My favorite Maine bigfoot story comes from Michelle Souliere’s wonderful book Bigfoot in Maine (The History Press, 2021) and sounds like something right out of The X-Files. It took place on Route 1 just outside Camden in 1997. It was a dark November night and a man called Stephen was riding a work shuttle bus from the new MBNA offices in Belfast to Camden. It was just the experienced driver called Beth and Stephen on the bus.

They approached Point Lookout, a massive recreational complex on Ducktrap Mountain. The backside of the mountain was undeveloped, adjoining a land preserve, and deer often crossed Route 1 here due to the green corridor that ended at the water’s edge.

They came upon a chain of large, dark unmarked vehicles parked bumper to bumper on the shoulder of the narrow road. Heavy-duty lights illuminated the empty field behind them. Thinking they must have hit a deer, Beth slowed down and peered into the darkness. “That’s a foot! Look at all the hair.”

Stephen peered out the window and saw a large bare foot and part of a hair-covered leg clearly visible in the gap between the wheels of two of the parked vehicles. It was only a bumper’s length away and brightly lit. “What is it?” he asked Beth but couldn’t believe her when she replied, “That’s a Bigfoot.” His eyes traveled over the heel, the contour of the instep, the big toe.

Whatever this was, it was lying belly-down in a ditch with its foot hung up on the edge of the gully. The hairy foot was backlit and reddish-brown. The hair was two and a half to three inches long. Disturbing clumps of it had fallen onto the ground next to the foot, as though knocked off by impact. The skin on the foot looked like somebody with a suntan and dirty feet. 

There wasn’t any construction work to explain away the industrial lights. There was nobody directing traffic where the vehicles caused a bottleneck on the road, and they hadn’t been there when Beth drove through about a half hour before.

When he left the bus, Stephen asked Beth to keep her eye out on the way back. The next evening, Beth told Stephen: “On the way back, about twenty-five minutes later, everybody’s gone. And they pressure-washed the road.”

Do you have a spooky story? Maybe you grew up in a haunted house or saw a UFO? Perhaps you’ve encountered a Bigfoot on a lonely trail? If so, please contact me at lisa.f.matthews@gmail.com - I’d love to hear your story. And if you enjoy mysterious stories like the ones featured in the 13 Days of Halloween Tales of Terror, look for our Mysterious Harbor Electric Bike and Walking Tours starting in Spring 2024.