Littlejohn Island Preserve

This preserve is a day-use, water-access, picnic spot listed as part of the Maine Island Trail and the Royal River Water Trail.

The 1.3 mile lollipop trail begins immediately at the small 4-space parking lot and proceeds down Pemasong Lane to the preserve’s entrance on the right just as the road ends. The inside loop of the trail is relatively accessible for rugged baby carriages, walkers, and the most rugged wheelchairs although roots and rocks can create trip hazards. (Spurs and outer loops which go closer to the shoreline are less accessible.) Along the trail, there are three picnic tables (including one constructed for wheelchair compatibility) and five benches. There are also two boardwalks, two small bridges, and many bog bridges. The preserve has no bathroom facilities.  

Note:  Navigating Littlejohn Island’s narrow roadways can be challenging. Please follow all posted 15 MPH speed limits carefully. The RRCT 4-space parking lot is open only from dawn until dusk. Spots are seldom available and there is no available parking on either Pemasong Lane or adjacent roads. On occasion Pemasong Lane is closed due to weather or, in the spring, town postings. Parking is available on Cousins Island on Talbot Road (4 spots), Cousins Street, and Sandy Point Beach. Biking to the preserve (but not in the preserve) is also an option. (Bike racks are available at the entrance to the preserve.) You may also reach the preserve via kayak.

Seventeen acres of the 23-acre preserve were protected in 1990 by a conservation easement with no guaranteed public access. In November of 2006, the entire 23 acres was acquired by the Royal River Conservation Trust to secure public access and open space. Stone stairs to the ocean were installed in 2012 and 2017, each time with the assistance of the Maine Conservation Corps. A new expanded parking lot was built in 2015 by neighbors and deeded to RRCT. A bronze interpretive panel identifying islands in the view from the point was installed in 2018.

Permitted: Bikes (on Pemasong Lane). Dogs (on leash on Pemasong Lane and on leash or under voice control in the preserve), leaving no evidence of their visit. Please do not allow dogs to chase waterfowl or wildlife.

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Not Permitted: Street parking on Littlejohn Island including along Pemasong Lane or adjacent private driveways. (Vehicles will be towed at owner expense.) Bikes (within the preserve), boat launching, dropping visitors by car at the preserve entrance (please drop visitors at the parking area), fires, hunting (although duck hunters may be present in the intertidal zone and may access this zone via the preserve), metal detectors, smoking, tenting and camping, vehicle access on Pemasong Lane while road is posted, and visiting before dawn or after dusk.

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Required: Observing of property boundaries (with courtesies to island residents and neighbors), reporting public safety observations to Yarmouth Police Department (for emergencies) or RRCT (non-emergencies - 207-847-9399 or info @RRCT.org), and wearing of orange during all hunting seasons.

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Note:  Your comments, observations, and suggestions are helpful to maintain strong relationships and best-possible land stewardship. Please contact the Royal River Conservation Trust for any reason.

The land that is now the Littlejohn Island Preserve is part of the ancestral land of the Abenaki. For thousands of years, the Abenaki and other shifting tribes and cultures used Littlejohn and the islands of Casco Bay as a late winter and spring source of food, spending seasons year-after-year on the islands harvesting oyster, seals, and more. This history is recorded in shell middens and archaeology, oral history, and other sources.

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In early 2022, RRCT identified a shell midden within the preserve, near the point. Following consultation with Abenaki voices and several Wabanaki residents now living in Yarmouth, RRCT authorized archeologists along with volunteers from YCARE (Yarmouth Racial Equity) to excavate test pits to learn more. Along with expected shells, we found human-made shards of Kineo rhyolite, chertz, and quartz (for example from production of tools or arrowheads), charcoal likely from cooking fires, and more. We also found ceramic fragments from the ceramic era (post-Archaic), and a significant quantity of bone (not human), not-yet analyzed, especially on the southern edge of the site.

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“Little John” refers to John Cousins, also the namesake of Cousins Island and the Cousins River. Among the earliest European colonizers in Yarmouth, Cousins soon left Maine wrapped in narratives of incidents of violence.