Maine: Must-Do Adventures On and Near the Water

Arrange to experience world-class fishing in whatever season you visit. From fly-fishing and ice fishing, to freshwater fishing and deep-sea excursions in the Atlantic Ocean, opportunities abound inland and along the coast.

With Maine Outdoors Fishing Charters, join a knowledgeable master guide for half- or full-day fishing trips – or up to a week, if you’re feeling ambitions. The towns of Union, Rockland, Camden and Damariscotta are good places to explore with a guide to catch bass, pike, trout and striper.

Not an angler? Nature exploration and child-friendly trips also are offered. Consider a guide canoe trip on a mountain stream or a motorboat outing to see seals, porpoises and eagles. Try a day hike as well; suggest a place – perhaps Mount Battie in Camden Hills State Park or Monhegan Island – and the guide will plan the itinerary.

The beauty of Acadia National Park enthralls visitors to Mount Desert Island. Get a ranger-guided tour of the park, the first national park in the eastern USA and still the only one in New England.

Hike to the top of the 466-meter Cadillac Mountain, the park’s centerpiece, for amazing views of the rugged coastline, scenic roads, lakes, Schoodic Peninsula and Bar Harbor, the charming coastal town that serves as the gateway to the park.

Cyclists will love the sightseeing opportunities in the 19,020-hectare park. There are 92 kilometers of former carriage roads. Other activities include, kayaking, hiking and spotting birds and animals. Camp overnight for a real treat: Fall asleep to an amazing celestial sky above and wake to catch the sun as it rises (you’ll be among the first that morning in the eastern USA to see it).

Now it’s time for a little relaxation in the waterfront resort town of Bar Harbor. The pedestrian- and bike-friendly streets of this old fishing village are lined with shops and restaurants. Savor one of the 5,316,000 freshly caught lobsters served here each year, a bowl of clam chowder or a piece of blueberry pie, the state’s official dessert.

Perfect for overnight stays – with accommodations including bed-and-breakfasts, cottages, cozy inns and swanky oceanfront resorts – you’ll want to linger for a while in Bar Harbor. Stop into the Abbe Museum, a Smithsonian affiliate, to learn about the Wabanaki, the native people of Maine. Take a trolley tour. See the “Millionaires Row” of historic estates. Photograph the Bass Harbor Head Light, an 1858 lighthouse that is still operational. Sign up for a whale-watching tour, or just watch the fishermen at work at the docks.

Fly into Maine’s Portland International Jetport (PWM), rent a car and drive about 282 kilometers northeast on to reach Bar Harbor. Or, arrange to catch a connecting flight to the local Hancock County-Bar Harbor Airport (BHB) or the Bangor International Airport (BGR), which is 80 kilometers away.