principle users of public ramps are commercial clammers and worm diggers who work on a lunar shedule. Larger towns tend to have more recreational boat traffic at their ramps. The biggest ramps will sometimes even have commercial boat transporters hauling or launching big boats on hydraulic trailers or commercial barges loading or unloading vehicles and freight for island transport. Please respect others who are launching or hauling or waiting for the ramp. Prepare your boat away from the ramp and promptly clear the area when you have launched or hauled. The same respect should be shown by kayakers, too. If you can launch from a beach or shore next to a ramp, please leave the ramp to the trailered boats that need it. Also, please do not tie up public docks for long periods while you organize your gear or wait for fellow paddlers, particularly if those tasks can be accomplished at a nearby shore. Finally, the ultimate respect can be shown by arriving in as few cars as necessary.