Lake St. George State Park

The swimming area at Lake St. George is accessed by stairs down to the water.

 

Today, we spent much of the day at Lake St. George State Park in Liberty, Maine.  It's located about 25 miles East of Augusta, or 16 miles West of Belfast, right on Route 3.  It's a great little park with plenty of grassy areas for laying out your stuff, lots of share for the hot days and a nice roped in swimming area with a sandy bottom, at least until you get out into the water over your head.

We found a nice shady picnic table down by the water and close to the swimming access.  As you may be able to tell from this photo, there isn't a beach per se (unless you count the one-foot-wide stretch of sand between the day use and campground sections of the park. However, there are stairs that lead right down into the water, so there's easy access to swimming.  I'd recommend bringing inflatable floats to add to the family fun.

The water temperature was comfortable, although the breeze today made it a bit chilly when we first got out of the water.  But once we sat in the sun for a couple of minutes, we were comfortable again.  My son spent a lot of time on the playground.  This is a very modern playground with lots of climbing options, slides, a swingset and sand all around.  Although there wasn't a beach, there was enough space to play with beach toys over by the playground without being in anyone's way.

View of the swimming area from atop the playground.

It's a great little family park because everything is very close.  You can sit by the water and be close to the playground and bathhouse, so it's easy to keep track of your kids.  The bathhouse/changing rooms are brand new and have a total of eight individual rooms that are large enough for a small family to change.  Each has hot and cold running water and flush toilets along with a built-in wooden bench where you can sit to change, and wooden pegs above the bench for wet towels or dry clothes.  The building is handicap accessible, making enough space in the room so my wife, son and I were not bumping into one another while changing.  Outside is a faucet for rinsing the sand off your feet.

Eight modern changing/bathrooms that are great for families.

There was plenty of parking and the cost was $4 per adult and $1 for kids 5-12.  Kids under 5 are free.  There seemed to be plenty of room for people, so we never felt crowded in like we have at some parks, and there's table after table beneath the shady trees along the water, each with a charcoal grill.

There's a group area if you want to have a family reunion and there's a horseshoe pit for those who might want to pitch a ringer.  My recommendation...bring a picnic.  Pick a shady spot along the water.  Take a refreshing dip, and relax and enjoy a summer day at Lake St. George State Park.