Day Visitor Guide

Welcome to 1 Big Sustainable Island, a 14-acre retreat on Annabessacook Lake created for exploring, relaxing, learning, and remembering that human beings are allowed to wander occasionally. The island is home to walking trails, swimming areas, paddlecraft, hammocks, wildlife, creative off-grid systems, and a small community of overnight guests.

Day visitors are invited to explore at their own pace. Follow the trails, find a quiet place by the water, take a swim, watch for loons, or simply sit somewhere without accomplishing anything measurable. That last activity is more productive than it sounds.

Resetting Humans, One Island at a Time

1 Big Sustainable Island is a nonprofit organization with a simple mission: Resetting Humans, one island at a time. We believe time outdoors can restore curiosity, perspective, and connection, especially when that outdoor experience happens to be surrounded by water.

Your visit also helps support the care of the island, its trails, docks, facilities, wildlife habitat, educational programs, and unusual experiments in sustainable island living. By being here, you are participating in something larger than a day at the lake.

Yes - You're Welcome Here. 1 Big Sustainable Island is privately owned and proudly shared as a 501c3 non-profit. From sunrise to sunset, the island is open to the public for low-impact exploration, quiet enjoyment, and the simple pleasure of being on an island in the middle of a Maine lake.

Everyone is welcome. No gate to unlock. Just arrive respectfully and enjoy.

What Sunrise-Sunset Access Means

During daylight hours, visitors are welcome to:Walk the island trails, sit by the water,enjoy the views, docks, and shoreline, swim, paddle, or picnic quietly in shared spaces, watch wildlife from a respectful distance. Bring dogs on leash at all times.

It's a place to slow down, look around, and reset - even if just for an hour. Occasionally parts of the island are posted for private events. Look for signs for guidance.

Respect Overnight Guests

Several areas of the island serve as temporary homes for overnight guests. Please respect their privacy by avoiding decks, docks, buildings, furnishings, and spaces associated with reserved accommodations.
A useful rule is that if something looks like someone's bedroom, porch, kitchen, or private dock, it probably is. Admire the island's creative accommodations from a respectful distance unless invited closer.

Leave No Trace

Take all personal belongings, food packaging, and trash with you or place them in the proper receptacles. Do not remove plants, rocks, wood, wildlife, signs, equipment, or other island materials.
Leave No Trace also means minimizing damage to trails, shoreline vegetation, and natural areas. The goal is for the island to look as though you visited, enjoyed yourself immensely, and then vanished with remarkable tidiness.

Quiet Areas

Some parts of the island are intended for quiet recreation, wildlife observation, reflection, or the privacy of overnight guests. Please keep voices, music, and group activities at a considerate volume, particularly near lodging areas.

Sound travels surprisingly well across water and through the woods. What feels like a private conversation at your picnic table may become today's entertainment for someone enjoying a peaceful hammock across the island.

Safety Expectations

Every visitor shares responsibility for making the island a safe place to explore. Make good decisions based on weather, water conditions, your physical abilities, your equipment, and posted guidance. Children must be supervised, required life jackets must be worn, and closed or restricted areas must be respected.

In an emergency, call 911 immediately. For non-emergency assistance, directions, or questions, use the Get Help Now button below or contact a member of the 1BSI team.

Dogs are welcome but must remain leashed and under their handler's control. Owners are responsible for supervising their dogs, cleaning up waste, and preventing unwanted interactions with people, wildlife, or other animals.

Not every visitor or resident dog is looking to make a new best friend. Ask before allowing dogs to greet one another, and please keep pets away from private accommodations, food areas, and sensitive shoreline habitat.

Day visitor parking is located at 705 Route 135, Monmouth, Maine 04259, near the ferry dock. When you arrive, follow the posted 1BSI parking signs and park in the designated guest parking area. Once parked, gather whatever you’re bringing to the island and make your way to the dock a few minutes before your scheduled ferry.

Your vehicle will remain on the mainland while you’re visiting the island, so before boarding, make sure you’ve grabbed everything you’ll want for the day. Discovering that your sunglasses, swimsuit, or carefully selected bag of snacks is still sitting in the car becomes considerably more interesting once there’s a lake between you and it. From there, hop aboard the ferry and we’ll take care of the watery part of your commute.

