Downeast Maine

[Ben Ruset]

I'm taking a road trip through Maine in early October. Has anybody spent much time there?

I'm going to be spending a night in Portland, a night in Bangor, and three in Lubec. Most of my explorations will probably be in the Lubec area. Anybody know of some interesting places to check out?

 

[46er]

I'm taking a road trip through Maine in early October. Has anybody spent much time there?

I'm going to be spending a night in Portland, a night in Bangor, and three in Lubec. Most of my explorations will probably be in the Lubec area. Anybody know of some interesting places to check out?

Several times, the Bold Coast area is our favorite; some of the places we visited at the links. I will get you specifics tomorrow. Do you have a passport? We will be in the ADK's the same time frame.

http://www.pbase.com/46er/acadia_and_points_north

http://www.pbase.com/46er/maine__2010

http://www.pbase.com/46er/new_england_road_trip__2014

 

[Ben Ruset]

Awesome. I do have a passport and was planning on visiting Campobello Island. How did you get over to Machias Seal Island?

 

[RednekF350]

I have been to Maine 4 times between 1972 and 1985. 3 of those trips were centered around Acadia. There are nice trails throughout the coastal mountains and the shoreline is ruggedly beautiful. You can't go wrong with Acadia.

On the 1972 trip my parents and I went into St. Andrews Canada. It was beautiful but I don't remember what we did there. We probably hiked. My father was a very active person and enjoyed coastal areas.
http://standrewsbythesea.ca/

I am attaching a picture of my wife-to-be in 1978 sitting by the harbor in Kennebunkport. Her and I took a road trip through New Hampshire and Maine that year. We backpacked to the summit of Mt Washington on that one.

 

[46er]

How did you get over to Machias Seal Island?

The trips to the island are highly regulated, the Captain has to apply for permits to the US and Canada each year. They begin in June and end mid-August. There is an ongoing dispute between Canada and the US as to who owns it, Canada manages the lighthouse. Patterson is the only US boat allowed to bring passengers onto the island. It is about a 45 minute ride out. We were the only boat there when we went. If you are a bird watcher it is a must do. Even if you are not it is a great experience, especially getting in and out of the dingy with a sea running.

What general route are you taking so I can send on good info? We take interstates to Freeport and then RT 1 north.

Some good area info at his web site.

http://www.boldcoast.com/

 

[manumuskin]

Cutler Preserve on the Bold Coast is awesome! an 8 mile trail shaped like a figure 8 takes you to some of the most awesome coast line in the world>it's like Acadia without the crowds. Here it is. http://www.mainetrailfinder.com/trails/trail/cutler-coast-public-reserved-land. Actually if you do all the spurs it appears to be 9.6 mi

 

[Ben Ruset]

I'm driving up I-95 to Bangor, spending the night, then spending the next three nights in Lubec. (Getting there via Rt. 1 which hugs the coast.) Then down to Portland (via Rt. 9 and I-95), hopefully eating a big steak, spending the night, and on home.

I'll probably head down to Bar Harbor/Acadia on one of the days that I'm in Lubec. I am probably not going to be outfitted for any serious hiking, plus I will be alone and not looking to get eaten by a bear. I'm mainly going to get away from New Jersey for a while and hopefully take some good photographs. Seems like I'll have my pick of lighthouses. Hopefully I can find some other abandoned things to shoot as well.

 

[46er]

Ben, if you have anything specific your interested in I'll see if I can help. The Maine Hertitage Trust put out a booklet of all their preserves in the Lubec area. We visited all of them, well worth it. Our favorite though, was Quoddy Head State Parks trail, very similar to Cutler Preserve, but shorter. One thing about clam chowdah; once you get north of the Acadia area the chowdah is not like New England or Manhattan, but is more clam broth based with a more intense flavor.

A list of stuff below in no particular order, includes some stops off of US 1.


http://www.mainetrailfinder.com/trails/trail/cutler-coast-public-reserved-land


http://boldcoastbyway.com/


http://www.hollyeats.com/NewEngland.htm


http://www.newenglandlighthouses.net/portland-head.html


http://www.marshallpoint.org/


http://www.quoddyloop.com/


https://www.facebook.com/pemaquidlighthouse


http://www.westquoddy.com/


http://www.maine.gov/dacf/parksearch/PropertyGuides/PDF_GUIDE/quoddyheadguide.pdf


Got the Maine Heritage Trust booklet here;
http://www.westquoddygifts.com/

 

[46er]

I'll probably head down to Bar Harbor/Acadia on one of the days that I'm in Lubec.

That's about a 2 hr one way drive on US 1.

 

[Ben Ruset]

That's about a 2 hr one way drive on US 1.

