Maine Family Vacation Ideas

Maine's main park, Acadia National Park, offers camping, guided wildlife viewing, bike rentals, hiking trails and a walking tour. The natural beauty of the park excites children of all ages.

Try new winter sports such as snowshoeing and skiing in the pristine wilderness of two of the state parks called Aroostook State Park and Mount Blue State Park. Aroostook hosts several family fun days throughout the seasons. Aroostook was Maine's first state park.

A Great Blue Heron hunting for fish. Taken by Amy Gouger

Take a walk around the even open spaces of Maine. Birds like the gyrfalcon, red-tailed hawk, northern owl hawk, and bald eagles populate the state though a good pair of binoculars and sharp, young eyes make finding them easier.

If birding watching seems more like a chore, view Maine wildlife up close at Maine Wildlife Park and Swan Island. Maine Wildlife Park houses Maine native animals that cannot live in the wild. Swan Island shows off native animals and sparkles with history.

Every year whales migrate. The migration route takes them near Maine. Boating tours are offered for that very reason. Beside whales, dolphins may hang out alongside the boat.

Another sea animal popular in Maine is the puffin. On land or sea, these penguin birds shoot through the water searching for fish. Sometimes, they are seen from the coast or on the coast, but there is sea tours designed for this purpose.

Child fascinated with seals? There are a variety of boat tours that search for these sea mammals as well.

Maine harbors a gold mine of amusement and water parks. Seacoast Snow Park hosts family for three of the four seasons. Activates include go-karts, mini golf, trampolines, bumper boats and an arcade. On York beach, another park called York's Wild Kingdom contains a large zoo, rides, and paddle boast. Funtown Splashtown USA in Saco, Maine, draws in families with its 28 rides and 16 waterslides. For families with slightly older children, Black Beard's USA Family Fun Park tempts with batting cages, go-karts, and a rock climbing arcade. There are many more great parks like these in Miane.

On or near the coast of Maine, more then 60 lighthouses stand tall. Many of them still work. The lure for these heralds of time, for the kids, lies in an old tale of the famous pirate, Blackbeard. The tale tells that the pirate buried treasure near the Hendricks Head Light. Other pirates such as Captain Kid enjoyed the area. Perhaps a couple of hours looking at lighthouses and scouting for treasure is in order.

Maine is home to the Penobscot Narrow Observatory, the tallest public bridge observatory. The observatory is located on the grounds of Fort Knox, which holds several events throughout the fair weather seasons.