Basket

A well-known picnic spot in Casco Bay, Basket Island was once owned by Robert Peary Jr., son of the celebrated arctic explorer who summered on nearby Eagle Island. Basket was donated to The Nature Conservancy in 1967 and later transferred to the Chebeague & Cumberland Land Trust in 1992 with a covenant protecting it for "scientific, educational, and aesthetic purposes." The island is home to a healthy population of nesting eiders and has resident osprey on its eastern side. To protect these wildlife species, visitors should refrain from going ashore before July 1.

A 1979 fire torched most of the vegetation on the island but left some larger trees intact. Staghorn sumac, rugosa rose and poison ivy subsequently colonized the understory. Visitors should stick to the shoreline to avoid the poison ivy and fire ants, which have been reported in the interior.

Evidence of settlement activity on Basket includes an old well on the south end of the island, which is thought to mark the site of a house from the 1800s. Off the north end, large pieces of cut granite form a pier foundation that was part of a development effort in the early 1900s. Cement remains from the base of a WWII navigational light can be found on the south end.

The intertidal zone surrounding the island consists of shell and gravel beaches that slope gradually into tidal mud flats. A sand bar on the eastern shore is the best landing site, but be mindful of rocks as you approach the beach. The northwest point is an alternate landing site. Large boats can anchor off the western shore.