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Places to go in Maine.

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3 places

Acadia National Park Beaches

Acadia National Park

Bar Harbor, ME · Down East Maine

Acadia sprawls across Mount Desert Island where pink granite cliffs drop into the cold Atlantic, hardwood forests ring glacier-carved ponds, and a 27-mile Park Loop Road ties the highlights together. It is compact enough to see in a weekend yet packed with rocky coast, summit views, and historic carriage roads, making it one of the most rewarding parks in the Northeast. Start at the Hulls Cove Visitor Center near Bar Harbor for maps, the park film, and timed-entry details for Cadillac Mountain.

Ogunquit Beach Beaches

Ogunquit Beach

Ogunquit, ME · Southern Maine Coast

Ogunquit Beach is a three-mile barrier spit with two waterfronts to choose from in a single afternoon. On the ocean side you get cool Atlantic surf and soft white sand that runs flat for hundreds of feet at low tide; turn around and the Ogunquit River slides along the back of the dunes, calm and sun-warmed, where kids drift the channel on tubes. Walk the mile-plus Marginal Way from Perkins Cove to reach it, and you understand why the Abenaki called this stretch the beautiful place by the sea, and why it keeps landing on best-of lists as New England's lone entry.

Katahdin Woods and Waters National Monument Forests

Katahdin Woods and Waters National Monument

Stacyville, ME · Maine North Woods, Penobscot County

Katahdin Woods and Waters protects about 87,500 acres of Maine's North Woods, and in 2020 DarkSky International certified it an International Dark Sky Sanctuary, the first on the eastern seaboard. The Park Service has logged a reading of 21.88 magnitudes per square arcsecond here, Bortle 2 territory, about as dark as the East gets. The viewing spot is Katahdin Overlook, mile 6.4 of the gravel Katahdin Loop Road, where a short driveway climbs to a clearing with picnic tables and a vault toilet. It reopened in 2026 after a rebuild, with a new picnic pavilion. The Milky Way stands over the silhouette of Katahdin, 5,269 feet, with Millinocket Lake below and no town glow. Stargazing notes: the 17-mile Loop Road is one way, rough gravel, posted at 15 mph, and open to vehicles from late May until November 1. No fee and no cell service. Aim for a new moon in July or August and pack for 40s at night.