Twenty years ago, a handful of boating enthusiasts from Maine launched a revolutionary idea. The group envisioned a virtual path through the water linking uninhabited islands into a coherent whole—a “water trail.” They called it the Maine Island Trail®. Since then, according to the American Canoe Association, 500 water trails have been developed nationwide. The concept of a water trail is now well known to almost any American who owns a boat. The first was the Maine Island Trail, which since 1988 has grown to include over 150 properties and 350 miles down the coast of Maine.