# Road trips in Maine > 5 road trips and 16 hand-picked places in Maine, with routes, stops and practical tips for driving and camping. Source: https://camping-spirit.com/roadtrips/maine/ 5 road trips and 16 hand-picked places in Maine, with routes, stops and practical tips for driving and camping. ## Road trips through Maine - [Maine’s Route 1](https://camping-spirit.com/guides/maine-route-1/): Lighthouses, lobster shacks and harbour towns up the coast to Acadia. - [Moosehead Lake and Katahdin: Maine’s North Woods](https://camping-spirit.com/guides/b10-moosehead-katahdin/): Moose country around Maine’s largest lake, a slate canyon and the wild park at the end of the Appalachian Trail. - [Maine’s Midcoast peninsulas: Bath to Pemaquid and Owls Head](https://camping-spirit.com/guides/b20-maine-midcoast/): Down the side roads of Maine’s Midcoast: Bath’s shipyards, Popham Beach, Boothbay Harbor, Pemaquid Point and Owls Head before Camden. - [Acadia and Downeast Maine to West Quoddy Head](https://camping-spirit.com/guides/b20-downeast-acadia/): Acadia’s Park Loop Road and Schoodic Point, then the quiet Downeast coast of blueberry barrens and big tides to Lubec, West Quoddy Head and Eastport. - [Fall color: the Kancamagus to Acadia](https://camping-spirit.com/guides/new-england-fall/): Waterfalls in the White Mountains, then sunrise on the Maine coast. ## Places worth the detour in Maine - [Cadillac Mountain](https://camping-spirit.com/places/cadillac-mtn/): The tallest peak on the North Atlantic coast, and often among the first places in the US to see sunrise. Vehicle reservations are required in season. - [Portland Head Light](https://camping-spirit.com/places/portland-head/): Maine’s oldest lighthouse, first lit in 1791, on rocks at the entrance to Portland harbor. - [Mount Kineo](https://camping-spirit.com/places/b10-mount-kineo/): A sheer rhyolite cliff rising from Moosehead Lake. A shuttle boat from Rockwood crosses in minutes to trails to the summit fire tower. - [Gulf Hagas](https://camping-spirit.com/places/b10-gulf-hagas/): A slate canyon with a chain of waterfalls, often called the Grand Canyon of Maine, reached by gravel logging roads through a gate with a fee. - [Baxter State Park, Togue Pond](https://camping-spirit.com/places/b10-baxter-katahdin/): The southern gate of the wilderness park around Katahdin, the end of the Appalachian Trail. Day-use parking for the summit hikes must be reserved. - [Pemaquid Point Lighthouse](https://camping-spirit.com/places/b20-pemaquid-point/): An 1835 lighthouse above tilted bands of rock running into the surf, with a small fishermen’s museum in the keeper’s house. Parking fee in season; the ledges are slippery near the waves. - [West Quoddy Head Light](https://camping-spirit.com/places/b20-west-quoddy-head/): A red-and-white striped lighthouse on the easternmost point of the US mainland, with cliff trails above the strong tides of Quoddy Narrows. State park fee; Campobello Island in Canada is across the bridge from Lubec. - [Blackwoods Campground](https://camping-spirit.com/places/cg-blackwoods/): Wooded Acadia sites a short walk from the Ocean Path and Cadillac Mountain trailheads. - [Lily Bay State Park](https://camping-spirit.com/places/b10-lily-bay/): Campsites along the shore of Moosehead Lake, a good base for dawn and dusk moose watching along the roads north of Greenville. - [Maine Maritime Museum](https://camping-spirit.com/places/b20-maine-maritime-museum/): The shipbuilding story of Bath on the Kennebec River, with the historic Percy & Small Shipyard and a full-size steel outline of the schooner Wyoming. Admission is charged; river cruises run in summer. - [Popham Beach State Park](https://camping-spirit.com/places/b20-popham-beach/): A long sand beach at the mouth of the Kennebec where you can walk out to Fox Island at low tide; watch the incoming tide. Parking fee; the lot fills by late morning on summer days. - [Coastal Maine Botanical Gardens](https://camping-spirit.com/places/b20-coastal-maine-botanical/): Large gardens on the Back River with a children’s garden, the giant wooden troll sculptures of Thomas Dambo and wooded shore trails. Admission is charged; timed tickets in peak season. - [Owls Head Light](https://camping-spirit.com/places/b20-owls-head-light/): A short 1852 lighthouse on a high bluff over Rockland Harbor and Penobscot Bay, reached by a short path and stairs from the state park lot. Free; the tower is open on some summer days. - [Thunder Hole](https://camping-spirit.com/places/b20-thunder-hole/): A rock inlet on Acadia’s Park Loop Road where incoming waves trap air and boom, best about two hours before high tide in rough seas. A park entrance pass is needed; parking is along the one-way road. - [Jordan Pond](https://camping-spirit.com/places/b20-jordan-pond/): A clear glacial lake below the rounded peaks of the Bubbles, with a flat 3.3-mile loop trail along the shore. Part of Acadia National Park; the lots fill early, so use the free Island Explorer bus in summer. - [Schoodic Point](https://camping-spirit.com/places/b20-schoodic-point/): The mainland part of Acadia National Park, where a mostly one-way loop road leads to pink granite ledges, heavy surf and views back to Mount Desert Island. Much quieter than the island; entrance pass required. ## FAQs **What are the best road trips in Maine?** Popular routes include Maine’s Route 1, Moosehead Lake and Katahdin: Maine’s North Woods, Maine’s Midcoast peninsulas: Bath to Pemaquid and Owls Head and Acadia and Downeast Maine to West Quoddy Head. CampingSpirit has 5 trip guides that pass through Maine, each with a stop-by-stop itinerary and a route map. **Which places in Maine are worth a detour?** Our editors recommend Cadillac Mountain, Portland Head Light, Mount Kineo, Gulf Hagas, Baxter State Park, Togue Pond and Pemaquid Point Lighthouse.