Ferry Schedule

April through November, our regular ferry schedule is designed to make getting to and from the island simple. Arrival ferries depart from the mainland at 9:45 AM, 3:00 PM, and 5:00 PM. Departure ferries leave the island at 10:00 AM, 3:30 PM, and 5:30 PM. The ride across Annabessacook Lake only takes about 10 minutes, but it’s a pleasant way to begin and end your island adventure. Purchase tickets here: https://1bsi.org/DayFerry.php. Your emailed receipt is your ticket.

Ferry Process

Please arrive at the dock a few minutes before your scheduled departure so we can keep the ferry running on time. When you’re ready to head home, simply catch the departure ferry you’ve planned for. If your schedule changes, just let us know through the Get Help Now button in the Digital Visitor Guide or by speaking with a crew member. We don’t mind changing plans, but we do like knowing exactly who’s on the island and who’s safely back on shore. It’s one of those tiny details that keeps island life running surprisingly smoothly.

Where do I Enter?

1 Big Sustainable Island has two primary visitor docks. The Maine Entrance Dock is located on the north end of the island and serves as the main arrival point for the public ferry. Most visitors arriving by ferry will begin their island adventure here.


The Public Entrance Dock is located on the south end of the island near Loon Point. Visitors arriving by canoe, kayak, SUP, pedal boat, or private boat are welcome to use this dock, which provides convenient access to the island's southern trails and shoreline. Both entrances connect to the island's trail system, so whichever dock you arrive at, the rest of the island is only a short walk away.

The island map shows the walking trails, docks, swimming areas, restrooms, gathering places, equipment locations, overnight stays, and other useful landmarks. Look for posted maps near the primary arrival areas or open the digital version here.

Over a mile of trails curve through woods, shoreline, and small clearings. This map will help you find what you are looking for and, occasionally, something you were not.

The lake map provides a wider view of Annabessacook Lake, including the island, Paddler's Cove, nearby shoreline features, public access points, and useful paddling landmarks. It is especially helpful for visitors arriving by canoe, kayak, SUP, pedal boat, or private boat.

Conditions on the lake can change with wind and weather. Before heading out, note your route, the location of the island, and the direction back to your starting point. A lake can look delightfully obvious from shore and surprisingly mysterious from the middle.

Approximately one mile of walking trails winds through the island's wooded interior and along portions of the shoreline. The trails range from broad, easy paths to narrower natural routes with roots, rocks, slopes, and uneven ground.

Wear practical footwear and move carefully, especially after rain. Walking slowly is not merely permitted; it improves your chances of seeing birds, discovering unusual trees, and noticing the tiny dramas occurring in the moss.

Activity Locations

The guide map identifies the locations of swimming areas, hammocks, paddlecraft, restrooms, the sauna, the Xchange Tent, gathering areas, and other visitor amenities. Some activities may be unavailable because of weather, maintenance, water conditions, or overnight guest use.

Please follow posted signs and respect any areas marked private, closed, or reserved. The island is shared among day visitors, overnight guests, staff, volunteers, and several critters who have declined to make reservations.

Estimated Walking Times

Most island destinations can be reached within five to fifteen minutes from the primary arrival dock. A complete loop of the main trail system generally takes between twenty and forty minutes, depending on pace, stops, and how long you become distracted by the lake.

Walking times are approximate because island time is notoriously elastic. Allow extra time for photographs, swimming, conversations, wildlife sightings, and sudden decisions to lie in an "Emergency" Hammock.

The island uses waterless composting toilets designed to operate without conventional plumbing. Add enough provided sawdust after use to fully cover solid waste, and place only human waste in the toilet. Toilet paper goes in the covered trash can.

These facilities are not traditional outhouses. When used correctly, the composting system is clean, low-odor, and remarkably effective, despite asking sawdust to perform responsibilities rarely mentioned in forestry school.

Drinking water may be available through the Xchange Tent or other designated locations. Availability can vary, so visitors are encouraged to bring enough water for the length of their stay, especially during hot weather.

Lake water should not be consumed without proper treatment. Staying hydrated will make walking, swimming, paddling, sauna use, and prolonged hammock occupation substantially more enjoyable.

Basic first-aid supplies are available at the Xchange Tent. These supplies are intended for minor cuts, scrapes, stings, and similar situations.

For serious injuries or medical emergencies, call 911 immediately and use the digital guide to identify your location. Using the Get Help Now button, notify the 1BSI team as soon as possible so that we can assist emergency responders and arrange transportation.

