Must-see attractions in Midcoast Maine

  • BATH, ME - MARCH 18: A flyer for a past event is seen Friday, March 18, 2016 at the Maine Maritime Museum boat shop in Bath, Maine. (Photo by Joel Page/Portland Press Herald via Getty Images)

    Maine Maritime Museum

    Midcoast Maine

    There's a palpable mix of reflective nostalgia and horizon-scanning adventure at this wonderful museum, which preserves the Kennebec's long shipbuilding…

  • Gordon Chibroski, Staff Photographer. Friday, June 14,  2013. .Visitors to the Coastal Maine Botanical Gardens in Boothbay are surrounded by a multitude of fauna and flora.

    Coastal Maine Botanical Gardens

    Midcoast Maine

    These magnificent gardens are one of the state's most popular attractions. The verdant waterfront kingdom has 270 acres, with groomed trails winding…

  • Rockland Harbor Breakwater Lighthouse

    Rockland Breakwater Lighthouse

    Midcoast Maine

    Tackle the rugged stone breakwater that stretches almost 1 mile into Rockland Harbor from Jameson Point at the harbor's northern shore. Made of granite…

  • ROCKLAND, MAINE, UNITED STATES - 2012/10/12: Farnsworth Art museum. (Photo by John Greim/LightRocket via Getty Images)

    Farnsworth Art Museum

    Midcoast Maine

    One of the country's best small regional museums, the Farnsworth houses a collection spanning 200 years of American art. Artists who have lived or worked…

  • La Verna Preserve

    Midcoast Maine

    This forested nature reserve is pretty compact, but within its confines there are 2.5 miles of trails and some 3600ft of shoreline. This waterfront is…

  • Maine, Camden Harbor, Camden Hills State Park, Penobscot Bay, View From Mount Batti. (Photo by: Jeff Greenberg/UIG via Getty Images)

    Camden Hills State Park

    Midcoast Maine

    With more than 30 miles of trails, this densely forested park is a choice place to take in the midcoast's magic. A favorite hike is the 45-minute (half…

  • Penobscot Marine Museum

    Midcoast Maine

    The superb Penobscot Marine Museum houses Maine’s biggest collection of mariner art and artifacts, which is spread through a number of historic buildings…

  • United Farmers Market of Maine

    Midcoast Maine

    This excellent, year-round farmers market features lots of prepared foods and a ton of craftspeople, artisans, artists and entertainment. It's basically a…

  • Dodge Point Preserve

    Midcoast Maine

    Some 500 acres of land, once managed as a tree farm, now constitute a lovely slice of preserved red pine woods and breezy riparian shorescapes. Four easy…

  • BRUNSWICK, ME - AUGUST 6: Six sculptures worth seeing in the midcoast area, including a Joshua Chamberlain statue at the entrance to the Bowdoin campus in Brunswick. (Photo by Gregory Rec/Portland Press Herald via Getty Images)

    Bowdoin College

    Midcoast Maine

    Bowdoin, established in 1794, is one of the oldest colleges in the US and the alma mater of Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, Nathaniel Hawthorne and US…

  • A child walking on the boardwalk over natural dune, Popham Beach State Park, Maine. (Photo by: Jeffrey Greenberg/Universal Images Group via Getty Images)

    Popham Beach State Park

    Midcoast Maine

    This 6-mile-long sandy stretch is one of the prettiest in the state, with views of offshore islands and the Kennebec and Morse Rivers framing either end…

  • ROCKLAND, ME - DECEMBER 5: Mutated Growth by Jackie Brown of Bath at the Materiality exhibition at CMCA in Rockland Tuesday, December 5, 2017. (Staff photo by Shawn Patrick Ouellette/Portland Press Herald via Getty Images)

    Center for Maine Contemporary Art

    Midcoast Maine

    The CMCA's fabulous home is a clever, glass-enclosed space with a sawtooth roofline, designed by Toshiko Mori. The digs are perfect for featuring…

  • The lighthouse at Pemaquid Point, Maine with cloudy sky above and assorted native foliage in the foreground.

