Outdoorsy activity near Portland, ME
 

I just found out friends are in Portland visiting their college-age son. He wants to do something "outdoors" on Monday, but neither they nor he is that familiar with the area (he is just spending the summer working in Maine and has Monday off). They have invited me to come up for the day, and I am trying to help them find a good activity.

I know Mt. Agamenticus is within an hour, so that is one possibility. So is taking the Casco Bay ferry to Peaks Island and then biking or walking around it (or to another island).

Mt. Battie seems bit far for a day trip from Portland (since I will need to leave there around 3:30 to return home for a meeting, unless I can postpone it). Ditto for the North Conway/White Mountains area.

Any other suggestions for outdoor activities within an hour or so of Portland? Could be hiking, biking, kayaking, or similar, but not just sightseeing or lying on the beach. I would say moderate activity level is OK, difficult or strenuous is not as good.

Thanks! (I can look through threads tomorrow, but wanted to go ahead and ask, as all I could remember from them was Mt. Battie.)

maineislandkayak is the website for Peaks Island kayaking. Or Cape Elizabeth is a very easy drive, about 20 mins. You have Scratch Bakery in South Portland for coffee/bagel/awesome muffins and coffeecake on the drive out. And the lobster shack at Two Lights State Park for lunch. I believe there are kayak rentals on the cape, too.

The Sebago Lakes region is very nice and maybe 35 mins drive...you can google for boat rentals, etc on Sebago Lake.
Or Portland has some nice bikeways if you want to just rent bicycles. www.portlandmaine.com/getting-around/biking/
or www.exploremaine.org

Or Lake Winnepesaukee. Or Mt Chocorua.

Really, clarkgriswold's and your own suggestions are all good.

Thanks for the suggestions!

My friends really like the idea of Peaks, so looks like that is where we will go. Also looks like I will not have to leave early, so makes the day even better.

Chocorua looks like the Matterhorn but it is only about 3200 feet high, all but the last 200 feet or so a walk up. The Champney Brook Trail was our children's next step after Mt Monadnock at the other end of the state.

Have him take the ferry to Peaks Island and rent a bike and bike around the island. It's a great taste of Maine, affordable, and fun!
More info here: http://thefreelanceadventurer.blogsp...aksisland.html

A great hike within an hour of Portland is Pleasant Mountain. Info here: http://thefreelanceadventurer.blogsp...-its-name.html

Or he can explore some of Portlands trails. Info here: http://thefreelanceadventurer.blogsp...-trail-in.html

Pseudo trip report:

We took the 10:15 ferry over to Peaks and decided to walk the circuit around the island. It was a beautiful day—clear skies and temps in the low 70s. It took us 2 hours to go the whole way around, taking our time and stopping to snap pictures at a number of places. My friends loved the views of the waves on the rocks (and even just the rocky coast—they are from the Midwest, so nothing like that back home). They liked that the houses on the island are not "cookie-cutter" construction as well. We saw ducks with babies in tow a number of places, which was fun. Between the beach roses and the wild roses it smelled really good, too.

Ferry is $7.70 for an adult for a round trip. They take your ticket when you board in Portland—you don't need it for the return from Peaks.

After our walk, we ate lunch at Peaks Cafe. All of us had wraps—I had pesto chicken, which was quite tasty. Friends had BLT with avocado (the bacon was freshly cooked) and buffalo chicken. One had a cinnamon roll, which he enjoyed. I got a croissant filled with raspberry jam and "sweet cheese" that I saved for later, and it was great! Total for 3 wraps and two pastries was around $24.

Then we went next door to Down Front for ice cream, which we enjoyed as well. I got a kiddie with blueberry (better than average, but I think blueberry ice cream is notoriously difficult to do well) and toasted coconut (wonderful)—had bits of chocolate-coated crushed almonds in it, and the coconut really was toasted, giving it a different taste than the typical coconut ice cream. Friends enjoyed their Maine Black Bear and Caramel Caribou, too. Ice cream was $2.89 for a kiddie and $3.89 for a small. Friends were also surprised at how in New England, a kiddie is the same as a small in the rest of the country, and a small is like a medium elsewhere.

Looked around the area of the ferry landing while we ate ice cream and waited for the return trip, but not much was open. Guess it is too early in the season still. Friends were surprised at that, too. It's still weekends-only for now for most of the shops (all restaurants seemed to be open, though).

My relatives are mostly down south where the schools get out in early May. They have a hard time realizing that schools are just getting out here in New England this weekend, partly as a result of two "spring" vacations (February and April) and partly as a result of lots of snow days.