Skip to main content

New England Road Trip - Day 3 - Exploring Maine

Day 3 of the New England Trip was exclusively Maine (well we did re-enter New Hampshire twice - more on that later).  We went from North Conway, NH to Rockland, ME by way of Acadia National Park.

Route: US 302, ME 113, US 2, ME 156, US 2, ME 11/100, I-95, I-395, US 1A, ME 3, US 1.

This blog will cover the trip from North Conway to Acadia National Park.  For the entire photo set on flickr, head here.

399

My first time back in Maine since October 2003!!!  In Fryeburg, we turned North on ME 113 to head to US 2.  However, what is interesting about ME 113 it actually re-enters New Hampshire twice between US 302 and US 2.  New Hampshire signs the route as a Maine highway.

402

After entering Maine for the final time, ME 113 enters White Mountain National Forest.  The road is typically closed in the winter.

406

Somewhere on US 2 was this great antique store full of great old signs.  Unfortunately, it was closed.

428

After a quick stop in Rumford Corner, we stopped at the town of Rumford and took in the amazing Rumford Falls.

442

449

Rumford Falls is also known as Pennacook Falls.  The overall drop for the three falls is 176 feet which is the steepest drop east of Niagra.  The photos I took of the Middle Falls is seen very easily from US 2.

The area around the Middle Falls are surrounded by a nicely developed park and fishing is very popular.  There is also a memorial to former Maine US Senator, Secretary of State and Presidential candidate Edwin Muskie at the park.

457

459

While we were there, a car wash set up.

491

And considering the mud from the rain the day before that was on Doug's Vehicle....we got it washed!

493

Further east ...an older US 2 shield.

496

Unfortunately, as we continued East the breaks in the clouds we enjoyed earlier on US 2 went away - and the overcast conditions continued all the way to Mount Desert Island.  One last goodie before we feature Acadia National Park.  On US 1A - an ancient Junction ME 179 and 180 uni-sign.

Old Maine Junction 179 and 180 uni-sign

Comments

Jim said…
Awesome signage, esp. the US 2.

Popular posts from this blog

Did Caltrans just kill the G26 cutout US Route shields?

The US Route System was formally created by the American Association of State Highway Officials during November 1926.  Through the history of the system the only state to which has elected to maintain cutout US Route shields has been California.  The G26 series cutout US Route shields have become a favorite in the road enthusiast hobby and are generally considered to be much more visually pleasing than the standard Federal Highway Administration variant.  However, the G26 shield series appears to have been killed off on January 18, 2026, when Caltrans updated their Manual of Uniform Traffic Control Devices.  This blog will examine the history of the US Route shield specifications in California and what is happening with the 2026 changes.  The blog cover photo is facing towards the terminus of California State Route 136 and at a G26-2 specification US Route 395 shield.  In the background Mount Whitney can be seen in the Sierra Nevada range.   ...

May 2023 Ontario Trip (Part 3 of 3)

  Over the years, I have made plenty of trips to Ontario, crisscrossing the southern, central and eastern parts of the province. Living in Upstate New York, it's pretty easy to visit our neighbor to the north, or is that our neighbor to the west? Ottawa is one of my favorite cities to visit anywhere in the world, plus I've discovered the charm of Kingston, the waterfalls of Hamilton (which is on the same Niagara Escarpment that brings us Niagara Falls), the sheer beauty of the Bruce Peninsula, and more. But I hadn't explored much of Cottage Country. So I decided to change that, and what better time to go than over Memorial Day weekend, when the daylight is long and I have an extra day to explore. On the third and final day of my trip, I started in Huntsville and made my way through Muskoka District and Haliburton County, passing by many lakes along the way. I stopped in towns such as Dorset, Haliburton and Bancroft before making a beeline down to Belleville and then over th...

Ghost Town Tuesday; Nichols, FL

A couple years ago I spent a lot of spare time exploring phosphate mining ghost towns in the Bone Valley of Polk County, Florida.  One ghost town in particular called Nichols on Polk County Route 676 west of Mulberry caught my eye due to a relative lack of documentation on ghosttowns.com. Nichols was created in 1905 during the early phosphate mining boom in the Bone Valley region.  For the time Nichols was unusual since it had company housing in the Nichols Mine site and private residences outside the gate.  Nichols is only about two miles west of Mulberry which probably made it a somewhat reasonable commute even by the wonky standards of the early 20th Century.  Most of the Bone Valley region was relatively remote which made commuting or homesteading impractical which is why there are so many ghost towns in the area.  The company housing section of Nichols was phased out and abandoned by 1950. The Nichols town site is largely abandoned and could "possibl...