The Desert of Maine (Desert Week)
Thursday, 19th June 2008 by James Turnbull
We’re continuing the first annual GSS Desert Week! We’re mostly posting about deserts and it's lasting about a week!
The 40 acre Desert of Maine is located in a pine forest near the town of Freeport. Although not a real desert, the "sand" is natural to the area: it is glacial silt that would have been ground down under the earth sometime around the last ice age.
The silt would have remained hidden underground if it wasn't for some poor farming practices in the early 1900s that eroded all the soil. The farmer eventually had to sell up to an enterprising man who correctly assumed tourists would flock to see some sand in the middle of a forest.
Since 1925 up to 30,000 people a year have visited the "desert", which is made even more exciting by the inclusion of plastic camels. If that wasn't enough, there is also a "sand museum" where you can see the sand of real deserts donated from around the world… sounds fascinating!
More info on the official website and NY Times.
Thanks to Elliott C. Evans and jon moses.
A SAND MUSEUM !?!?!?!?!?!?!?!
books first flight available to Maine
Gosh, and I thought there was nowhere more exciting than the History of Concrete exhibition
hello this is very off topic but i found a UFO on street view ive mentioned this on this site many times but nobody seems to care.
if your interested it is on 242 chestnut St Manchester New hampshire.
look towards the signal on the street you will see a black shape,then when you go forward its gone these pictures are taken with in seconds so this isnt a plane.
There are signs all over the area touting the “Desert” of Maine.
You should have called it ‘Sand week’, so far you have covered two sandy deserts and two patches of sand. Why not cover some stony, or cold deserts? I want to see some Polar Bears or Alpacas.
@Timothy – fair point! We conceived this idea because lots of people had suggested sandy things to be honest, but see my next post about the Atacama Desert for some stuff that might tide you over till next year’s desert week (which I shall endeavor to ensure has as little sand as possible 😀 )