Desert in Maine

Yes, I said desert.  We traveled 3,000 miles to see the desert!  Who would have believed it?  According to the owner of the campground who also owns this attraction, the desert is the result of glaciers that once covered this area a mile deep leaving behind acres of silt when they retreated.  Located near Freeport, Maine, this is another surprising phenomenon.

Here are some details about the site:

This Monarch butterfly had just emerged as we visited.

The Desert of Maine is a 40-acre site of exposed glacial silt (a sand-like substance, but not actually sand) surrounded by a pine forest in the town of Freeport, Maine. The Desert of Maine is not a true desert as it is carefully maintained against vegetation encroachment and receives an abundance of rain and snow.

The Desert of Maine originated when a family named Tuttle farmed the site beginning in 1797. Failure to rotate crops, combined with land clearance and overgrazing, led to soil erosion, exposing a dune of sand-like glacial silt. The initial exposed small patch of sand gradually spread and overtook the entire farm. The Tuttles abandoned the land in 1919 when it was purchased for $300 by Henry Goldrup, who converted it to a tourist attraction in 1925.  Today it houses a campground which we inspected, a "sand museum" that teaches how the silt was formed by glaciers, a "farm museum" that consists of the original 1797 barn, a gift shop and a "butterfly garden" where real butterflies are "hatched" live and can be seen emerging from their pupae as visitors watch. 

The sand dunes roll out through the pine trees.