Maine Guide

Southwestern Maine
Kittery, the Yorks, Wells, Ogunquit, the Kennebunks, Biddeford Pool, Old Orchard Beach: beaches, walks, shopping, dining, lighthouses, history and fun! More...

Portland & Freeport
Maine's largest city has history, art, lots of good dining, and ferries to faraway places. Freeport has shops, shops and more shops, especially L L Bean. More...

Midcoast Maine
Long fingers of land stretching southward into the ocean: pure Maine! Here are the important Midcoast towns of Brunswick, Bath, Boothbay Harbor, Wiscasset and the boat to Monhegan Island... More...

Penobscot Bay & Mt Desert Island
Here are the real windjammer ports: Rockland, Camden and Castine, charming Blue Hill, and to the east Mount Desert Island, Bar Harbor and Acadia National Park. More...

Downeast Maine
East of Mount Desert Island are the wilder, less-visited shores of Maine: Schoodic Peninsula, Machias and Lubec, where the morning sun first strikes the soil of the USA. More...

Inland Maine
The largest state in New England is much more than its coastline. There's Augusta, the capital, graceful Bethel, busy Bangor, Rangeley amid its lages, wild Caratunk & The Forks, and Baxter State Park with Mount Katahdin, northern terminus of the Appalachian Trail, not to mention winter skiing. More...

About Maine
There is something quintessentially American about this rugged and sparsely populated state, the largest in New England. It's as though the vast forests of the north and the jagged coastline of "downeast" Maine are the last American frontier, rich in natural resources but waiting for people equally rugged to tame them.

Although there are still areas of wilderness in Maine, some of the state's potential was exploited long ago, soon after its discovery by Europeans. When the French and English came to these shores, they found miles and miles of virgin growth. The tremendous white pines have been replaced by other varieties, and lumber productsagain yield a good deal of the state's economy.

Besides its forests, Maine has great stores of granite for building, but they're mostly untapped as yet. Although agriculture is difficult because of the rocky soil and the short growing season, Maine potatoes are known and used throughout the eastern United States. Maine's fishers yearly pull great quantities of fish, scallops, shrimp, and the famous lobsters from the freezing Atlantic waters.

But the largest industry in Maine these days is the vacation trade: campers, hikers, and fishers in the mountains and lakes, Maine windjammer cruises and summer residents in the beautiful old coastal towns, and several of the best ski resorts in the region.

Good food—especially Maine lobster—and clean air draw the crowds from Boston, Montreal, and New York, and life in the southern coastal towns is lively and interesting from mid-June through Labor Day, after which the visitors become those looking for the quiet of Indian Summer and the autumn foliage season. Most warm-weather resorts close up by the last week in October, but the ski resorts open in November and bustle until April.

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Maine Highlights Tourist Information Transportation Southwestern Maine Midcoast Maine Penobscot Bay Mt Desert Island Downeast Maine Inland Maine