Maine Parks - not a canoe question

[Keeled Over]

Hi folks,

Chick and I are going to take a trip up to Maine. I have always wanted to go to Acadia and Baxter and retirement seems like a good time to go. I have been to Maine but it's been a while.

Looking for good tips to navigate these parks. We plan to go this fall in the beginning of October and will be towing a small camper with a 4 x 4 truck. Bringing mountain bikes and fishing gear. Canoe dog is staying home.

I am reading all of the online stuff, so I am looking for inside tips. Love dive restaurants, off the beaten path campgrounds, and twisty back country roads. Any cool tips. Stuff to see between Acadia and Baxter. Website says people stay average 3-4 days at Acadia - thoughts on this?

I love driving on coastal roads and was planning on that once I get to Maine - should I continue past Acadia and keep heading north?

Thank you!

 

[billconner]

Don't miss Moody's Diner.

 

[yellowcanoe]

Don't miss Moody's Diner.

ugh..So overrated. I way prefer Dysarts in Hermon.. Voted the best truckstop food in America. Moodys has pie and thats all I will say.
Campgrounds shut down early Oct away from the coast That said. Find the Sandbanks campsite in Katahdin Woods and Waters National Monument and while it is a sand pit it is a great base for the Loop Road in KWW. Bring your camera as it is a dark sky park. Incredible views of Katahdin
Next to Millinocket and the Appalachian Trail Cafe. Fuel up. You will need it for the next 90 miles on logging roads to Seboomook Wilderness Campground. You will have to pay North Maine Woods fees but since you will see no crowds it is worth it. Whit and Norm have canoes for rent for fishing. Eat at Pittston Farm. Its only 13 miles away ( 30 min...these are back roads dirt logging roads)

Acadia is great biking territory and the carriage roads call you. There is a biking guide to the carriage roads I heartily recommend the Around Sergeant Mt loop. The colors will be out and the blueberry barrens deep red.

If you want to go up Cadillac by vehicle , reserve your spot. It used to be a friggin zoo. Anything is better than what it was. Again if you can it is great sky viewing. Bar Harbor has enacted codes that require downward facing lamps. Acadia is striving to be a dark sky park too and if you face south , it works.

Fave restaurant? Pickled Wrinkle in Birch Harbor and anything in Southwest Harbor and nothing in Bar Harbor. (BH is an experience in itself . Refer to the cruise arrival calendar. You may wish to avoid the whole mess. https://cruisedig.com/ports/bar-harbor-maine/arrivals

 

[Keeled Over]

Thank you for the information - I'll look to add to my itinerary.

 

[Alan Gage]

I've only been to Maine a couple times but enjoyed heading up the coast from Acadia towards Eastport. Surprisingly non-touristy areas. I camped at the reversing falls in Pembroke. At that time (15 years ago) it was first come/first serve and I was the only one that came. No charge.

Alan

 

[goonstroke]

For scenic biking on lovely trails with 1000x fewer people than Acadia, consider the Penobscot River Trails an hour or so north of Bangor.

Penobscot River Trails, Grindstone, Maine – World Class Facility with 25 Kilometers of XC trails in Pristine Untouched Riverside Wilderness

penobscotrivertrails.org

For absurdly large but still really good pancakes, I recommend Purple Cow House of Pancakes in Fairfield (near Waterville, just before the interstate crosses the Penobscot). Raspberry, chocolate chip or straight, all are good. Order three pancakes, eat one and take two with you.

 

[Keeled Over]

Just what I needed - hit Acadia, travel north on the coast. Pancakes on the way home.

Thank you!

 

[yellowcanoe]

I am more than a little confused. Fairfield and Waterville are near the Kennebec. And north of Acadia is up toward Baxter not on the coast/ However northeast of Acadia is the Sunrise Trail and bike trails in the Schoodic Peninsula division of the park which is much less peopled than MDI Down East is really east of Ellsworth; Machias, Mibridge etc Cutler Lubec Easport. Most tourists say they have "done" Maine from visiting Bar Harbor . Nothing could be further from the real Maine. If you do find yourself on i-95 by exit 131(Fairfield) consider continuing to exit 113 and eat at the Red Barn at the edge of Augusta. Away from the coast Laura serves the best lobster rolls and fried clams.

 

[stripperguy]

There's a section of Acadia National Park that's no longer maintained...a sea cave, IIRC. A very cool experience, lemme check my photos and old maps.
OK, found it!
Anemone Caves, easy to get to, very short walk then scale down to sea level. Oh, gotta go at low tide.

 

[Keeled Over]

Thank you sir - I will check it out!