If you haven’t been to the Coastal Maine Botanical Gardens in Boothbay, you’ve missed one of the state’s natural gems. With over 248 acres to work with, designers created gardens and landscapes on a scale seldom found in botanical gardens. As well as glorious formal gardens, you’ll find massive ledges covered in mosses, lichens and ferns, a native forest and nearly a mile of sparkling waterfront. Visitors can roam the gardens and well-groomed trails on their own with a map available at the Visitor Center or take a free, guided tour with a knowledgeable docent during scheduled "drop-in days” in the summer. Just over an hour from Portland, the Coastal Maine Botanical Gardens is a comfortable day trip from Maine’s largest city.
To the west of Portland, in nearby New Gloucester, 5,000-acre Pineland Farms offers trails for walking, running and mountain biking as well as 25 km of groomed trails for classic and skate Nordic skiing. Visitors can stroll through the perennial, herb and vegetable garden and explore Pineland’s fields and forests with backpack kits filled with materials to help you learn about the natural environment. The premises also houses a working farm and creamery, as well as a world-class equestrian center.
Wildlife watching has long been an interest of visitors to Maine and many come hoping for a glimpse of North America’s tallest land mammal, the moose. Although moose roam all over the state, they are more commonly seen in the northern and western areas. Join a registered Maine Guide on Millinocket Lake for a half or full-day moose and wildlife excursion with New England Outdoor Center. Additional wildlife often seen includes bald eagles, loons, osprey, great blue heron, Canada geese, whitetail deer and the occasional black bear.
Other awe-inspiring mammals that visitors hope to see in their natural environment are the sleek and graceful denizens of the sea. Join Odyssey Whale Watch on a search for humpbacks, finbacks, minks, dolphins, basking sharks, ocean sunfish and sea turtles. Departing from the Portland waterfront, and traveling over 20 miles to known whale feeding grounds, Odyssey maintains nearly 100% sightings on their trips. Further up the coast, Bar Harbor Whale Watch Company offers a variety of tours in the Gulf of Maine that vary in their specialty; board a lobster passenger boat to see how lobster traps are hauled and visit an island where harbor seals bask on the rocks. On the Puffin and Whale Watch Tour you’ll visit Petit Manan National Wildlife Refuge which hosts a large breeding colony of Atlantic Puffins. These colorful, adorable birds spend most of their lives in the ocean, using land only to raise their young; the only way to view them is by boat.
Further south, the Maine Wildlife Park in Gray gives a permanent home to wildlife that cannot survive in the wild because of injury or earlier captivity. There you’ll get a close up look at over 25 species of Maine wildlife such as moose, lynx, black bears, mountain lions, kestrels and barred and great horned owls to name just a few. The Maine Wildlife Park is open from mid-April to Veteran’s Day and offers an exciting array of activities on Saturdays throughout the season.
For more information about experiencing wildlife, get a free copy of Maine’s Watchable Wildlife, a brochure available at Maine tourism centers and from the Maine Office of Tourism (888-624-6345 or www.visitmaine.com).