I know. I figured I'd be making many long trips out from Lubec.

I could skip it if you think that there's stuff to see that's just as good as Acadia nearby.

 

[46er]

I know. I figured I'd be making many long trips out from Lubec.

I could skip it if you think that there's stuff to see that's just as good as Acadia nearby.

I would get down there, much more to see and easily accessible on Mt Desert and the Schoodic peninsula, and there won't be as bad crowds as in summer. If you could work in another day and then leave for home from Acadia would be my suggestion. Getting dark early already. Let me know if you'll be going, I have tons of stuff for Acadia.

 

[Oriental]

Ben,

Wow, you are going pretty far up!

Like RednekF350 we have made Acadia as our focus.

We have been taking our family to coastal Maine every other year since 1998. When given a choice between Disney World and Maine the kids chose Maine every time. We leave at 2:30 AM and hit the Maine border by 7:30 or 8:00. We usually take a leisurely drive along Rt 1 all the way up to Portland. Then we head up to Boothbay Harbor (stay at Cap’n Fishes!) which is an awesome town (see if the Cabbage Island boat tour and lobster bake is still available!). After a night or two in Boothbay we drive the coast up to Mount Desert Island which is full of history. We do family hikes each morning in Acadia then sit by the pool and order lobster rolls and cold beers. Ice cream in Bar Harbor caps a fine day.

Usually we go up with a few other families. If our interests on a given day overlap – great. Otherwise each family does what they want.

The 10+ hour ride home kinda stinks but we keep going back.

Incidentally, we skipped this year because I spent 2 weeks backpacking with my youngest in New Mexico. My three kids wanted to go so bad they went up by themselves and camped just last week.

I am sure that Maine (Vacationland) has so much more to offer but we are creatures of habit and never get tired of our routine.

Have a great trip.

PS: Pemaquid, Port Elizabeth, and Ogunquit are all awesome stops along the southern coast. Skip Freeport.

 

[Ben Ruset]

Awesome, good to know. I'm more or less going to be "winging" it. The only specific destinations are the hotels that I'm staying in. Other than that it may be a lot of just aimless driving until I see something interesting.

What's cell service like up there? I'll need to be able to have cell service for Google Maps to work on my phone.

 

[MikeBickerson]

Maine is great. The drive down to Acadia will totally be worth it. Crowds should be really thinned out by then.

Why not hike though, the trails aren't that ha...

So, driving is nice too.

 

[Ben Ruset]

I was thinking about trying to find the ghost town of Riceville but the directions seem to send you into the middle of nowhere (which is good) except that I don't have a 4WD vehicle and also bears.

 

[manumuskin]

I"d invest in some good paper maps.A road Atlas or Maine road map ,maybe a Gazetteer,their better then a road atlas and not quite as good as a topo map. Cell service is non existent except near or in towns.
Bears are really over rated as a danger.I"ve walked up on numerous bears and every one has run except one mother with cubs.She huffed at me and popped her jaws till the cubs thankfully ran away. from me and up the hill and she followed them. A Griz would have probably rushed me but black bears aren't going to attack you unless you've grabbed a cub or possibly a starving young male with no territory but it's late summer.They should be fat and happy now,when they come out of the den their quite famished.

 

[46er]

Awesome, good to know. I'm more or less going to be "winging" it. The only specific destinations are the hotels that I'm staying in. Other than that it may be a lot of just aimless driving until I see something interesting.

What's cell service like up there? I'll need to be able to have cell service for Google Maps to work on my phone.

Aimless driving is what I do best, and I find the most fun when exploring new places.

Should be fine in the Acadia area, didn't have a phone when in Lubec. GPS was useless at times.

 

[Ben Ruset]

I ordered a gazetteer from Amazon.

AT&T's coverage map claims that they have coverage here. I think I can download some of the Google maps for offline use so I'm probably okay without having a dedicated road GPS. I'll take my Garmin Oregon just in case...

 

[46er]

A clarification; GPS was for road GPS. When we were driving to Marshalls Point and Pemaquid lights, all I could here was 'recalculating', same when going to the reversing falls near Lubec, so it got shut off. I didn't have a handheld, but really didn't need one. Plus folks are very friendly. Driving around Lubec, you will find them waving to you, and it's not the Jersey salute, but an actual, friendly wave. All the spots we walked had good trails marked, just don't get too close to the cliff edges.

 

[46er]

A spot I would love to get to at the links. The train trestle mentioned can be seen on GE, but its a long, logging road ride north of the new national monument.

http://www.maine.gov/dacf/parks/discover_history_explore_nature/history/allagash/index.shtml

http://bangordailynews.com/2014/02/26/outdoors/old-locomotives-sit-abandoned-in-the-middle-of-maine/