Best Outdoor Attractions in Maine | 2014 Editors’ Choice Awards

The Pine Tree State has plenty to offer in the Great Outdoors. Read our picks for the best outdoor attractions in Maine for 2014. BEST TOWN PARK: FORT WILLIAMS, Cape Elizabeth A former military base, Fort Williams’ 90 oceanfront acres are home to Portland Head Light, a small historical museum, tennis courts, Goddard Mansion ruins, a small beach, playing fields, picnic areas, grassy headlands for kite flying, and food trucks. 1000 Shore Road; capeelizabeth.com BEST BOTANICAL GARDEN: COASTAL MAINE BOTANICAL GARDENS, Boothbay Stretching along two-thirds of a mile of oceanfront, this equally masterly and magical landscape encompasses more than 250 acres of formal gardens, woodlands, and themed pocket gardens. 132 Botanical Gardens Drive. 207-633-4333; mainegardens.org BEST SEABIRD TOUR: JOHN DRURY, Vinalhaven Cruise through the islands of Penobscot Bay with ornithologist John Drury aboard the 36-foot Skula in search of Arctic terns, guillemots, shearwaters, petrels, puffins, and eagles, along with seals, dolphins, minke whales, and perhaps even an albatross. Greens Island. 207-596-1841; vinalhaven.org/boat-rides-seabird-cruises BEST WATERFALL HIKE: MOXIE FALLS, The Forks Moxie, one of New England’s highest and most dramatic waterfalls, with a single vertical drop of some 90 feet, in addition to other plunges and pools, delivers a nice reward for modest effort. The roughly 2-mile (round trip) trail begins on a wide swath through the woods, and then ascends via boardwalks and steps to the falls. Off Moxie Pond Road; mainetrailfinder.com/trails/trail/moxie-falls; newnenglandwaterfalls.com BEST ADVENTURE RESORT: NEW ENGLAND OUTDOOR CENTER, Millinocket NEOC’s Twin Pine campus edging Millinocket Lake and overlooking Katahdin puts the best of Maine’s adventures at your fingertips. Join guided rafting trips or moose safaris, paddle the region’s lakes and streams, hike the peaks, and return to a full-service base with cabins, restaurant, lounge, and other frills. Off Baxter State Park Road. 800-634-7238; neoc.com