The Maine Coast
Maine
Granite and spruce running some 300 km from York in the south to Schoodic in the east, broken into coves where lobster boats work the same harbours they have for two hundred years. Most of the lighthouses stand on free public headlands and breakwaters you can walk right up to; the far end of the coast, around Mount Desert Island, is Acadia National Park and needs a park pass.
7 challenges · 31 stops
STARTERLobsterman to the Promenade
≈ 3,000 steps1.4 mi · about 2 hoursStarter · 3 stops · 500 credStart where you live.Three stops on foot across Portland, about two kilometres uphill from the Old Port to the top of Munjoy Hill and out to the Eastern Promenade. Two hours at an easy pace, free throughout; finish at the mast in the late afternoon when the light is on Casco Bay.
STARTERThe Cove Bridge and the Cliff Walk
≈ 1,500 steps0.7 mi · about 1.5 hoursStarter · 2 stops · 500 credStart where you live.Two stops in Ogunquit joined by the Marginal Way, the free paved footpath along the rocks: start at the drawbridge in Perkins Cove and walk north to the little lighthouse on Lobster Point. Under a kilometre each way, an hour and a half with time on the benches.
STANDARDBug Light to the Head
≈ 3,500 steps + 3.5 mi by car1.6 mi on foot · about 4 hoursStandard · 4 stops · 600 credOne trip earns it.Four stops round the south side of Portland Harbor over half a day with a car: the smallest light on its breakwater, a caisson light you reach over the granite, then the lighthouse and the mansion ruins of Fort Williams. About 10 km of driving; all four are free to stand at.
STANDARDCribstones, Stairs and the Fort
≈ 2,500 steps + 38 mi by car1.1 mi on foot · about 5 hoursStandard · 4 stops · 600 credOne trip earns it.Four stops over half a day with a car: three on Bailey Island at the end of Harpswell's road into Casco Bay, then an hour's drive round to the granite fort at the mouth of the Kennebec. The island stops are free; the fort charges a small state fee in season.
STANDARDWiggly Bridge to Cape Porpoise
30 mi by carabout 4.5 hoursStandard · 4 stops · 600 credOne trip earns it.Four stops up the southern coast over half a day with a car: a swaying footbridge in York Harbor, the Nubble from Sohier Park, a stone chapel on Ocean Avenue in Kennebunkport and the lobster pier at Cape Porpoise. About 45 km of driving, nothing to pay.
ADVANCEDLights of the Midcoast
≈ 2,500 steps + 93 mi by car1.1 mi on foot · a full dayAdvanced · 6 stops · 800 credGetting there is not the hard part.Six stops in one full day with a car, from the Pemaquid ledges to Camden Harbor: four lighthouses, one at the end of a mile-long breakwater, then the stone tower on Mount Battie and the amphitheatre by the harbour. Roughly 130 km of driving; Pemaquid and Mount Battie charge small entry fees, the rest are free.
ADVANCEDMount Desert and Schoodic, Over Two Days
≈ 1,800 steps + 98 mi by car0.8 mi on foot · 1 day or moreAdvanced II · 8 stops · 800 credGetting there is not the hard part.Eight stops round Acadia over two days with a car: day one from the Bar Harbor sand bar to Sieur de Monts, Cadillac's summit and the Ocean Path; day two west to Somesville and Bass Harbor, then an hour round Frenchman Bay to Schoodic Point. Most stops need an Acadia park pass, and driving to Cadillac's top needs a timed reservation from late May to late October.
Counted between stops; you'll walk more at each one.
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