The Greatest Maine Road Trip For Summer & Winter
Maine is an awesome state filled with many places to see, specifically for outdoor lovers. If you enjoy exploring big cities, then Maine is probably not the state for you. On the other hand, if you love beaches, the outdoors, skiing/snowboarding, national parks, then Maine is the perfect place for you.
Since this state has so many different areas to explore, I wanted to create a Maine road trip map of the best places to see and what towns would make sense to visit together. I am going to split this into two different (three with Baxter State Park) road trips, one for the summer time and one for the winter time. All the beach spots are on the coast (east part of Maine) whereas, all the ski mountains are in western Maine. Which is why this post is split into two different road trips.
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This post is all about a Maine road trip.
Maine Road Trip:
Okay, before you think about going on this road trip, I would know if you want to road trip in the summer or in the winter. Also, do you want to see mostly beaches or mountains? Once you have answered these questions, then I would start reading this post and the sections that answer the two previous questions.
Maine Road Trip from Boston : In the Summer
Now, if you are a Bostonian, then I’m sure you don’t need to travel to Maine for the beaches, as Cape Cod is right near you. However, if you are interested in a lot of hiking, great food spots, kayaking, and more then, Maine or New Hampshire are perfect places for you to visit.
To start this road trip off, you could start in Portland, ME. Since Portland is the closest, biggest city in Maine, I think it’s the best city to start with. However, if you want to stay at another cute little beach town, only 25 minutes south of Portland, you could stay at Biddeford & Saco for a night. Or you could spend the night at either Kennebunk or Kennebunkport, Maine. Then drive to Portland.
Or you could just drive all the way up to Portland, then take day trips to the beaches in Biddeford & Saco and Kennebunk & Kennebunkport and spend the day in the towns. While in Portland, here are some other beaches and small towns that I would visit.
Great Beaches & Small Towns Near Portland:
- Casco Bay (quick ferry ride from Portland, great beach walks and bicycle trails)
- South Portland (across the Portland Harbor, another great, small town to see, about 10 minutes from Portland)
- Falmouth & Yarmouth (small town about 15 minutes north of Portland)
- Cape Elizabeth (about 20 minutes south of Portland)
- Scarborough (about 20 minutes west of Portland, no coastline)
- Old Orchard Beach (about 25 minutes south of Portland, where the towns of Biddeford & Saco are near)
- Wells & Drake Island Beaches (about 40 minutes south of Portland, where the towns of Kennebunk & Kennebunkport are near)
- Ogunquit Beach (about 45 minutes south of Portland)
- York Beach (about 50 minutes south of Portland)
Now, you don’t have to go to all of the cities/beaches listed above, they are just some Maine road trip ideas to do while staying in Maine or one of the other towns listed above. Going back to Portland, Portland is known for having incredible food, specifically, seafood. Since Portland is right on the coast, seafood is plentiful. Here are some great restaurants to eat at while in Portland :
- The Great Lost Bear
- Twelve
- The Continental
- Butcher Burger Old Port
- Regards
- Wayside Tavern
- Gilberts Chowder House
- Streets & Co.
- Eventide Oyster Co.
- Fore Street Restaurant
- The Highroller Lobster Co.
- Duckfat
- The Honey Paw
The next city I would visit, going north along the coast is Augusta, ME or Freeport. While here, I would visit Reid State Park and Georgetown, Maine. I would also take the drive to Popham Beach, which is 45 minutes from Reid State Park and about an hour from Augusta. You might want to stop at Penobscot Bay next, which is about 1.5 hours northeast of Augusta.
Then the next Maine road trip stops I would take is either Bangor, Ellsworth or Acadia National Park. You could stay at Bar Harbor as well. Bangor is about an hour north of Augusta, as well as, Acadia National Park. Bar Harbor is about 10 minutes from the park. Whereas, Ellsworth is about 30 minutes from Acadia and Bar Harbor. Places in Bar Harbor are going to be more expensive, as it is a popular summer vacation destination.
Acadia National Park
In Acadia there is tons of hiking, swimming, and kayaking. Also, there is Mount Desert Island, many smaller islands, and the Schoodic Peninsula, which you can find more about the history of, here. Sand Beach is a great stop along the scenic drive along the oceanside cliffs. Blackwoods Campgrounds are also a great place to stay within Acadia (reservations fill up FAST).