The Xchange Tent is the island’s little help-yourself supply station. Day visitors are welcome to stop in for a glass of drinking water whenever thirst strikes. No transaction, paperwork, or secret island handshake required.

Think of it as a tiny outpost of civilization tucked into the woods: wander in, grab some water, and head back out to whatever island adventure you temporarily interrupted by getting thirsty.

The island has a small designated Public Beach at Loon Point, best accessed by boat. Please do not walk through the nearby overnight guest campsite to reach it. Instead, consult the island map, paddle toward the Public Entrance Dock to find it, and enjoy the chairs and chaises waiting along the shore.

The Public Beach is a wonderful place to swim, relax, or simply watch the lake go about its day. Shore conditions vary throughout the season as water levels, wind, and weather reshape the shoreline. Please avoid trampling shoreline vegetation or disturbing nesting areas so future visitors can enjoy the same natural setting.

You’ve got options for swimming at 1 Big Sustainable Island:

The "hottest" spot for swimming is the entrance dock next to the sauna.

And, for group swimming, try the public beach near the Public Entrance Dock at Loon Point.

Safety first always: No swimming after dark, no lifeguard on duty, no diving off the docks, always swim with a buddy.

Our collection of canoes, kayaks, and standup paddle boards are near the 1BSI Entrance Dock and the north end of the island. Please help yourself (1st come, 1st served basis). If demand is high and the boat supply starts to run low, please let the Reset Crew know and we’ll bring more from our “secret stash”. Look for paddles and lifejackets in the black trunk.

The Maine State Game Warden Service requires that we tell you to have one lifejacket per person on board any of our boats. If you are a terrible swimmer, if it’s windy and wavy, if the water is liquid, we recommend lifejackets be worn.

Group paddles are safer. If you are going out in a boat alone, please message the Reset Crew when you depart and when you return, so that we know you are safely back home.

This might sound counter intuitive, but bring your cell phone with you. To protect it, use the ziplock bags we've provided in the trunk. So that the phone floats, put an air bubble in the bag before you seal it. The lake is 45 feet deep and if the phone sinks, Siri won't hear you.

Handy phones are important because you might need to reach the Reset Crew (use the GET HELP NOW button) if the wind shifts and a lift back to the island is needed (we do that – though we’re about 5x more likely to be found rescuing the neighbor’s kids than island guests from trouble on the lake).

Leaving your boat tied up to your dock during the day is fine as long a someone is available to keep an eye on things – wind and wave conditions can change quickly and boats don’t like being bounced around or repeatedly rubbing against docks. So, keep a look out for your boat if it’s tied up.

Boats and boaters are required to be out of the water after dark.

We don’t have much experience fishing. Maybe that’s our secret to success? We watch fishing folk, hang with them, supply them, keep them safe, and we give them so-called advice. But we don’t ACTUALLY spend time fishing because there’s too much other island stuff to do. We do know that there are good, healthy, and wholesome lessons in fishing.

What we HAVE learned about fishing is to start with an understanding of why. Take our fishing survey to figure this out for yourself:

Why do I want to fish? (check all that apply):

[] To catch fish

[] To spend time outside enjoying sunshine, water, waves, and fresh air

[] To spend time AWAY from some people

[] To spend time WITH some people

[] Drama and suspense

[] Bragging rights

Take your answers and look at the world of knowledge online about achieving fishing success however you’ve defined it. That might range from the proper use of a fishing rod, tackle, and bait to answers only a therapist or chaplain might help with.

We have outfitted your stay with some plain vanilla fishing gear and the GET HELP NOW button if you need more of anything. Feel free to reach out.

The island's wood-fired sauna offers a chance to experience one of humanity's oldest and simplest wellness rituals: warm yourself thoroughly, cool off in the lake, and repeat as desired. Availability may depend on weather, staffing, fire conditions, scheduled use, and seasonal operations. Cold plunges are available at the end of the Maine Dock (no diving, but cannonballs are encouraged).

Follow all posted instructions and use the sauna responsibly. Hydrate, limit your time inside, supervise children closely, and remember that the objective is restoration, not competitive roasting.

Each of the stays at 1 Big Sustainable Island is equipped with their own private hammock swim dock. We encourage you to use it during the daylight hours. After dark, hammocking is limited to onshore only please.

And remember there is no diving, no life guard on duty, and a ladder available for the rinse and repeat cycles.

The island and surrounding lake are home to loons, ducks, herons, eagles, songbirds, turtles, frogs, fish, and countless smaller residents. Early morning and quieter times of day often provide the best opportunities for wildlife viewing.

