The Desert of Maine has been a popular tourist attraction in Freeport for almost 100 years. It's an oddity in Maine that has people always asking, "How is there a desert in Maine?"

Technically, it's not a desert. Yes, it's sand, but it's glacial sand deposited there during the Ice Age. This video on the history of the Desert of Maine explains how it was created starting 27,000 years ago.

Mela and Doug Heestand of Freeport purchased the 40 acres of land that is The Desert of Maine in 2018 and said they had plans to make some improvements to the attraction, and one of those changes is a unique mini-golf course scheduled to be completed soon.

We reached out to the Desert of Maine owners through email to see what they have planned. Doug Heestand got back to us and said that the inspiration for the mini-golf course was that they wanted to tell the story of the Desert of Maine.

"We wanted another way for visitors to learn the story of the Desert of Maine," Doug said. "There are already a lot of learning activities here so we wanted to add something that was purely fun. Who doesn't love mini-golf?"

Good point.

Work is almost completed, and they hope to have the 18-hole course, open in time for Memorial Day.

"This is going to be a very modern mini-golf course design," Doug told us. "Every hole is designed to be fun and interesting. We have a lot of water and fountains, and it will be landscaped in such a way that it will be lush and green. We wanted it to be a respite from the hot "desert" sun. (It is actually quite hot here in the summer). We will eventually have several statues on the course including characters like Sandy the Camel, the Hermit of Maine, sheep and more. We will be selling ice cream, grilled kielbasa, kettle corn, and fresh-made lemonade at our classic snack bar called the Oasis. We will have members-only hours where members of the Desert of Maine can play for free."

When was the last time you saw a mini-golf course in the middle of a desert?

According to the latest info on the Desert of Maine website, they're still shooting for an opening of their new mini-golf course on Memorial Day weekend, but warn they still have a lot of work to do, like installing the sheep at hole 9.

If you want to learn more about the Desert of Maine or become a member, hit the link below.

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