Some great hikes within Acadia National Park are :
- Flying Mountain (easy, 1.5 miles)
- Ledge Trail to Saint Sauveur Trail (1.5 miles, moderate)
- Beechcroft Path Trailhead (easy, 2.3 miles & highly trafficked)
- Acadia Mountain & Man O War Trail (moderate, 2.7 miles)
- Gotham Mountain (easy, 3 miles & highly trafficked)
- Mansell Mountain (difficult, 2.3 miles, high elevation gain)
- Norumbega Mountain Loop (moderate, 3 miles)
- Champlain Mountain & Beehive Path (moderate, 6 miles)
- Cadillac South Ridge Trail Loop ( moderate, 6.8 miles)
- Gilmore Peak & Maple Spring Trail (difficult 3 miles, high elevation gain)
- Dorr Mountain Ladder Trail (high elevation gain, 3.1 miles)
- Bernard Mountain (difficult 4.1 miles, high elevation gain)
- Jordan Cliffs Trail to Bubbles Trail to Jordan Pond Path (difficult, 4.5 miles, high elevation gain)
- Sergeant Mountain Ridge Loop (difficult 7.3 miles)
- If you want more hikes, this website is a great resource!
Maine Road Trip 7 Days
Okay, I would stop this road trip in Acadia National Park. Or you could start in Acadia and Bar Harbor, then keep driving south along the coast and do everything in reverse. I would take at least 5 days for this road trip but preferable 7 days to spread it out a little bit. Depending on where you are coming from, getting to Maine can either be really easy or tricky. If you are doing a Maine road trip from Boston, it’s fairly easy to get to Portland, thus, I would only recommend 4 days for this and take some stops out. Then, you could always come back and go to the places you didn’t on your last trip. Maine is also very easy to get to from New Hampshire.
However, if you are driving from New York or Vermont or any other state, getting to Maine is kind of tricky and long. This is why I would recommend taking at least 7 days to do this trip. Because chances are two of those days you’re going to spend all day or most of the day driving.
Baxter State Park
Now, Baxter State Park is truly spectacular. It ends the Appalachian trail at Katahdin Mountain, and it is truly out of this world. It’s very similar to the White Mountains and the Adirondacks. However, it is VERY out of the way and difficult to get too. I actually recommend considering taking a flight into Bangor, ME then renting a car to drive to Baxter State Park. I actually prefer this national park WAY OVER Acadia. If you like tough, backwood, gnarly hikes, with IMPRESSIVE views, then Baxter is the place you want to be! Here are some of the best hikes that are worth the drive.
- Sandy Stream Pond (easy)
- Sandy Stream Pond Trail to Russell Pond Trail (easy)
- Grassy Pond & Daicey Pond via Appalachian Trail (easy)
- Little Abol Falls (easy)
- Sentinel Mountain via Kidney Pond Campground (moderate)
- The Owl via Hunt Trail (difficult)
- Katahdin Mountain (difficult)
- Helon Taylor, Knife Edge, Saddle, and Chimney Pond Trail (difficult)
- Baxter Peak (difficult)
- Abol Trail (difficult)
- North & South Brother (difficult)
- The Traveler Loop (difficult)
- The Brothers, Fort Mountain, and Mount Coe Loop (difficult)
- Pamola (difficult)
{Related Post : Where to go Hiking in Maine}
Maine Road Trip : In the Winter (Skiing & Snowboarding)
Okay, like previously stated, I wanted to split this into two different sections because there’s different things to do based on the season. Also, where you want to go really DIFFERS based on the season. For example, all the summer spots to be are on the coast/east part of Maine, whereas, all the ski resorts are on the west side of Maine.
Alright, so if you are traveling to Maine in the winter, I would start off your travels in Rangeley, Maine. I would actually stay in Rangeley, then each day you are there, I recommend driving and skiing or snowboarding at the different mountains you want to go to. This is a pretty central location if you want to ski/snowboard at all the main ski mountains/resorts in Maine. The 3 main mountains I would go to are Saddleback, Sugarloaf, and Sunday River.
- Saddleback Ski Mountain located 15 minutes from Rangeley, ME
- Sugarloaf Ski Mountain/Resort 37 minutes from Rangeley
- Sunday River Ski Resort an hour and 25 minutes from Rangeley
- Lost Valley about 2 hours south of Rangeley
- Black Mountain about an hour from Rangeley
{Related Post : Ski Resorts in Maine to Visit}
In Conclusion
And that concludes this article of the greatest Maine road trip to take in the Summer or in the Winter. I love both seasons, and if you’re like myself, then I recommend taking both these road trips sometime in your life. Maine is a beautiful state and I highly recommend any of these road trips. Thank you so much for reading and I hope you get to Maine.
