Coast & Parks in Maine
The places worth your time in Maine, from headline parks to the towns you will actually base in.
Acadia National Park
The only national park in New England, on Mount Desert Island: granite coast, the Park Loop Road, more than 150 miles of trail, and the historic carriage roads. Driving up Cadillac Mountain requires a timed vehicle reservation from late May through late October. The free Island Explorer shuttle runs late June through Columbus Day and can save you the parking fight.
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Portland
Maine's largest city and its best base: a cobblestoned Old Port, a nationally known restaurant and brewery scene, the Portland Museum of Art, and ferries to the Casco Bay islands from the working waterfront. Portland International Jetport (PWM) is the state's busiest airport.
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Bar Harbor
The gateway town to Acadia on Mount Desert Island, with whale-watch and lobster-boat tours off the pier, the low-tide sandbar over to Bar Island, and the most lodging and restaurants on the eastern coast. It books out months ahead in summer and fall.
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Camden
The MidCoast's postcard harbor, where the Camden Hills meet the bay. Hike or drive Mount Battie for the view over the schooners, sail on a classic windjammer, and use it as a base for Rockland and the Penobscot Bay towns.
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Kennebunkport
A polished southern-coast resort town around Dock Square: sea-captain inns, the Bush family compound out on Walker's Point, Goose Rocks Beach, and an easy hour-plus drive north from the New Hampshire line.
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Ogunquit
A southern-coast beach town with a three-mile sand beach, the cliffside Marginal Way walk to the lobster harbor at Perkins Cove, and a long-running summer playhouse. Walkable and packed in July and August.
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Boothbay Harbor
A classic MidCoast working harbor on a peninsula off Route 1: harbor cruises and puffin trips, the footbridge across the water, and the Coastal Maine Botanical Gardens just up the road.
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Old Orchard Beach
Maine's old-school boardwalk beach: seven miles of sand, the Palace Playland amusement park and pier, and a budget-friendly, family-and-crowds summer scene 20 minutes south of Portland.
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Portland Head Light
The most photographed lighthouse in Maine, on the rocks at Fort Williams Park in Cape Elizabeth. Commissioned under George Washington and first lit in 1791, it is free to visit and about 15 minutes from downtown Portland.
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Moosehead Lake
The largest lake in Maine and the heart of the North Woods around Greenville. Moose safaris, floatplane rides, Mount Kineo rising straight off the water, and the jumping-off point for the remote interior.
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Baxter State Park
More than 200,000 acres of wilderness around Mount Katahdin, the highest peak in Maine and the northern end of the Appalachian Trail. Day-use parking reservations are required in season, there are no services inside the park, and the gate roads are unpaved and slow. Plan ahead.
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Freeport
Outlet-and-outdoors town 20 minutes north of Portland built around the 24-hour L.L.Bean flagship, with Wolfe's Neck Woods on the coast nearby. An easy half-day stop heading up Route 1.
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