Emanuel

Those willing to brave the swift Bagaduce River currents will find a quiet and picturesque wilderness island located just 1.5 miles north of Castine village. Emanuel Island, formerly known as Lower Negro, was initially conserved by the Conservation Trust of Brooksville, Castine, and Penobscot. Since 2014 it has been owned and managed by Maine Coast Heritage Trust.

The Indigenous name for the island group that included Upper and Lower Negro is Wewətanagok, which means "at the place where they come together". In 2022, Castine voters chose to request from the U.S. Board of Geographic Names two new names for the islands: Esther and Emanuel, respectively. The name pairing was chosen out of a desire to make reference to the history of Black and Indigenous people in this area. The names Esther and Emanuel appear in a store logbook from the late 1700s, though no more is known about these individuals.

Emanuel Island is four acres in size, well-wooded and oblong in shape. It is accessible at any tide from the east side but is surrounded by extensive low tide mudflats to the south, west and north. To protect its steep banks from erosion, please ascend the bank using the ladder midway down the eastern side of the island. From the steps, visitors can enjoy a trail that runs the circumference of the island. The preferred camping site is at the southern tip of the island, with group camping available in a clearing in the center of the island where a campfire devastated the landscape in 2016.