Have you Considered:
?
Road Biking in Maine
From rural back roads to bike-friendly city streets––and everything in between––Maine is a great place for road biking. So much history––lighthouses, working waterfronts, historic sites––is accessible by bike in Maine. And so much beauty––coastal cliffs, wild blueberry barrens, mountain vistas and wildlife.
Maine is part of the long-distance, interstate urban trail project known as the East Coast Greenway. When completed, this ambitious trail network will connect northernmost Maine to Florida with 3,000 miles of traffic-free shared-use trails. Several beautiful sections of the Greenway are completed in Maine and ready for bikers.
- Down East Sunrise Trail. Currently a 30-mile stretch of this multi-use trail is open for permanent year-round use from Machias, east to Ayers Junction (except for mud season).
- The Eastern Trail. This nearly 70-mile bike route starts at the Piscataqua River and ends in South Portland. It includes several off-road sections, some of which are under construction or not yet built.
Maine is also part of the network of long-distance bicycling routes mapped by Adventure Cycling Association, a non-profit biking organization dedicated to safe and user-friendly bike routes. The organization has a network of over 40,000 miles throughout North America, and two of their routes traverse Maine:
- The Atlantic Coast Route travels 250 miles from Bar Harbor to Kittery, Maine, before entering New Hampshire and continuing south to Key West, Florida (2670 miles)
- The Northern Tier Route, 4,306 miles from Washington to Maine, includes a 224-mile section from Fryeburg to Bar Harbor.
More Maine road bike routes
Great places to start planning your bike trip include:
- Explore Maine. You’ll find 25 different regional tour routes that cover all eight regions of Maine, as well as bike trip planning resources—everything from maps to campgrounds. The Southern Coast Tour, for example, offers leisurely loops of varied lengths that take you by sandy beaches, historic homes, wildlife preserves and the presidential residence, Walker’s Point.
- Bicycle Coalition of Maine also provides a list of multi-use biking trails in Maine as well as a calendar of events for cycling enthusiasts.
- Trails.com This site is a good idea starter. It provides descriptions of 19 road bike routes through coastal and inland Maine. To get full route guides, however, you must register and become a member.
