Downeast Lakes Land Trust Completes Acquisition of Big Sand Beach Parcel

April 25, 2025

April 23, 2025: The Downeast Lakes Land Trust in Grand Lake Stream, Maine, has closed on its most recent addition to its 58,203-acre community forest with the purchase of a 17.6-acre parcel affectionately known to locals as Big Sand Beach.  

Situated at the southern end of Lower Sysladobsis Lake, Big Sand Beach boasts a remarkable shoreline, substantial recreational and historical significance, and a high-quality wetland ecosystem that make it unique in the region. It serves as the historic landing site for watercraft portaging from Sysladobsis Lake in the St. Croix Watershed to Fourth Machias Lake in the Machias River Watershed. The Passamaquoddy Tribe acknowledges its importance as a canoe route for millennia. This portage is part of the Eastern Maine Canoe Trail, connecting Passamaquoddy and Penobscot Tribal lands. 

In the years it has been privately owned, access to Big Sand Beach has been informally permitted for generations as a destination for picnicking, swimming, and other activities. Sweeping views of Lower Sysladobsis Lake and its surrounding islands lend significant recreational value to the parcel. By purchasing the land for permanent conservation, Downeast Lakes Land Trust has ensured public access and recreational use by all  to the lake, the spectacular beach, and the adjacent uplands in perpetuity.  

The purchase was funded through a capital campaign that included support from the Land for Maine’s Future program, the North American Wetlands Conservation Act, a Washington County TIF grant, and contributions from many private individuals. We are extremely grateful to the Norris and Wood families, who were instrumental in helping DLLT conserve this special site.  Van Wood writes, “I’m pleased to have facilitated the preservation of this iconic part of Lower Sysladobsis for the enjoyment of many future generations.”

Special Memories of Big Sand Beach

By Steve Schaefer, Maine Guide and former DLLT Board President

It was a beautiful June day in the early 1990s. David Tobey and I were tasked with guiding a group of Notre Dame alumni and showing them some spawning smallmouth bass. Of the 22 lakes we could choose to visit, that morning we selected Sysladobsis, also known as Dobsis Lake. Among our clients were my friend Ted Wolfe, who remains a client to this day, and his classmate, the late TV host and celebrity Phil Donahue.

Upon launching our Grand Lake Stream canoes at the primitive launch in the southwest corner of Dobsis Lake, our sports were enthralled by the sweeping crescent of sand next to the launch known as Big Sand Beach. A large boulder breaches the surface a short distance offshore from this beach. Under the watchful eyes of fishing buddies and guides, Phil Donahue was granted the first cast, and sure enough, a beautiful Dobsis smallmouth broke the glassy morning surface, offering our celebrity client the thrill of a feisty battle. Among those present, we informally named it Phil’s rock.

That is one of my favorite memories of Big Sand Beach, and everyone who has set foot on this landmark has memories as well. Historically, it served as the portage trailhead that linked the St. Croix watershed with the Machias River via the carry trail to 4th Machias Lake. The landscape and the colorful people who used it were the subject of the writings of Edmund Ware Smith.

Thanks to the efforts, foresight, and generosity of Nancy and Steve Norris, Molly and Van Wood, and all the people and organizations who donated to the Big Sand Beach campaign, this special place is now part of the accessible landscape of the Downeast Lakes Land Trust. Future generations will have the opportunity to experience what we did back on that memorable June morning.