Winter Harbor is a town in Hancock County, settled in the early 1800's and incorporated on February 21, 1895 from a portion of Gouldsboro. The name reflects the fact that the harbor does not freeze in winter.
The southern portion of the town is occupied by a portion of Acadia National Park on Schoodic Point.
Winter Harbor hosts two nature preserves. Schoodic Island is a sixty-one-acre nesting site for bald eagles and sea birds managed by Acadia National Park and The Nature Conservancy.
Turtle Island, almost entirely covered by a 150 year old spruce-fir forest, maintains a colony of great blue herons. The interior is closed during the nesting season. Thickets of raspberries and blackberries compete in open areas with cherries and gray birches. There is a seal haul-out on the southern tip, and extensive tide pools. This too is managed by the Nature Conservancy.
