Maine’s Fall Foliage and Festivals are Second to None

With our lively harvest festivals, sparkling clear weather, and brilliant display of foliage, fall is a wonderful time to visit Maine. Our vivid maples and oaks create a dramatic backdrop, whether you want to hike the North Woods, take a bike ride around Peaks Island, or play golf at one of the state’s many country clubs. Fall also brings food and wine celebrations like the Damariscotta Pumpkinfest & Regatta, the Acadia Oktoberfest and the Great Maine Apple Day in Unity. The Cumberland County Fair and the Fryeburg Fair are a few of Maine’s many fall agricultural fairs.

Colorful farmers’ markets and produce stands brim with pumpkins and gourds. Apple orchards and pumpkin patches invite you to “pick your own.” Birders can spy migrating hawks, warblers and shorebirds. Fall is also the peak season for Maine lobster.

Plan a Leaf Peeping Trip in Maine

There is no better place to be for fall leaf peeping than in Maine. The melting of hues of leaves from green, to yellow, to burnt orange and crimson begins as early as mid-September in Fort Kent in northern Maine, and as late as Halloween in Kittery, at Maine's southern tip. The vibrant process begins in August as the warm weather wanes and Maine's 57 species of broadleaved trees begin preparing for autumn. Instead of slipping quietly into hibernation, nature trumpets the bright oranges and yellows of sugar maples, the purples of white ash, the scarlet of red and mountain maples, and the rich, earthy browns of black and white oak. Few sights satisfy the soul like the brilliant colors splashed across Maine's forests each autumn.

In September and October, the Maine Department of Conservation offers weekly reports on foliage conditions throughout the state on its website. In addition, the Maine Office of Tourism provides a toll-free foliage hotline from mid-September through Columbus Day: 1-888-MAINE45 (624-6345).

There’s so much to see and do in Maine. Plan your trip today.