Hilary Nangle - Moon Coastal Maine: Including Acadia National Park

Cape Neddick Light.

From the glacier-scoured beaches of the Southern Coast, around spruce-studded islands and Acadia's granite shores, to the craggy cliffs Down East, Maine's coastline follows a zigzagging route that would measure about 5,500 miles if you stretched it taut. Eons ago, glaciers came crushing down from the north, squeezing Maine's coastline into a wrinkled landscape with countless bony fingers reaching toward the sea. Each peninsula has its own character, as does each island, each city, and each village. Thanks to its geography, most Maine coast vistas are intimate, full of spruce-clad islands and gray granite and sometimes-forbidding headlands. Now add 64 lighthouses, 90 percent of the nations lobsters, and the eastern seaboards highest peak.

When it comes to character, no individuals are more rugged than the umpteenth-generation fishermen who make their living from these bone-chilling waters. Even the summerfolk tend to be different here. Many return year after year, generation after generation, to the same place and the same neighbors and the same pursuits.

Then theres Maines coastal symphony: waves lapping and crashing, birds crying or singing, fog horns calling and bell buoys ringing, streams gurgling and leaves rustling. Shore breezes mingle the aromas of pine, balsam, or rugosa rose with the briny scent of the sea. Sometimes you can almost taste the salt in the air.

lobster boats in Rockport Harbor

Beachcroft Path

Campobello sunset

Lobster, of course, is king, and Maines seafood is ultra fresh, but dont overlook luscious wild blueberries, sweet Maine maple syrup, delicious farmstead cheeses, and homemade pies sold at roadside stands. Access to this bounty is one reason why talented chefs are drawn to the state.

Even if you dont dine at one of the hot restaurants with nationally known chefs, you can visit cheesemakers, fish smokers, artisan bakers, microbrewers, and organic farmers. But balance that with a classic Maine bean-hole or chowder suppah, where you can share a table with locals and, if youre lucky, hear a genuine Maine accent (heres a hint: Ayuh isnt so much a word as a sharp two-part intake of breath).

Yes, theres a reason why more than eight million people visit Maine every year, and why longtime summerfolk finally just pick up stakes and settle here. Maine boldly promotes itself as The Way Life Should Be. Spend a little time in this extraordinarily special place and youll see why.

Acadias carriage roads in autumn

Acadias rocky coast.

Portland Head Light

Where to Go

Southern Coast

Sand beaches, occasionally punctuated by rocky headlands, are the jewels of Maines Southern Coast, but this region also oozes history. Colonial roots are preserved in historic buildings; fishing traditions echo in fish shacks-turned-trendy boutiques; and an arts legacy is preserved in museums and galleries. Complementing (or detracting) from these are Route 1s endless shopping opportunities: antiques, boutiques, and factory outlets.

Greater Portland

In this compact region are rocky coastline and sand beaches, lighthouses and lobster shacks, coastal islands and L. L. Bean. Brine-scented air, cackling gulls, lobster boats, and fishing trawlers give notice that this is a seafaring town, but its also Maines cultural center, rich in museums and performing-arts centers, and the states shopping hub. Increasingly, Portlands earning national repute as a destination for culinary travelers.

Whale-watching cruises and kayaking trips depart from Bar Harbors waterfront.

Mid-Coast Region

No region of Maine has more lobster shacks or as rich a maritime history as this peninsula-rich stretch of coastline. Shaped by powerful freshwater rivers, the Mid-Coast is dotted with traditional fishing villages as well as towns that were once thriving ports, mill towns, or shipbuilding centers. The Maine Maritime Museum preserves that heritage; Bath Iron Works continues it; and the grand homes, brick townscapes, renovated mills, and plentiful shops brimming with maritime treasures and worldly antiques keep it alive.

Penobscot Bay

With the Camden hills as backdrop, island-studded Penobscot Bay delivers the Maine coast in microcosm. Boat-filled harbors, sandy pocket beaches, soaring spruce trees, and lighthouses illuminating treacherous ledges pepper the shoreline. Gentrifying fishing villages neighbor cosmopolitan towns; traditional seafarers share driveways with summer rusticators.