Driving Directions

Updates:

Please consider checking the status of our parking lot at bmmparking.com before making your trip. Once our parking lot is full, we turn away additional vehicles as part of our management strategy.

Also, before you hike, check the tide chart for Fort Popham at US Harbors. The road across the marsh at BMMCA can flood on tidal heights of 9.5′ and greater. We typically plan for there to be water on the road approximately an hour before and an hour after the time of high tide.

 

Bates College Coastal Center at Shortridge

Directions to The Bates College Coastal Center at Shortridge (from Bates College)

  • Go Right onto Campus Ave (past St. Mary’s), then right onto East Ave.
  • Go left onto Lisbon (Route 196). Continue for approximately 19 miles to Topsham.
  • Follow 196 past the Topsham Fair Mall, and continue to US Route 1 N.
  • Continue on Route 1 N until Bath. Go right on Rte. 209 South from the second Bath exit (to Phippsburg/Popham). Continue south, crossing a causeway at Winnegance (you will see the old Winnegance Store on your right as you curve left to cross the causeway). Stay on Rte. 209 for about 15 minutes. Turn left (staying on Rte. 209 S) at the turn toward Popham. Shortridge is the third  driveway on the left on the Popham Road. Shortridge is #74; it’s a dirt driveway that goes straight back into the woods.

Bates-Morse Mountain Conservation Area

  • From Lewiston, take Route 196 towards Topsham. Continue past the Topsham Fair Mall to Bath via U.S. Route 1.
  • As you approach Bath, exit Route 1 on Route 209 south (High Street) towards Phippsburg/Small Point/Sebasco/Popham Beach. (It is the second Bath exit.) Turn right on High Street at the end of the ramp.
  • Follow Route 209 South for 11.6 miles. (The road will soon curve left as you cross a causeway, leaving Bath and beginning to drive down the Phippsburg peninsula.) Where Route 209 turns sharply left to Popham Beach, continue straight ahead onto Route 216 for 0.4 mile.
  • You will see NO PARKING signs on both sides of the road as you approach the entrance to Morse Mountain. Turn left on Morse Mountain Road.
  • Drive about 350 feet to the entrance of the parking lot on the left. In the summer, there is a gatekeeper at this lot. When the lot is full, no more vehicles are permitted to enter until parked vehicles leave.  Vehicles may not park on Morse Mountain Road or on Route 216.
  • A two-mile hike leads through woodlands, salt marshes, up 180-foot Morse Mountain to an overlook, and on to Seawall Beach.


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