Vacation in Maine

February 17, 2023 6:27 PM

Along with Acadia NP, what are some nice places to visit along coastal Maine in early October?

We’re planning a visit to Maine in early October for “leaf peeping” and to see Acadia National Park. We fly into (and out of) Bangor and plan to head down to Yarmouth to visit folks. We were thinking of ending up in Acadia (Bar Harbor) at the end of the trip and spend 4 days. Length of stay is about 10 days.

We’re looking for out-of-the-way places to hike, ocean watch or see some nice architecture. We’re looking to avoid crowds as much as is possible (we understand Acadia will be busy).

posted by jabo to Travel & Transportation around Maine (10 answers total)

If you're not opposed to a driving, going up to Lubec to see Quoddy Head light is a good day trip from Acadia, and you get to hit the eastern most point in the US. If you have passports you can head over to Campbello Island, where there is another light you can only get to if the tide is low.

Closer to Acadia, just to the North, is Schoodic Peninsula. It's a lot more rocky coast, similar to Acadia but a lot less crowded.
posted by bondcliff at 7:54 PM on February 17, 2023 [2 favorites]

Belfast, to the south of MDI and Bangor, is one of my favorite coastal Maine towns. The Bold Coast in the Machias area is lovely but more remote.
posted by jilloftrades at 7:54 PM on February 17, 2023

Belfast has my favorite lobster pound in all of Maine. Youngs.
posted by bondcliff at 8:01 PM on February 17, 2023

Won’t be much going on in October but south of Belfast is the tiny summer enclave of Bayside which was founded in the mid 1800s by a church group. It evolved from tents in a meadow to tiny gingerbread cottages ringing a large park. Worth a side trip if you passing through Belfast.
posted by TWinbrook8 at 8:40 PM on February 17, 2023

I went late October, pre-covid. Acadia was not busy.

Things close for the season throughout October, so double check that any attraction you really want to visit will still be open on the days you will be there. Some places closed as early as mid September from what i recall.

The LL Bean complex was interesting to visit in Freeport.

Acadia has all of the lobster dishes. Even the Chinese takeout place next to my hotel had all of the standards with lobster, i regret not ordering from them.
posted by TheAdamist at 12:07 AM on February 18, 2023

If you're going down to Yarmouth, I'd spend some time in Portland. It's a great food town.
posted by sriracha at 5:30 AM on February 18, 2023

Rockland is lovely, south of Mt. Desert Island on the water, and has the Farneworth Museum, which has many Andrew Wyeth works. One of the buildings is the Wyeth Center, featuring works by Andrew, NC, and Jamie Wyeth. I particularly loved the NC Wyeth works - he illustrated many classic books such as Kidnapped and Treasure Island, and there is a magnificent selection of the original paintings.
posted by citygirl at 8:40 AM on February 18, 2023 [1 favorite]

Make a day trip to campobello
posted by brujita at 12:20 PM on February 18, 2023

On my last trip to Acadia, in Sept, I found that the crowds (if you have any) will thin out the further around the loop you go. Otter Point was nice and relaxing after fleeing from the crowds at Thunder Hole. And there are nice little hiking trails here and there on the inside of the loop road.

While you're there you might like hiking one of the mountains. Some of them are pretty serious hikes, but I did Beech Mtn, a nice day hike with a cool fire tower at the top.

And bondcliff is correct. Lubec is a cool little town. Quoddy Head is great! And nearby Eastport is a little more of a town than Lubec, with restaurants and art galleries and such. (WaCo Diner: "Order what you want, eat what you get.")
posted by booth at 12:43 PM on February 18, 2023

I'll also point out that the next island south from MDI is Deer Isle.
* Stonington is a nice little lobstering town that's more local-focused than anything on the touristy MDI.
* Barred Island is my favorite spot there, where you can watch the tide cover and uncover a sand bar out to the little island. (There's one of these in Bar Harbor, but on Deer Isle it's a much nicer environment.)
* There's a ferry to Isle Au Haut in Stonington. You can spend the day on the island (It's part of Acadia) or just stay on the boat and come back. It's a nice trip.
* And make sure to hit Nervous Nellie's Jams and Jellies.
posted by booth at 1:19 PM on February 18, 2023