Maine summers come to an end gently with cricket song, ripe berries and starry nights. One day soon you’ll notice an earthy smell in a crisp breeze; you’ll see a maple tree cloaked in orange leaves and realize autumn is taking hold.
Before that happens, I suggest you grab hold of the last sweet days of summer, when swimming at its best and the blackflies are a long forgotten memory. There’s still time for a few spur of the moment summer adventures.
Here are a few ideas for several outdoor trips in Maine that don’t require much advance planning:
1. Make reservations at a campground in a region of Maine you’ve always wanted to visit.
Maine is home to hundreds of campgrounds, and they all have different experiences and amenities to offer. You can go “glamping” — a term derived from “glamorous camping” — at places such as Bayley’s Camping Resort in Scarborough, which features its own stores, restaurants, arcade and entertainment pavilion. Or you can opt for a simpler camping experience and pitch a tent in a Maine state park. While most campgrounds suggest you make reservations before showing up, you usually don’t have to call too far ahead of time to secure a spot. More than 180 privately owned campgrounds and all 12 of the Maine state park campgrounds are listed at campmaine.com.
2. Enjoy the late summer blooms at the Coastal Maine Botanical Gardens in Boothbay.
The 270-acre property features an extensive network of woodland trails and numerous gardens, including a meditation garden, the “Learner Garden of Five Senses,” a rose and perennial garden, a kitchen garden, a children’s garden — along with a giant whimsical treehouse — and a fairy house village. This year, the gardens’ overall theme is “The Myth, Magic and Medicine of Plants.” The gardens also feature a number of art exhibits, including an exhibit of kinetic sculptures called “George Sherwood: Wind, Waves & Light.” And prepare for “Fairy Fun” at the gardens on every Friday of July and August. Admission for adults is $16; seniors, $14; children ages 3-17, $8; and children under 3 are free. To learn more, visit mainegardens.org.
3. Go geocaching in a town you’ve never visited before.
Geocaching, which is a recreational activity of hunting and finding hidden objects by means of GPS coordinates posted on a website, is a great way to get to know an area. The activity first became popular in the early 2000s, when the website geocaching.com was launched by Jeremy Irish, a member of the U.S. Air Force and owner of Groundspeak, a company with the mission “to inspire outdoor play using location-based technology.” Today, more than 2.6 million geocaches are listed on the website, including thousands of caches hidden in Maine. To learn more about geocaching and to search for geocaches in an area, visit geocaching.com.
4. Take on a hiking challenge.
If you’re the type of person who likes work toward an end goal, maybe you should try a hiking challenge. This summer, the Bangor Land Trust has organized its first ever “Take to the Woods” challenge, which tasks participants with visiting five BLT preserves and stamping their challenge booklet at each. The challenge runs through Aug. 28. All who complete the challenge receive a free water bottle. To learn more, visit bangorlandtrust.org.
Another hiking challenge being offered in Maine this summer is the new Midcoast Maine Summer Trail Challenge and Photo Contest, which runs through Sept. 7. The challenge was organized by Harpswell Heritage Land Trust, Brunswick-Topsham Land Trust, Kennebec Estuary Land Trust and Access Health. All you need to do to participate is download the 2015 Summer Trail Challenge Bingo Card, or pick one up at a participating land trusts or at the recreation departments in Brunswick, Topsham, Harpswell and Bath. Each time you take a hike listed on the card, you punch your card in the designated square. Each square you complete will earn you an entry into a raffle drawing for prizes. If you complete the entire card, you’ll be entered for the grand prize. To learn more, visit hhltmaine.org/events-programs/summer-trail-challenge/.
5. Rent a kayak or canoe, and get out on the water. You don’t need to own a boat to go paddling. There are plenty of places in Maine where kayaks and canoes are available to rent. Many of these rental spots are right on the water, so you don’t have to go through the trouble of transporting the boats by car. For example, Scarborough Marsh, a 3,100 acre estuary known for being an excellent spot to view wildlife, rents canoes to visitors through Sept. 7. The marsh is a great spot for beginner paddlers. To learn more, visit maineaudubon.org/find-us/scarborough-marsh.
Another spot to rent canoes and carry them right to the water is Hirundo Wildlife Refuge in Alton, where you can paddle the historic waterways of Pushaw and Dead streams. Just be sure to call at least one day in advance to reserve some canoes. To learn more, visit hirundomaine.org.
6. Test your mountain biking skills at the growing world-class mountain biking facility in Carrabassett Valley. You don’t even need to own a bike. Excellent mountain bikes are for rent at the Sugarloaf Outdoor Center, the hub of a network of about 77 miles of mountain bike trails. Nearly 23 of those miles were singletrack trails, built specifically for mountain biking. The trails vary in difficulty, catering to riders of all levels. To learn more, visit carrabassett.nemba.org.
7. Learn about Maine’s native wildlife at the Maine Wildlife Park in Gray. Unlike typical zoos, the Maine Wildlife Park houses only nonreleasable animals, which are injured, sick or habituated to people so much so that they would likely not survive in the wild. These animals act as “ambassadors for their species,” according to park staff, and include moose, black bear, eagles, hawks, coyotes, bob cats, Canada lynx, white-tailed deer and much more. And if you don’t get enough exercise walking the trails between animal enclosures, there are two popular state parks nearby that you can check out: Bradbury Mountain State Park and Wolfe’s Neck State Park. For information about the Maine Wildlife Park, visit maine.gov/ifw/education/wildlifepark/.
8. Visit a state park you’ve never been to before and collect a stamp for your Maine State Parks Passport. Maine is home to 48 state parks and historic sites, and all of them are listed on the Maine State Park Passport, which you can get for free by visiting any state park or historic site from May 18 through September. At each park and site is a brown passport station, which you unlock — with the park’s established date — to find a stamp for your passport. Prizes are awarded upon collecting 8, 16, 24, 32, 40 and 48 stamps. To learn more, visit maine.gov/dacf/parks/.
9. Participate in the Great Maine Outdoor Weekend. More than 100 outdoor events are expected be hosted at locations statewide Sept. 25 to Sept. 27 for the eighth Great Maine Outdoor Weekend. The events planned for the weekend are hosted by organizations and businesses throughout Maine and are listed at greatmaineoutdoorweekend.org. This fall, the weekend will coincide with a few exciting celestial events — a lunar eclipse and the Harvest Moon. Consequently, several of the event organizers are planning outdoor stargazing events. The weekend also lands on National Public Lands Day, Saturday, Sept. 26. On that day, Acadia National Park will offer free admission.