The highway journey is synonymous with American journey tradition, and there’s no higher place to discover the pure great thing about the USA by automotive than within the stunning state of Maine.
As a result of this largely rural and geographically spread-out place doesn’t provide a sturdy public transportation system, we advocate taking a highway journey to see the perfect of the state. Whereas Subarus and pickup vans are the unofficial autos of the state, you don’t want four-wheel drive to get to most locations in Maine until it’s the center of the winter and also you’re searching for recent powder to shred within the mountains.
Maine is the northeast nook of the Decrease 48, and lots of the nation’s most famed scenic highways originate within the Pine Tree State. You’ll be able to simply start your highway journey throughout Maine from city Portland, close by Boston and even Canada.
Maine presents scenic vistas and actions for everybody, from rocky coastlines and sandy seashores to granite mountain peaks and wildlife. As Mainers prefer to joke, “You’ll be able to’t get right here from there,” so be affected person and don’t be afraid to get misplaced on the again roads. You by no means know if you may come throughout a moose, the proper lobster roll or only a pure vista that may take your breath away.
Coastal Route 1 Maine
Finest highway journey for Maine shoreline views
Kittery–Calais; 273 miles
US Route 1 extends down the Japanese Seaboard from Fort Kent, Maine, to Key West Florida, clocking in at 2390 miles in complete. The historic route began because the Atlantic Freeway, which was established in 1911 and stretched from Calais, Maine, to Miami.
In the present day, Route 1 presents certainly one of Maine’s most scenic drives through the summer time and fall months. Ranging from Kittery, the two-lane freeway follows the shoreline as much as Calais earlier than swinging inland as much as the Canadian border in Fort Kent. Most individuals take Route 1 from Kittery as much as Ellsworth and head to Acadia Nationwide Park.
A highway journey by Coastal Maine may be an bold day journey from Portland, and most desire to take a leisurely weekend to benefit from the space’s many conventional coastal cities, seashores, seafood joints and household points of interest.
Spend an evening in Maine’s largest metropolis and foodie hotspot, Portland. Drive north by Freeport and the Midcoast, stopping to buy some flannel and duck boots at LL Bean and go to the Farnsworth Museum of Artwork in Rockland. Take pleasure in lunch by the water in Kennebunkport.
Proceed your drive north towards Ellsworth, the place you may take a detour to breathtaking Acadia Nationwide Park for a few days. In the event you enterprise past Acadia, you’ll uncover probably the most stunning components of the state: the Daring Coast. A drive by Downeast Maine will convey you thru what locals could name “actual Maine,” with its small cities and dealing waterfronts. Cease at Quoddy Head State Park in Lubec after which drive to the small inland city of Calais.
From right here, you may proceed your drive as much as Fort Kent and cross the border to Canada or head again south.
Planning Tip: If in case you have extra time, spend one other day or two exploring the various islands off the coast of Rockland.
Maine’s Route 302
Finest highway journey for fall foliage
Portland–Fryeburg; 53 miles
Good for a day journey, the drive from Portland to Fryeburg on Route 302 is very stunning through the fall months when the leaves begin altering coloration.
Begin your day with breakfast in Portland. Seize espresso and donuts at HiFi Donuts and stroll alongside Portland’s working waterfront, one of many few left within the nation the place you may nonetheless see catches of lobster and fish being hauled in all through the day. Portland’s historic Previous Port district is filled with charming boutique retailers, artwork galleries and eating places in the event you desire a sit-down breakfast.
After just a few hours in Portland, hop in your automotive and take Route 302 west. You’ll move by Windham and the Lake Area space, the place you’ll start to search out extra pine bushes and farmland than folks.
In the event you’re touring through the sizzling summer time months, you may cease at Sebago Lake State Park or one of many few public seashores alongside the roadway for a dip in Maine’s deepest and second largest lake.
