Maine

Natural Attractions

Newry: ★ Grafton Notch State Park. Screw Auger Falls, Moose Cave, and the Table Rock are all easily accessible from Grafton Notch Scenic Byway.

Pembroke: ★ The Reversing Falls – Tidal falls

★ Rangeley Lakes Scenic Byway – winds through Maine’s western mountains and lakes region. This amazing route is centered on Rangeley Lake, snaking its way along lakeshores, past mountain streams, through densely wooded areas, and across scenic farmlands. The full distance is 52 miles, which takes you to attractions like Angel Falls, the Rangeley Lakes Region Logging Museum, Mooselookmeguntic Lake, and the Height of Land, which is arguably the route’s greatest viewpoint. Start at Smalls Falls on Route 4 and pass through valleys and over hills before dropping into the village of Rangeley. From the shore of Rangeley Lake, which is the centerpiece for 112 interconnected lakes and ponds scattered throughout the region, continue along Route 17 to the Height of Land. Heading in a southerly direction, follow streams and canyons before giving way to the open fields and farms in the river valley.

Sandy River: Smalls Falls,

★ West Forks: Moxie Falls – One of the tallest waterfalls in Maine is only a short, easy one-mile walk from the parking lot. Located in a remote area of Maine

National Parks and Monuments

★ Acadia National Park, Bar Harbor

  • Park Loop Road – Looping around Mount Desert Island, this 27-mile scenic drive takes you past many of the park’s top attractions,
  • Cadillac Mountain – highest summit, It can get crowded and parking is limited.
  • Bass Harbor Head Lighthouse 
  • Thunder Hole
  • Schoodic Peninsula
  • Schoodic Loop

★ Katahdin Woods and Waters National Monument – spanning 87,563 acres of mountains and forestland in northern Penobscot County, Maine, including a section of the East Branch Penobscot River. The monument is located on the eastern border of Maine’s Baxter State Park.

  • Katahdin Loop Road – The 17-mile loop offers a great opportunity to see the southern portion of the monument and includes pull-offs with scenic views. Active logging road. Dirt and Gravel.
  • Gulf Hagas is a natural wonder canyon that stretches roughly 2 1/2 miles along the West Branch of the Pleasant River located in Katahdin Iron Works State Park in central Maine. The river carved out the canyon or gorge over many years and today the river drops some 500 feet through the canyon which has created some beautiful waterfalls in Gulf Hagas which is sometimes called the Grand Canyon of Maine or the Grand Canyon of the East. 

Saint Croix Island International Historic Site – long known to locals as Dochet Island, is a small uninhabited island in Maine near the mouth of the Saint Croix River that forms part of the Canada–United States border separating Maine from New Brunswick.

Appalachian National Scenic Trail (Georgia to Maine)

Scenic Byways

  • https://exploremaine.org/byways/
  • Katahdin Woods and Waters National Scenic Byway – begins at the southern entrance of Baxter State Park and winds its way through Millinocket along Route 11 and the Penobscot River to Patten, ending at Baxter State Park’s northern entrance at Grand Lake Matagamon.
  • St. John Valley Cultural Byway – 92 miles running along the northern border of Maine. Communities along this byway celebrate their ancestry along the scenic international river valley that showcases historical landmarks and outdoor winter sports. 
  • Fish River Scenic Byway – 38 miles long and includes the towns of Fort Kent, Wallagrass, Eagle Lake, Winterville, and Portage Lake. Visitors are treated to panoramic vistas, lakes for fishing, sailing, wildlife, bird watching, and the pastoral beauty of a “working byway” that supports agricultural and forest industries.
  • Bold Coast National Scenic Byway – 125-mile route that invites visitors to explore the culture, history, wildlife, and rugged, unspoiled beauty of coastal Downeast Maine. The byway route extends from Milbridge northeasterly through coastal villages to Lubec and skirts the coastline of Cobscook Bay to Eastport. The byway route winds its way along the coast, passing wild blueberry barrens; abundant farmland; tidal marshes and bays; and rivers, streams, and lakes.
  • Acadia All-American Road  – The 40-mile  route begins on Route 3 on the mainland before moving onto Mt. Desert Island and through the town of Bar Harbor. From there, it rolls into the primary section of Acadia National Park.
  • Old Canada Road National Scenic Byway  – The 78-mile route follows Route 201 through Maine forests from Solon to the Canadian border. Towns such as Bingham and Jackman offer relaxing places to stop. Spectacular foliage, abundant moose, and other wildlife.
  • Rangeley Lakes National Scenic Byway - The 35-mile route winds past clear lakes and tree-covered mountains. The Height of Land on Route 17 is one of Maine’s most picturesque overlooks.
  • Schoodic National Scenic Byway  – a 29-mile route through small fishing towns, sheltered harbors, and dramatic coastline that explores the quieter, less-developed side of Acadia National Park and its neighboring communities.