Slow down and let the island reveal itself. Wildlife has a remarkable ability to appear once people stop trying so hard to find it. Observe animals from a respectful distance and never feed them. They are far more interesting behaving naturally than negotiating for your lunch.

We’re just messing with you. Bears are shy and they have better things to do than to swim across the lake to an island. So, you’re very unlikely to see a bear. But if you do, get a pic because we’ve never seen one.

If you don’t know what a loon call sounds like, be prepared to be educated. At last count, Annabessacook Lake was home to 28 loons – quite a few for a Maine lake of our size – which makes for a big chatty conversation after dark. So, be prepared.

There are two kinds of loons - ones in a “relationship” and ones that are not. Breeding pairs stake out a territory – usually a remote cove – for nest building and hatching eggs. Once there is an egg or two on the nest, they don’t stray far.

You might also see a group of loons swimming around the lake together. This is called “rafting” in loonspeak. These folks are the spinsters, teenagers, and solo loons that are just passing the time. Life in this group is easy going and lackadaisical.

All the commotion calling after dark is really advertising. The males are the most vocal in proclaiming their ownership of their territory or alerting others to preditors. You’ll hear the other mating males from another cove respond with a similar call. And it isn’t until the females chime in with their “Would you guys please calm down!?” call, that things settle down for a while until some male opens his mouth again. Kid you not. Listen for this pattern after dark.

Turtles are smart critters. Three times a year Annabessacook Lake’s Painted and Snapping turtles go to the edge of the introverted shyness and make their presence known: May, June, and September. The rest of the year, they might catch a tan on a remote log, but we don't see them much.

In May, you can find turtles swimming in the shallow waters close to shore. These are female turtles casing out the place in search of a great place to lay eggs – close to shore (easy, safe access), loose soil (easy to dig a hole), that faces south (sunshine to incubate eggs) are choice. Loon Point is one of these places as is Naughty Dog Island near the dock.

Around the first full moon in June, the digging and egg-laying begins. Hole digging typically happens after dark. You’ll notice freshly disturbed soil the next morning for sure.

Momma turtle crawls out of the water and uses her flippers to dig a 9-inch-deep hole. She then straddles the hole and deposits her eggs. Before she crawls back into the lake, she uses her flippers to cover the eggs with soil. From start to finish, the process takes about an hour.

If you're lucky enough to find Momma while she’s laying, be sure to give her some distance and keep your pups away. There’s a reason they’re called Snapping Turtles. In the water, they’re shy and will simply swim away from harm, but on shore (especially when they are laying eggs) they're on a hair trigger!

Late August, we get one last turtle reminder - when the eggs hatch and baby turtles emerge from the ground. These little critters are about the size of a quarter and randomly crawl around the shore looking for the lake. If you find a baby on ground, you’d be doing it a favor by picking it up by the edge of its shell (they won’t inflict harm) and putting it in the lake.

Since the 1970s, we have typically had 3 or 4 bald eagles on the lake at one time. They are naturally shy, so you may have to search them out. They occasionally visit the high perches on the island when we have flat water and the angle of the sun is low in the sky - it’s easier for them to spot fish food at that time. Pay attention at windless sunrises and sunsets.

Eagles and osprey have a thing. Many an ariel dogfight has been observed over disputed fish snacks. There must be thousands of fish in the lake, but when one of them catches a good meal, the other is convinced that it was stolen from them!

Female eagles tend to be larger than males. It takes a young eagle about a year and a half to mature, which means that occasionally there is more than one youngster in the nest at a time.

“Teenaged” eagles have the eagle outline, but not yet the eagle colors. Their raggedy, mottled, grey-colored feathers are replaced by the adult white head and tail with a grey coat when they reach the age of two.

Which means eagle teens are awkward and clumsy. They don’t innately know how to catch fish, so we get to see “training sessions” lead by Mom and Dad. We also watch spats between the adult couples over whether the teenagers should be babied and fed, or whether they should go a little hungry and properly motivated to provide for themselves. In nature, this sort of family conflict is common among many species.

We see deer on the island about once a year. They swim out – looking for food or safety – under the cover of fog usually.

Once they figure out exactly how many resident humans and dogs there are, they get right back in the water and leave. If you are lucky enough to see one, please get a picture. It’s a rare event.

One silver lining to a deerless island environment is that we have no ticks.