Maine’s Route 1

Route description

Kennebunkport is a harbor town of white clapboard houses and sea captains’ homes, centered on Dock Square. Follow US-1 north to Portland, whose Old Port district has brick warehouses, working wharves and ferries to the islands of Casco Bay. Just south of the city, Portland Head Light, first lit in 1791, stands on the rocks in Fort Williams Park at Cape Elizabeth.

North of Portland, US-1 passes Freeport, Bath with its shipyard and maritime museum, and Wiscasset, where the traffic often backs up in summer. Beyond Rockland, Camden sits on a harbor full of windjammers below the hills of Camden Hills State Park. The road up Mount Battie gives a wide view over Penobscot Bay.

The last stretch leads to Mount Desert Island and Bar Harbor, the gateway to Acadia National Park. The Park Loop Road passes rocky coves, beaches and pink granite cliffs, and the Cadillac Summit Road leads to the top of Cadillac Mountain. A vehicle reservation is required for the summit road in season, including for sunrise.

Long RVs are not allowed on the Cadillac summit road, and parking in Bar Harbor and Acadia is tight, so leave the motorhome at a campground and use the free seasonal Island Explorer buses. Summer traffic on US-1 is heavy, especially on weekends. Late spring and early fall are quieter, and campgrounds near Acadia should be booked well ahead.