Attractions

Bangor:

  • Cole Land Transportation Museum

Bar Harbor:

  • ★ Bar Harbor Bay – scenic harbor lined with ship masts

Bath:

  • Maine Maritime Museum

Brownville:

  • ★ The Grand Canyon of Maine, AKA Gulf Hagas, Katahdin Iron Works Park State Park

Bristol:

  • Pemaquid Point Light
  • Fisherman’s Museum
  • Colonial Pemaquid State Historic Site and the reconstructed Fort William Henry

Hancock:

  • Tidal Falls Preserve – An observation deck and wooden picnic tables,

Ellsworth:

  • Telephone Museum – Real, working telephones, switchboards, and switching systems that powered the network are featured at this hands-on, interactive museum. You are encouraged to use wall-mounted, hand-crank magneto phones, dial phones, and manual switchboards.
  • Downeast Scenic Railway –

Kennebunkport:

Lubec: West Quoddy Head Light Station

★ Ogunquit:

  • Perkins Cove 
  • Wharfs of Perkins Cove
  • Take cruise to see Nubble Lighthouse
  • Marginal Way – a pretty 1.5-mile oceanside walkway

Old Orchard Beach:

  • Palace Playland – amusement park on beach
  • Pequawket Trail Scenic Byway –  Route 113 between Standish and Gilead.

Portland

  • The Old Port and Waterfront
  • Eastern Promenade
  • Fort Williams Park
    • Portland Headlight
    • Cape Elizabeth
    • Battery Keyes ruins
    • Goddard Mansion ruins
  • Cruise Casco Bay
  • Peaks Island – Just three miles offshore, Peaks is one of the most popular trips from the city. After a day of biking, hiking, strolling, eating, or just sunning on stretches of beach, the night ferry return into Portland Harbor, with the lights of Portland drawing you closer, is a beautiful cap on an island day.
  • Two Lights State Park – The park is named for the two lighthouses in the area, one of which is 17 miles out to sea. The other lighthouse is up a side road near the Lobster Shack restaurant. So, you can’t really see the lighthouses from the park. 
  • Maine Narrow Gauge Railroad

Trenton

  • Timber Tina’s Great Lumberjack Show

York:

  • Nubble Lighthouse

Offbeat Landmarks and Oddities

Bangor: 

  • 31-Foot-Tall Paul Bunyan [RA] – Bangor claims to be both the birthplace of the lumber industry and the Birthplace of Paul Bunyan.
  • Bangor Public Library, VP Hannibal Hamlin’s Death Couch [RA] – Hannibal Hamlin, Lincoln’s first Vice President, died on it on July 4th, 1891, after collapsing while playing cards.

Bath: Monster of Unfathomable Pedigree [RA] – Big red junk sculpture takes enough liberties with animal form that we’re not sure what it is.

Belfast: Perry’s Nut House [RA] – Historic nut and animal exhibits, Been around since 1927 and displays are falling apart.

Boothbay Harbor: Captain Brown: Giant Old Salt Fisherman [RA] – 25 feet tall, probably the largest grizzled sea salt along the Maine coast. Standing since 1968. Inspired by the original Big Amos Amish man in Pennsylvania, and built by the same artist.

Columbia Falls: ★ Wild Blueberry Land [RA] – Blueberry Dome, gift shop, Worlds Largest Blueberry, Blueberry Throne photo-op: a chair painted gold with a big crown as its headrest, and a stuffed moose head suspended overhead.

Fort Kent: America’s First Mile [RA] – It marks the northernmost point of 2,390-mile-long US 1, which ends in Key West, Florida.

