Maine has a vast network
of old abandoned roads, former railroad grades, snowmobile trails, logging roads,
greenways and carriage trails ideal for mountain biking. From the mountains to Maine's dramatic coast, there are fabulous opportunities for biking over a diverse landscape, with the added opportunity to view amazing wildlife such as
whales, puffins and the plentiful moose.
If you like blueberries, lobster and ocean, the Downeast & Acadia
region is noted for all three. Carriage trails wind along rugged coastline through picturesque
fishing villages, offering views of breathtaking coastal scenery and lighthouses perched
atop rocky headlands. You can stop and watch dramatic tides crash against towering cliffs, sending
ocean-spray geysers high into the air.
While the northern reaches of the state are thawing out, some of the best opportunities for early spring cycling can be found in the coastal areas. Bicycling at Acadia National Park in Southern Maine is great after the Spring thaw (mid April). Explore 45 miles of wide carriage roads edged by budding birch trees. Watch spring warblers, sea ducks . . .
The Solon to Bingham Rail Trail is an an ideal family bike ride and offers spectacular views of the surrounding mountains . . .
Acadia National Park's 45
miles of scenic carriage trails wind around Mount Desert Island at a comfortable gradient. They take you from the mountains to the sea and around several lakes. Offshore islands provide scenic biking on less-traveled roads. The
Moosehorn Wildlife Refuge offers ample opportunity for mountain biking and wildlife viewing.
Aroostook County, Maine’s largest
and northernmost county, is noted for it's "big skies", wide open spaces
and 2,000 lakes, rivers, and streams. Here you will find Maine's most extensive
system of snowmobile trails and abandoned rail trails. These multi-use
trails, such as the Aroostook
Valley Trail System offer
over 100 miles of relatively flat riding through woods and wetlands, along wide
rivers and over trestles.
The Katahdin-Moosehead region is where you will find more parkland than anywhere
else in the state including the 200,000 acre Baxter
State Park, Moosehead Lake
(the largest lake in the Northeast), and Mt. Katahdin, the highest peak in Maine.
If you're manic about moose, you can take part in MooseMainea, held mid-May to
mid-June in Greenville, Maine. It celebrates the plentiful, but elusive moose.
In conjunction with this festival, the "Tour
de Moose" race for mountain
bikers is held in early June.
The Kennebec region is most noted for it's all year-round outdoor recreation.
A vast network of scenic logging roads provide access by mountain bike to
the spectacular high mountains, remote ponds, waterfalls and lakes of northwestern
Maine. The
Jackman area alone
offers miles of marked trails of varying degrees of difficulty. Also, for the most part, local landowners have an open land policy, which
allows mountain biking on their hundreds of miles of dirt roads. Policies can change at any time. Please respect land-owner rights.
Maine’s western Lakes and Mountains region comprise an area larger than
New Hampshire and Vermont combined. This landscape of ponds, rivers, streams,
lakes and mountains are home to a plethora of wildlife, including
loons and moose. Experience mountain biking on a variety of single and
double-track trails, gravel, logging and woods roads over generally mountainous
terrain. The views are fantastic, especially when riding at Mount
Blue State Park during the Fall, as the season unfolds in a blaze of color.
Some of Maine’s best-known ski areas such as Sugarloaf and Lost
Valley offer superb mountain biking on their trails during the warmer months.
In contrast to Maine's rugged coastline, The Southern
Coast region has miles of broad white sandy beaches. Abandoned, overgrown town and country roads are now single and double-track trails. They wind through woods, past quaint New England villages and secluded harbors
and along remnants of stone fences that once demarcated the fields and pastures of once prosperous farms. A mountain bike mecca, 692-foot Mount
Agamenticus rises above the coastal plains and offers fantastic views
of the coast.
You'll find someplace special to ride in each region.
