Maine’s 2025 October Update

October 1, 2025

Dramatic Leaf Peeping in Maine State Parks and along Maine’s Scenic Byways

Maine’s dramatic fall foliage offers a memorable spectacle every year. Consider a hike in one of Maine’s State Parks, such as Mt. Blue State Park, Maine’s largest at 8,000 acres, which surrounds Webb Lake. Camden offers Camden Hills State Park, located atop Mt. Battie, with sweeping views of Penobscot Bay, while Baxter State Park features Katahdin as its centerpiece. Or take a road trip along one of Maine’s Scenic Byways. The St. John Valley/Fish River National Scenic Byway is a cultural journey along the northern border of Maine through the beautiful St. John Valley and wanders down Route 11 in far-northern Aroostook County. The Moosehead Lake Scenic Byway is a 59-mile route that follows state Route 15 around Moosehead and its adjacent hills. The Rangeley Lakes National Scenic Byway. This 52-mile route traverses an area filled with lakes and mountains, and a highlight is the breathtaking Height of Land, offering views that stretch for miles into neighboring Canada. For foliage conditions, throughout Maine go to www.mainefoliage.com.

Harvest on the Harbor

Harvest on the Harbor returns from October 30 to November 1, 2025, offering three festive days celebrating the best of Maine food, drink, and Maine-maker events. Highlights include The Maine Lobster Chef of the Year Competition; From the Sea: A Culinary Voyage + Oyster Shucking Competition; and The Maine Pour!, classic cocktails crafted with Maine-made gins, vodkas, bourbons, and rums. There will be two sessions of the Maine OysterFest with The Maine Oyster Company 2025, a celebration of Maine’s finest oysters, drinks, and live music. All events are 21+ and will be held at Maine Studio Works, with more information and tickets available at harvestontheharbor.com.

Gardens Aglow in Boothbay

Gardens Aglow is an annual festival of lights at the Coastal Maine Botanical Gardens in Boothbay. At nearly 325 acres, the Coastal Maine Botanical Gardens is the largest public garden in New England, featuring two miles of hiking trails, 19 acres of ornamental and themed gardens showcasing native plants of Maine, and nearly a mile of saltwater frontage. Inspired by nature’s cycles, this year’s Gardens Aglow theme, Nature in Motion, will offer glowing versions of native Maine critters hidden throughout the route, with more than 750,000 LED lights strung among the 14-acre gardens for the largest light display in the state. This year, the Gardens have invited Portland-based PORTL& to create immersive nature installations in three locations, incorporating biodegradable thermoplastic and overwater lasers. This year’s Gardens Aglow runs from November 15, 2025, to January 3, 2026. For more information on pricing and ticket availability, visit GardensAglow.org. Boothbay Lights offers a convenient Park and Ride shuttle on weekends, the easiest way to experience Boothbay Harbor’s shopping, dining, and lodging before and after the light show. For details, visit www.boothbaylights.com.

The Farnsworth Art Museum Unveils Two Andrew Wyeth Exhibits This Winter

The Farnsworth Art Museum in Rockland will have two concurrent Andrew Wyeth exhibitions this winter. Andrew Wyeth: Under the Lens will pair tempera paintings from the Wyeth Foundation for American Art collection with revelatory extreme close-up images captured through a microscope during ongoing conservation efforts. This juxtaposition reveals the intricacies of Andrew Wyeth’s process and underscores their fragility, offering insight into both the artist’s intent and the continuing effort to preserve it. Along the Goose River: Andrew Wyeth’s Secret Subject focuses on the opposite side of the Cushing peninsula, which offered Andrew Wyeth a more secluded source of inspiration: the mysterious Goose River. From this landscape emerged key works drawn from what the artist’s wife, Betsy Wyeth, called his ‘secret subject’—evocative forest interiors and the beginnings of his lifelong fascination with ordinary buildings and the stories they hold. The Wyeth exhibitions will run from November 1, 2025, through April 2026

Winter at Maine Huts & Trails and the AMC Lodges

Exploring the forested Maine landscape on a pair of snowshoes or cross-country skis is the best way to explore the state’s wilderness. But raise it to another level with a cozy stay in a warm cabin at the end of the day. The Appalachian Mountain Club‘s (AMC) Maine Wilderness Lodges are an ideal combination of rustic charm and creature comforts. You can expect a wood-fired sauna, hot showers, and home-cooked meals. The lodges —  Gorman Chairback, Little Lyford, and Medawisla — are each surrounded by cozy cabins. AMC’s lodges provide more than 80 miles of groomed ski trails, allowing extensive exploration by cross-country skis and snowshoes in the heart of AMC’s 100-mile Wilderness Conservation Lands. Maine Huts & Trails, three Alpine-inspired mountain huts in northern Maine, are ideal for snowshoers and cross-country skiers. Laid out on an 80-mile trail system, these cabins have woodstoves, a brightly lit and welcoming common room, hot showers, toilets, heated bunkrooms, and gear-drying rooms. Skiers and snowshoers can opt for either self-service or full-service accommodation.