Freeport: 

  • Desert of Maine [RA] – sand dunes, highest is 90 ft, home to a camel named Toona and a donkey named Pedro.
  • ★ The Big F Indian [RA] – He stands 40 feet tall on a six-foot concrete base, and weighs 1,500 pounds.

Fryeburg: Jockey Cap Rock, Robert Peary Monument [RA] – A huge igneous rock juts out of the ground behind a Dollar General store. At the top is a monument to North Pole discoverer Robert Peary. Peary lived in Fryeburg and made drawings of the area from the top of Jockey Cap. The monument can be used to find the names of the surrounding mountains.

Lubec: ★ Easternmost Point in the U.S. [RA] – Pose for photos at an Easternmost Point in the U.S. monument and photo op, then get a certificate signed on-site certifying your geographic easternness.

Lynchville: ★ World Traveler Signpost [RA] – road sign pointing to local cities names after foreign cities, stands at an unpopulated and woodsy crossroads, popular photo op.

Peaks Island: Umbrella Cover Museum [RA] – The tiny, one-room museum contains over 2,000 umbrella covers. It’s run by a woman named Nancy 3 Hoffman, who plays the accordion for all of her visitors.

Perry: 

  • Oldest Halfway North Marker [RA] – erected in 1899.
  • 45th Parallel Gift Shop [RA] – Opened in 1994, the 45th Parallel is a gift shop just south of the actual 45th parallel, which crosses US 1 just up the road. 

Portland: ★ International Cryptozoology Museum [RA] – focuses on animals and mysteries.

Prospect: ★ Penobscot Narrows Bridge Observatory, Fort Knox Tunnels [RA] – Take an elevator 42 stories up to see the view from an observation deck inside a suspension bridge pillar, or just marvel at it from the ground.

Rangeley: Wilhelm Reich Museum: Cloudbusters! [RA] – controversial inventor/psychoanalyst moved from New York City to an old farm in Rangeley in 1942, and named the place “Orgonon.” see Reich’s personal items, paintings, and mysterious lab equipment; and study several of his actual surviving Cloudbusters, one of which stands ready to disrupt the atmosphere over his outdoor forest tomb.

Rockport: Birthplace of the Inventor of the Doughnut Hole [RA] – a plaque commemorating the “inventor” of the donut.

Rumford: Muffler Man – Paul Bunyan [RA] – A mighty fiberglass woodsman (and Babe the Blue Ox) welcomes visitors to Rumford, home of the Tallest Falls east of Niagara. They’re just up the street.

Scarborough: Len Libby Candies, Lenny the Chocolate Moose [RA] – the world’s only life-size chocolate moose.

Skowhegan: World’s Tallest Indian [RA] – Skowhegan’s big brave is easily the World’s Tallest Indian, though he is too skinny to be the World’s Largest Indian. He is 62 feet tall atop a 20-foot-tall base.

South China: World Traveler Signpost [RA] – Unlike Lynchville, this sign is still composed of wooden slats! 

Trenton:

  • Timber Tina’s Great Maine Lumberjack Show [RA] – Family-oriented lumberjack performance, with energetic competition at log-rolling, pole climbing, ax-throwing.
  • Wentworth’s Tired Iron Art [RA] – Propane tank junk art made by Jack Wentworth, including a couple of dinosaurs. Jack died in late 2019, and is buried in the back yard. Visitors are welcome.

Union: ★ Matthews Museum of Maine Heritage, Moxie Bottle House [RA] – the first mass-marketed soft drink, Drinking Moxie is like chugging down carbonated cough syrup, and there are people in New England who can’t get enough of it.

Wells: ★ Johnson Hall Museum, One Man’s Treasures [RA] – Bill Johnson, a retired auctioneer who passed away in 2014, filled his large home with old treasures — and the surrounding property with everything from a 1930s gas station to abandoned railroad cars and a cabin from a nudist colony. Now a wedding and event venue.

Woolwich: Taste of Maine, Mainer C. Lobster Sculpture [RA] – A crazy-eyed metal crustacean, rusting around the edges, is the official mascot of a Maine seafood restaurant.

Yarmouth: Eartha: World’s Largest Rotating Globe [RA] – a 41-foot diameter globe in the glass-fronted lobby of its Maine-based family-owned mapping company.

 

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