In Naples, you’ll cross the Causeway over Lengthy Lake. In the event you’re hungry, seize lunch at Rick’s Cafe (open from late Might to early September) or take a tour of Lengthy Lake aboard the Songo River Queen II, a duplicate Mississippi River Paddle Wheeler.
Proceed north towards Bridgton. Through the winter months, Pleasant Mountain is open for each day and evening snowboarding, and mountaineering through the summer time months can also be rewarding. Lower than 45 minutes from Bridgton, you’ll enter the pastoral city of Fryeburg.
Planning Tip: A brief drive from Fryeburg lies the gateway to New Hampshire’s White Mountains, North Conway, if you wish to make a weekend of it.
Route 2 in Maine
Finest highway journey for farmland and mountains
Bar Harbor–Gilead; 192 miles
Route 2 is a part of a cross-continental freeway from Washington to Maine that crosses the border into Canada. Whether or not you’re finishing the total 3600-mile Nice Northern Street Journey or only a scenic day journey from the coast, Route 2 offers loads of scenic views as you wind by farmland, small cities and mountains.
Begin in Bar Harbor, the place you may simply spend just a few days exploring Acadia Nationwide Park and Mount Desert Island. From the Atlantic Ocean, journey inland to Maine’s third-largest metropolis, Bangor – the hometown of world-famous author Stephen King. Seize a selfie at King’s home and in entrance of the Paul Bunyan statue earlier than persevering with east by the small former mill cities and fields.
Cease within the faculty city of Farmington for lunch earlier than persevering with your journey by the western mountains of Maine. Newry, Bethel and Gilead are all picturesque New England cities with forested granite peaks within the distance. Through the summer time and fall months, stretch your legs on the various close by mountaineering trails within the White Mountains or hit the slopes at Sunday River through the snowy months.
Schoodic Nationwide Scenic Byway
Finest highway journey for uncrowded coastal views
Hancock–Birch Harbor; 315 miles
Most individuals don’t notice that Acadia Nationwide Park is extra than simply Mount Desert Island. A small portion of the park is situated on Schoodic Peninsula on the mainland. The distant peninsula presents acres of unspoiled and uncrowded nature. If you wish to keep away from the crowds on Cadillac Mountain or within the village of Bar Harbor, take the Schoodic Nationwide Scenic Byway to a distant a part of the nationwide park.
The Scenic Byway runs alongside Route 1 from Hancock to Gouldsboro, the place you’ll take a right-hand flip onto Route 186, alongside Schoodic Peninsula and thru the small fishing villages of Winter Harbor and Birch Harbor.
The Schoodic District of Acadia Nationwide Park comprises 7 miles of mountaineering trails, together with the favored Schoodic Head Path, which summits the very best peak alongside the peninsula. The peninsula can also be house to numerous different mountaineering and strolling trails within the Frenchman Bay Conservancy and Maine Coastal Islands Nationwide Wildlife Refuge. The peninsula and surrounding islands are additionally an unbelievable place to discover by kayak or canoe.
Planning Tip: Don’t neglect to seize a recent lobster roll on the town earlier than heading onward.
Maine Island Path
Finest “highway” journey … by boat
Kittery–Eastport; 294 miles
The pleasures of highway journeys in Maine aren’t restricted to vehicles. For an only-in-Maine expertise, purchase or lease a ship and hit the 375-mile leisure waterway path that follows the coast of Maine from York County to Washington County.
Based in 1988, the Maine Island Path connects greater than 200 wild islands with mainland tenting websites on each private and non-private lands. The path and lots of the wild islands are maintained with the assistance of 1000’s of volunteers and the Maine Island Trail Association.
Within the higher Portland space, lots of the islands in Casco Bay may be accessed simply by sea kayak, an ideal weekend getaway. For an extended journey, you’ll desire a motorboat or sailboat, as Maine’s open water may be harmful in the event you’re not a talented mariner. Portland Paddle presents guided journeys all through the summer time months from Portland.
