11 Most Popular Places to Visit in Maine

Maine is in the northeastern United States. In the east and north it borders on the Canadian provinces of New Brunswick and Quebec. In the west, the border lies next to the state of New Hampshire. The south-eastern part of the region is washed by the Atlantic Ocean. Most of the territory of the region is covered with dense forests, among which one can see cozy lakes and winding rivers. In view of these natural conditions, the main industries in the economy are hydropower and agriculture.

The people call Maine the “Great Street”. This is due to the location of the lively part of the region – it runs along the shore of the ocean. It is here that the Kennebanks Resort and Tourist Center is located and the largest city in the region is Portland. For fans of yachts and sailboats it will be interesting to visit the Penobscot Bay. Here you can always taste freshly cooked lobsters, look at the towering peaks of the mountains and watch the fishermen in the bays.

The pearl of the state is the Akadia National Park, which is located in the northern part of the region. However, it is not the only one that is worth your attention. Here you will find the most interesting places found in the state of Maine.

Contents

• Place to visit number 1: Acadia National Park
• Place to visit number 2: The Sunday River ski resort
• Place to visit number 3: Zoobotáno Brusque Park
• Place to visit number 4: Sand Beach
• Place to visit number 5: Art District
• Place to visit number 6: 447 Congress Street
• Place to visit number 7: The Portland Observatory
• Place to visit number 8: Kennebunkport
• Place to visit number 9: International Cryptozoology Museum
• Place to visit number 10: Mushed Lake
• Place to visit number 11: The Desert of Maine
• Video

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Place to visit number 1: Acadia National Park

The area of the park is about 200 square kilometers. The National Park includes various attractions:

• Mount Desergh,
• the smaller islands Baker and Ile-o-O, which adjoin the main island.

The park has existed for about 100 years now. There are not only rivers, lakes and islands here. It is rich in dense forests and a great variety of wildlife.

Here you can find squirrels, wolves, cougars, moose, beavers. Nora Cadillac in the park is the highest point. Its height is about 500 meters. When climbing the mountain, the Elyne Lake opens up. It is very popular with the tourists.

Park Acadia, to a greater extent is a summer nature reserve because in winter it is closed to tourists. Nevertheless, from July to September more than two million people visit the park during the year.

Important: On the shore of the ocean in the park you can see whales, dolphins and even seals.
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Place to visit number 2: The Sunday River ski resort

The Sunday River ski resort has been opened since 1959. It is considered one of the largest and most visited in Maine. The highest point is 960 meters, and the height difference is 710 meters. The longest track in this resort is 5.63 km long.

On most routes snow cannons work. By their complexity the slopes here are suitable for skiing even with children. This resort attracts guaranteed availability of snow since November, at least artificial.

In the summer time you will be able to enjoy a lot of things to do:

• play golf here on local slopes,
• go for a walk
• ride mountain bikes in a picturesque area.

Some lifts work here also in the summer. Its services are offered by the Sunday River fitness center, where you can practice fitness, swimming, use the sauna, massage and beauty services.

Interesting: The Sunday River ski resort is equipped with 16 lifts, 4 of which are high-speed. The capacity per hour is 40,000 people.
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Place to visit number 3: Zoobotáno Brusque Park

Zoobotano Brusque Park is the famous and readily visited zoological park of the municipality of Brusky. The park was created in 1992.

At present, it is a laboratory for breeding animals and birds in captivity. The area of the park is 120 thousand square meters. Here there are about 140 species of animals – primates, capybars, deer and others. It affects the diversity of its vegetation. The park has become a cozy home for many birds:

• parrots,
• ducks,
• peacocks,
• toucans and others.

An interesting attraction of the park is the operating lift, which connects the park Zoobotáno Brusque with the park Morro de Caixa d’Agua. The lift is 578 meters, and the duration of the trip at an altitude of 30 meters lasts 13 minutes. On the territory of the park there is a restaurant and a snack bar.

Interesting: For the purpose of organizing sightseeing routes, a trail with a length of 3,200 meters is laid.
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Place to visit number 4: Sand Beach

Sand Beach attracts the attention of travelers with its unusual and amazing nature.

Why does this beach attract visitors?

• This snow-white sandy beach with clear turquoise water and small rocks along the entire beach is ideal for a family holiday.
• It is a magnificent small beach (290 meters long), located between the mountains and rocky shores on the eastern part of the Acadia National Park, in the bay of Newport.
• Also this beach is suitable for various water sports. Near the beach there is a rental of equipment, where you can also book a master class on surfing.

Interesting: On the beach there is a parking lot, locker rooms and a shower, a rental of beach equipment and a bar with soft drinks.
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Place to visit number 5: Art District

Art District is by right the famous tourist destination. One of the places to visit here is the Art Museum, which was founded in 1882. This is the area around Congress Street, the part of it that is closer to the West End.

The basis and core of the collection is a collection of works by artists from the state of Maine. In addition to this largest museum in the Arts District, there are many other galleries, theaters, museums and schools. In particular:

• a museum of history and the state of public life,
• Children’s Museum,
• a non-profit contemporary gallery “Space”
• and the audience Merrill of 1911.

Interesting: The museum’s collection includes more than 17,000 items of decorative and applied art from the 18th century to the present day.
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Place to visit number 6: 447 Congress Street

There is an interesting building, which has the official name “447 Congress Street”, but unofficially everyone calls it the Time Building and the Temperature: this inscription flaunts above the main entrance.

Why is it worth visiting this place?