    Pemaquid Lighthouse Park

    Midcoast Maine

    Perched dramatically on top of the rocks in Pemaquid Lighthouse Park is the 11,000-candlepower Pemaquid Point Light, built in 1827, which was featured on…

  • Reid State Park

    Midcoast Maine

    The highlights of this forested park include the rocky promontory of Griffith Head, and the long, windswept stretch of Mile and Half Mile Beaches – rare…

  • Bonyun Preserve

    Midcoast Maine

    Squeezed between the Sheepscot and Sasanoa Rivers, about 13 miles south of Wiscasset, this preserve contains in its compact dimensions no less than six…

  • Camden Public Library

    Midcoast Maine

    This gorgeous example of stately redbrick New England architecture is on the National Register of Historic Places. A library has occupied this building…

  • Colonial Pemaquid State Historic Site

    Midcoast Maine

    If you or your kids are into history, make sure to pop by this state park, where experts have rebuilt the Fort William Henry (c 1692), and an on-site…

  • Peary-MacMillan Arctic Museum

    Midcoast Maine

    This small but fascinating campus museum holds memorabilia from the expeditions of Robert Peary and Donald MacMillan, Bowdoin alumni who were among the…

  • Bowdoin College Museum of Art

    Midcoast Maine

    Set in a 19th-century building with a dramatic glass entrance pavilion, this campus art museum is small but impressive. The 20,000-piece collection is…

  • Sears Island

    Midcoast Maine

    You can (and should) explore Sears Island on foot. This uninhabited, 940-acre conservation area is connected by causeway to the mainland north of…

  • Linekin & Burley Preserves

    Midcoast Maine

    These two adjacent protected spaces encompass some 140 acres of forested Maine prettiness, situated on a windy stretch of lovely, gravel-studded…

  • Rockport Marine Park

    Midcoast Maine

    Tiny Rockport's harbor is justifiably famous across the region as one of the most beautiful in New England. The all-encompassing park space area includes…

  • Joshua L Chamberlain Museum

    Midcoast Maine

    This house museum exhibits artifacts from the late owner, who led one of the USA's great, eventful lives – first a college professor, then Civil War hero,…

  • Wolfe's Neck Woods State Park

    Midcoast Maine

    Just outside Freeport, this park has 5 miles of easy hiking trails, including a scenic shoreline walk that skirts Casco Bay. To reach the park, take Bow…

  • Puffin Project Visitor Center

    Midcoast Maine

    If birds are your bag, visit this interesting little nonprofit center, where you can learn about the National Audubon Society's success in bringing…

  • Eartha

    Midcoast Maine

    Geography boffins shouldn't miss a visit to the Garmin company – its lofty office atrium is home to a giant rotating globe named Eartha. Eartha has a…

  • Knickerbocker Lake

    Midcoast Maine

    If you're in need of a dip and the waters of Boothbay Harbor feel a little too frigid, head to this swimming hole, where the water is…well, also cold, but…

  • Olson House

    Midcoast Maine

    This rawboned Maine farmhouse was made iconic when Andrew Wyeth painted it as the backdrop of his most famous painting, Christina's World. Wyeth viewed…

  • Griggs Preserve

    Midcoast Maine

    There are so many wonderful, privately run nature preserves in this part of Maine you could blink and miss them. Such is the case at Griggs Preserve, run…

  • Armistice Bridge

    Midcoast Maine

    This bridge was once threatened with destruction after a larger span carrying US 1 car traffic was built nearby, but dedicated preservationists raised a…

  • Desert of Maine

    Midcoast Maine

    William Tuttle came to Freeport in 1797 to farm potatoes, but his deadly combination of clear-cutting and overgrazing caused enough erosion to expose the…

  • Farmers Market

    Midcoast Maine

    Belfast's Farmers Market features an avalanche of produce, fresh cheeses, seafood and other goodies. Compared to the United Farmers Market of Maine, this…

  • Fort Edgecomb State Historic Site

    Midcoast Maine

    This octagonal fort was built around 1808–9 to 'protect' Wiscasset, then a major shipbuilding center and port. In many ways, the fort's guns were actually…

  • Castle Tucker

    Midcoast Maine

    OK, so it's not really a castle. Still, Wiscasset's grandest and best-situated mansion has a certain regal air about it. Judge Silas Lee had the Federal…

  • Nickels-Sortwell House

    Midcoast Maine

    This mansion was built by Captain William Nickels, and is a great example of how maritime voyaging shaped Wiscasset. It's also a gorgeous example of…

  • Fisherman's Museum

    Midcoast Maine

    Fishing paraphernalia and photos, as well as a nautical chart of the entire Maine coast with all the lighthouses marked, are on display in the Pemaquid…

  • Boothbay Railway Village

    Midcoast Maine

    Ride the narrow-gauge steam train through this endearing village, a historic replica of an old-fashioned New England town. The 28 buildings house more…

  • Skolfield-Whittier House

    Midcoast Maine

    Skolfield-Whittier House, a 17-room brick mansion adjacent to the Pejepscot Museum, is a virtual time capsule: it was closed off from 1925 to 1982…

  • Boothbay Harbor Footbridge

    Midcoast Maine

    A pedestrian footbridge links two sides of Boothbay Harbor, and is a popular spot for a simple, quiet stroll and a selfie in front of all the boats. In…