A memorial plaque dedicated to noted explorer Samuel de Champlain can be found at the start of the Day Mountain Trail. The trailhead is located off Maine Route 3. The inscription reads as follows: 

IN HONOR OF SAMUEL DE CHAMPLAIN 

BORN IN FRANCE, 1567 

DIED AT QUEBEC 1635 

A SOLDIER SAILOR EXPLORER 

AND ADMINISTRATOR 

WHO GAVE THIS 

LAND ITS NAME 

 

 “THE SAME DAY WE PASSED ALSO NEAR AN ISLAND 

ABOUT FOUR OR FIVE LEAGUES LONG…IT WAS 

VERY HIGH, NOTCHED IN PLACES, SO AS TO APPEAR 

FROM THE SEA LIKE A RANGE OF SEVEN OR EIGHT 

MOUNTAINS CLOSE TOGETHER. THE SUMMITS OF 

MOST OF THEM ARE BARE OF TREES FOR THEY 

ARE NOTHING BUT ROCK….I NAMED IT THE 

ISLAND OF THE DESERT MOUNTAINS.” 

TRANSLATION FROM CHAMPLAIN’S JOURNAL 

5 SEPTEMBER 1604 

 

THIS MEMORIAL WAS ERECTED BY THE SEAL 

HARBOR VILLAGE IMPROVEMENT SOCIETY 

IN 1904 – THE 300TH ANNIVERSARY 

OF CHAMPLAIN’S VOYAGE.