• This is one of the more recent architectural landmarks;
• This house has the form of a 12-storey rectangular tower that was built in 1924.

In 1964, at its apex a scoreboard with the corresponding name of the data appeared. Later, the scoreboard was removed, but the city residents were so unhappy that in 1999 it reappeared on the building.

Interesting: Congress Street is the main street in Portland, state Maine.
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Place to visit number 7: The Portland Observatory

This is the octagonal 26-meter building that was built in 1807.

Some interesting facts about the appearance of the observatory:

• The building served as a signal tower.
• Portland has a deep harbor, which is protected by a number of islands. The arrival of ships in the port is not directly visible from the embankment, which created problems for the sellers preparing for the arrival of the goods.
• The decision was found in 1807, when Capt. Lemuel Moody organized the construction of an observatory providing a chance to observe the open ocean.

The merchants paid the observatory a fee from their ships for the fact that their flags were raised on the flagpole when the ships were in sight.

Interesting: At the end of the XIX century, a telephone was installed here, and when the radio appeared on the ships, the functions of the observatory were not needed by the city.
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Place to visit number 8: Kennebunkport

Kennebunkport is a settlement in York County, Maine. It is situated on the Atlantic coast, at the confluence of the Kennebank River.

Why does this place attract tourists?

• It is known as the location of the summer estate of the family of the 41st US President George W. Bush – “Walkers Point.”
• Bush hosted foreign leaders there, among which there were such well-known personalities as Margaret Thatcher and Mikhail Gorbachev.

Interesting: On July 1-2, 2007, President of the United States George W. Bush and Russian President Vladimir Putin met in Kennebunkport.
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Place to visit number 9: International Cryptozoology Museum

International Cryptozoology Museum is dedicated to the mysterious creatures that inhabit our planet, such as the Loch Ness monster or Bigfoot, opened in the US city of Portland Maine.

For those who don’t know what the word “cryptozoology” means: this is an area research dedicated to finding targeted animals, whose existence either not proved or considered impossible in the area at this time. In cryptozoology, the species found in the so-called “hidden state” are called cryptides. Although the International Museum of Cryptozoology itself was founded in 2003, it found its own premises only now.

Until November 2009 all of its exhibits, among which 2.5 meter 250-pound Sasquatch layout, huddled in the house of the founder of the museum Loren Koulman.

Why is it obligatory to include this museum in your list of places to visit:

• Professor Loren Coleman, who has dedicated cryptozoology for more than 50 years, is a recognized expert in this field: the author of 17 scientific works and a consultant to the popular science channels History Channel and Travel Channel.
• In the Museum there will be no permanent exposition, every three months it will change in order to always offer visitors something new and unusual. And for this, the small museum has all the possibilities.

Interesting: Earlier the museum could be reached only by prior arrangement with the owner, when he was not busy at the lectures at the university, now a museum will always be open to the public during normal business hours.
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Place to visit number 10: Mushed Lake

For a long time this area was uncharted. It was discovered by Henry David Thoreau, when he explored these places with the guides-Indians. It happened in the middle of the XVIII century. After almost a century here several hotels were built for wealthy tourists who were eager for a secluded and peaceful holiday. The beautiful wild nature, the clear waters of the lake and the forest air were suitable for this.

Until recently, Mushed Lake was, a so-called, “local secret”, opened only to insiders. It was visited by residents of nearby cities, as well as extreme skiers and sports fans of hard-core. However, gradually Lake Mushed and the surrounding area began to develop as a tourist center. And today it is a very popular place among tourists. Each visitor will find here the most beautiful landscapes, and recreation in this area will distract from the city bustle and noise of a megacity.

For the maximum comfort of tourists to reach the lake you can use special routes from the cities of Bangor and Portland, and it will not take travelers more than two hours.

Here you can find entertainment for every taste:

• You can devote time to a quiet walk on a boat or a canoe, and along the entire terrain stretched the tracks, both for beginners and for professional bicyclists.
• If you want, you can make a horse walk.
• Fans of extreme sports will be able to descend on rafts along the pond, and in winter – from snow-capped mountain peaks or climb them on snowshoes.
• In addition, anyone can hunt and fish.
• Connoisseurs of nature can devote time to watching birds and wild animals.
• In the surrounding area there are several tennis courts and golf courses.
• Camping, winter tobogganing, dog sledding, winter fishing – all this awaits everyone who comes to rest on the Mushed Lake.

In addition to all of the above, there are many entertaining and educational events here: the annual meeting of Wilson’s Friends of the Pond, the St. Joseph’s Fair, the Days of Forest Heritage, photo exhibitions, the annual chocolate festival and many others.

Interesting: Lake Mushead will give an unforgettable vacation for everyone who decides to visit this truly heavenly place at any time of the year.
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Place to visit number 11: The Desert of Maine

This is a site in the pine forest covered with glacial silt. The desert is situated in the county of Cumberland, Maine, four kilometers west of Freeport.

The area is 16 hectares. It is not completely natural, its condition is carefully maintained, when there are excess plants on the surface they are immediately removed.

Nowadays, the Maine Desert is a local curiosity. There you can find a lot of places to go to:

• a gift shop,
• a sand museum
• a farm museum (a barn that was built over 200 years ago)

More than 30,000 people visit the farm museum annually. You can use special transport, which carries tourists to the most interesting places found here.

Interesting: One of such places worth your attention is a barn buried under the layer of the sand. It was built in 1935 and in 1962 the border of sand reached it. The layer is about 2.5 meters thick.
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Video

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