Every August, the Bold Coast turns blue. Washington County produces most of the world's wild blueberries — and for a few weeks each summer, the barrens here become one of the most extraordinary landscapes in New England.
The wild blueberry is one of the only truly native fruits of North America — and Washington County, Maine, is its capital. These are not the fat, cultivated highbush berries found in supermarkets. Wild blueberries are small, intensely flavored low-bush berries that grow naturally across the rocky, acidic soil of Downeast Maine, just as they have for thousands of years. The Passamaquoddy people have harvested them here since long before European settlement.
What makes the Bold Coast special is the landscape. The barrens — vast, open fields of low-growing blueberry plants — carpet the hillsides across Washington County in a way that's unlike anything else in New England. In spring they bloom white. In late summer, when the berries ripen, they turn a deep, dusty blue that stretches to the horizon. In fall, the foliage burns brilliant red and orange. Each season the barrens look completely different, and each is worth seeing.
Harvest happens in late July through August, when crews move through the fields with traditional hand rakes — a practice unchanged for generations. The best farms still do it this way. The result is a berry that's smaller, more complex, and more nutritious than anything grown at scale. They're sold fresh at farm stands, frozen for year-round use, and turned into jams, pies, and syrups that show up everywhere on the Bold Coast.
The Bold Coast has working blueberry farms that have been in families for generations. This is one of the best.
August on the Bold Coast is more than blueberries — but the berries make everything better.
Tell our trip planner you want to visit during blueberry season and it'll build an August itinerary around the festival, the farms, the barrens, and everything else the Bold Coast has to offer in its best month.