After October 25, Pine Point Road still has the marsh, the sand and the trail. Most of the businesses that made the road a destination in summer are not. Ken's Place, whose sign says "Since 1927," served its last meal of the season on October 25, 2026. Inland at The Downs, a grocery store with more than 50,000 products is expected to open in November.
Both changes are happening in the same few weeks. Every November, Scarborough's coast hands off its commercial life. The beaches, preserves and trails stay open to anyone with boots and a leash. Most of the places with cash registers close until spring. This year that seasonal shift lines up with the first store opening in The Downs' Town Center.
Pine Point Road Closes on a Schedule
The coastal closings were announced well ahead, and most of them run until spring:
- Ken's Place, 207 Pine Point Road: last day of the season was October 25, 2026.
- Higgins Beach Market, 82 Spurwink Road: closed for the season. It says it will see customers in 2027.
- Scarborough Marsh Audubon Center, 92 Pine Point Road: Maine Audubon says the 2026 summer season is over and the visitor center is closed until May 2027. Boat rentals have ended too.
From October through April, the center's phone number changes to (207) 781-2330. The May through September number, (207) 883-5100, reaches the seasonal staff.
The outdoor parts of the center stay usable. According to Maine Audubon, you can still launch your own canoe or kayak from the center's boat ramp at your own risk. Dogs are welcome on the trails. The center has no running water, and there is a portable toilet on site.
At least one place on Pine Point stays open. Pine Point Grill calls itself a year-round neighborhood bar and grill, with indoor seating and a heated patio.
The Sand Belongs to Dogs and Horses Now
Scarborough's 2026 beach season ran from May 22 through September 7. Once the season ends, the rules change for the people who stay. According to the Town of Scarborough's beach page, dogs are generally allowed on town beaches from the day after Labor Day through May 14, with leashes required between 1 and 3 p.m. Permitted horses can use Pine Point from October 1 through March 31. Those are the town's rules, not ours, so check that page before you head out with a dog or a horse trailer.
November is when the town's coastline is open to the most kinds of use. In summer it fills with beach-pass holders and paid parking. Now it belongs to dogs, horses and walkers.
The off-season routes away from the sand run on daylight hours:
- The Eastern Trail is open year-round, usually sunrise to sunset, says the Eastern Trail Alliance. It is generally not plowed in winter, and maintenance can close sections temporarily.
- Fuller Farm Preserve, 305 Broadturn Road, is open dawn to dusk all year, according to the Scarborough Land Trust. Snowshoeing and cross-country skiing are on its list of activities.
- Blue Point Preserve has the same dawn-to-dusk, year-round hours and lists the same winter activities.
The Land Trust's calendar keeps going after the beach season ends. A women's outdoor walk on Saturday, November 14 meets at the Eastern Trail's Pine Point Road parking lot. An open house follows on Saturday, December 12. Times and details are on the Land Trust's event list.
Darker afternoons are the real constraint now. Every one of these places closes at dusk, and dusk keeps getting earlier.
Prouts Neck's Last Tour Day Is November 8
One coastal season is still running. The Portland Museum of Art's Winslow Homer Studio tours run through November 8, 2026.
Getting to the studio from Scarborough takes a trip to Portland first. Every tour starts and ends at the PMA, 7 Congress Square, because private vehicles can't reach the studio and the public can't visit it outside a tour. Each tour holds 12 people and lasts about two and a half hours. Tickets include museum admission before and after. They are non-refundable, and tours run in any weather. Before boarding the van, visitors see Weatherbeaten, Homer's 1894 painting made at Prouts Neck. The PMA says the Cliff Walk is closed to visitors.
After November 8, the studio, like the Audubon center, is closed until spring.
Inland, The Downs Gets Its First Town Center Store
While Pine Point winds down, The Downs is getting ready to open. Mainebiz reported on September 22 that Market Basket was hiring for an 80,000-square-foot supermarket expected to open in November. When the reporter visited, equipment was being moved into the building and the exterior sign wasn't up yet. The chain lists it as store #96 at 70 Market Street. That's the corner of Market Street and Scarborough Downs Road, near the Costco that opened in The Downs' Innovation District in 2023.
The store will be Market Basket's fourth in Maine, after Topsham, Westbrook and Biddeford. The development's own Town Center page says the store expects to employ 300 people. Mainebiz describes it as the first retail tenant in the Town Center. Costco and Allagash Brewing are already open elsewhere on the 550-acre property.
The developer has said the grocery store was chosen on purpose. Dan Bacon, director of development for M&R Development, told Mainebiz:
"It is a strong sign that these essential businesses have announced tenancy, and they were intentionally selected to build confidence for the other retailers that we are currently in negotiations with."
The other committed tenants Bacon named are everyday-errand businesses: Maine Community Bank, NBT Bank and Verizon, plus Café Luna. An InterMed site is under construction and slated to open in March 2027. The Portland Press Herald reported in July that Café Luna plans to move from its Route 1 location to The Downs next spring. Bacon also told Mainebiz the developer is in active talks with home furnishing and apparel companies, restaurateurs and breweries.
Those tenants explain why The Downs looks the way it does this month. A grocery store, two banks, a phone store and a medical office are all year-round businesses. None of them depends on beach traffic. The Town Center is getting its start from the kind of business that stays open in November.
Earlier openings show how Market Basket tends to announce dates. For Topsham, the Press Herald reported on June 2, 2024 that the chain had confirmed a June 14 opening, less than two weeks away. When Biddeford opened in August 2013, the Press Herald reported that shoppers were waiting outside before dawn and that the store opened about 75 minutes before its scheduled 7 a.m. start. For Scarborough's exact opening day, watch the chain's store locator.
Route 1 Loses Its Temporary Crosswalk Test by Mid-November
One more change is coming on the road between the coast and The Downs. On July 8, 2026, the town installed a temporary pedestrian-safety demonstration on Route 1 near Hannaford Drive and Little Dolphin Plaza. It tests slower speeds at Little Dolphin Drive and upgraded crosswalks at the Hannaford Drive intersection, two spots the town says have a history of serious crashes.
According to the town's project page, the setup will stay in place until November 15 at the latest. After that, the Greater Portland Council of Governments will use its traffic data and public feedback to inform any next steps, which go to the Transportation Committee and Town Council. GPCOG's post-installation survey is linked from that page. If you drive or walk that stretch to Hannaford, this is the last stretch of time when the town is collecting comments on it.
A separate idea for Route 1 across the marsh is off the table. A proposed summer pilot to close a northbound lane and study room for a future bike and pedestrian path is marked "Not moving forward" on the town's project page.
Between Ken's closing night on October 25 and the Audubon center's reopening in May 2027, Scarborough's coast is mostly land, and the town's year-round commerce is consolidating at The Downs.
If you're watching The Downs fill in and wondering what a second commercial center means for your own street, The Lauren Jones Team can walk you through what has actually sold nearby, house by house, this season. Start with a home valuation, and we'll put real numbers to it before spring.
