Broad Cove Reserve is one of the few, special places along the Maine coast where horseshoe crabs come to lay their eggs from mid-May to mid-June. It is also a gorgeous little stretch of beach on 104 acres, including woods and trails.
Located off Route 88 in Cumberland Foreside, this reserve offers a stretch of sandy beach, a dock, meadows, woods, lime green marine grass, and horseshoe crabs. It was once the site of important fishing grounds for the Abenaki people. Later, it served as the Cumberland town farm.
Now managed by the Town and the Chebeague Cumberland Land Trust (CCLT), it welcomes public access. In 2022, CCLT opened the Spears Hill Trail at Broad Cove Reserve. This trail is the final piece to connect the 1.5-mile loop trail around this gorgeous property, which features the only public coastal access trail in Cumberland.
The entrance to this property is located on the east side of Route 88 near the Tuttle Road intersection. As you enter Beach Drive, you will find a large parking lot on the right. After parking your car, walk back to the main entrance and locate the trail kiosk on the right. This is the northern part of the Stonewall Trail, which connects with the Spears Hill Trail. Although dogs are allowed on the wooded trails here (on leash), they are not allowed on the beach. As you continue on the trail through lush, fern-filled forests, you will wander towards water vistas, ending at the boardwalk where you will take a left to explore the beach.
From the beach, follow the Broad Cove Access Trail, which follows the main road back to the parking lot, rounding out the full 1.3-mile loop. As you ascend the long access road, you may be offered a ride back to the parking lot by a friendly man in a golf cart...if you're lucky. These kids were.
As you near the top of the long access road, take the short section of trail on the left leading through the woods, parallel to the road. Here you'll find some foundation ruins from the old town farm, just before reaching the parking lot.
For a trail map from the CCLT website, click here: Spears Hill Trail and Broad Cove Reserve.
Let's return to the horseshoe crabs. Here is some information about these incredible marine arthropods, which I learned from the live CCLT Horseshoe Crab Event with Carol Steingart of Coast Encounters. If you'd like to view the webinar, link below. https://www.ccltmaine.org/videos
Horseshoe crabs have been on the Earth, nearly unchanged, for 445 million years. That is well before the dinosaurs existed...which would explain their prehistoric appearance.
They may look threatening but don't pinch, sting, or bite. This may give you the courage to handle the harmless creatures, but please leave them be. They have a big important job to do, laying all of those eggs.
Their favorite food is soft-shelled clams.
Predators include turtles, fish, gulls, raccoons, foxes and shorebirds.
Native Americans ate them and used their shells for food bowls and to bail out boats.
The Red Knot bird travels 10,000 miles to the Canadian Arctic and could not achieve this distance without the fuel that horseshoe crab eggs provide for them.
The long pointy tail of the horseshoe crab is used to flip itself over by burying the tail in the sand. It is crucial to their survival, so never grab one by the trail.
They are well adapted for spending long periods out of water and breathe oxygen through their gills.
The blood of a horseshoe crab, which is milky blue, is used to test for bacteria in vaccines. There has been a huge increase in the amount of horseshoe blood needed this year, as a result of the COVID vaccine. Luckily, horseshoe blood draws do not kill the horseshoe crabs and they are supposedly returned to the ocean, unharmed. Hmm...that seems questionable, but I'll go with "ignorance is bliss" on that one.
The only time you should pick up a live horseshoe crab is when it's in distress. For example, it may be stuck on its back in an awkward position. In that scenario, go ahead and help the fella out.
Enjoy your adventure!
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