Northern Maine offers vacation activities, indoors and outdoors

Adventure awaits on the Kennebec and Dead rivers when you arrive at Crab Apple Whitewater’s base lodge. After breakfast, head to the rivers for world-class whitewater and breathtaking scenery. Some trips are guided, for families and beginners (lots of time for floating and swimming); others challenge rapids like the Class IV-V “Poplar Hill Falls.” Some come with riverside snacks; others with cookouts. Stay overnight at the lodge (in bunk-style rooms or suites with whirlpool tubs), play some night-time paintball in one of several custom courses, climb to Maine’s highest waterfall or just relax by the pool. For another kind of adventure, there’s the moose safari, from May through August, leaving at dusk in search of the gentle giants.

Attean Lake Lodge is now open! Here's 10 things you need to know before booking your visit.
Escape into the beauty of nature and into a more relaxed time when you stay at the Attean Lake Lodge. Fall asleep in your comfortable cabin to the sounds of the loons on the lake, then wake to a bountiful breakfast in the main lodge and a day with your choice of outdoor activities: kayaking, canoeing, boating, sailing, fishing for trout or salmon, paddle boarding or bird-watching. The resort maintains nearly 20 miles of hiking trails that will take you to remote ponds and great berry-picking sites. Take your picnic lunch to a sandy beach or a mountain top. Area activities include whitewater rafting, golf, great shopping – or a day trip to Quebec City. Or just chill out in the lodge with a board game or book.

The Appalachian Mountain Club’s (AMC) Maine Woods Initiative lands are located at the edge of the North Maine Woods, a largely unpopulated area that is relatively free from light pollution. The AMC is designated as an International Dark Sky Park, which means that it’s excellent night sky viewing. 207-695-3085

The antiques experts at Jellison Traders at 359 Riverside Drive in Augusta employ deep expertise to find beautiful and useful items for the home. Antiques, vintage items, collectibles: the entire range of interesting objects that reflect tastes and arts of the past is available for customers to continue to enjoy into the future. Jellison Traders can also help with appraising, downsizing, and liquidation of estates. Items that Jellison typically buys and re-sells include books, collectibles, furniture, glassware, jewelry, lighting, magazines, music, phonographs, victrolas, vintage clothing, recycled metal yard ornaments, and much more. Browsing is fun and encouraged, because the hosts at Jellison want you to enjoy the treasures you unearth. 207-213-4063

With seven interactive exhibit areas on three floors, Maine Discovery Museum at 74 Main Street in downtown Bangor, Maine, is the largest children's museum north of Boston. Seven permanent exhibits invite children to explore nature, geography, children's literature, music, art, science and anatomy. Among the exhibits are: Nature Trails, to explore Maine's ecosystem along a 20-foot waterway; TradeWinds, a new exhibit about Maine's global connections to Brazil, Japan, and Italy; Booktown, a village where every doorway leads into the pages of a Maine children's literary classic; Sounds Abound, exploring the world of music in a sound studio; Artscape; Mission: Discovery; and Body Journey. Open year-round; closed on Mondays. Phone: 207-262-7200.

In August 2016, on the eve of the 100th anniversary of the national park system, President Obama created a new park, Katahdin Woods and Waters National Monument, in northern Maine, near Millinocket. The park is in the shadow of Mount Katahdin, and it occupies a wild landscape with spectacular views the mountain. Back-country adventurers can explore the rivers, woods, plant and animal life, and dark night skies. This is a monument with limited services; services will be added in coming years. The park has no welcome center at present. Find visitor information at the park’s website or by phone: 207-456-6001.

From the 1850s to the 1950s the textile mills, shoe mills and brickyards of Lewiston and neighboring Auburn (L-A) made up the state's largest manufacturing center. Museum L-A, located in the Bates Mill Compex off of Chestnut Street, facing Canal Street, in Lewiston, documents the industries and the people who made them thrive. Within the 1850s Bates Mill, the museum displays vintage machinery, tools, shoes and quilts along with an oral history tour of mill workers from both cities. Open year-round, daily except Mondays.