Owls Head Transportation Museum

  Airplanes, bicycles, cars, motorcycles, even a gypsy wagon-this museum has them all including some very rare and unusual models. They’re all in running condition, ready to be operated at the summer shows. Visitors may also visit the workshop  and talk with the volunteers who restore the vehicles and planes.


   All areas of the museum are accessible except for the seating area where a film about racing is shown.The seating is on a raised platform but the film can be viewed without accessing the platform.

  The parking lot is large enough for any RV. Museum
44.06587, -69.10199

Merryspring Nature Center

  The center features a small grouping of  themed gardens surrounded by meadows and woodlands. Intersecting trails allow for short or long walks.

  Nothing is accessible.The garden trails are rough grass. The meadow trails are grassy and uneven. The trails through the woods are narrow and hilly.

  Small RVs will fit in the parking lot but watch for low branches. Garden
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Farnsworth Art Museum

 
The museum has changing exhibits focusing on artists who have a connection to Maine. The two largest current exhibits, paintings by Andrew Wyeth and a view of the Shakers through their crafts and handmade articles, are both interesting. We didn’t realize that there were more exhibits in the Wythe Center and missed seeing them. To get to the Wythe Center exit the museum into the garden area, go past the LOVE sculpture and across the street.

  The museum is accessible.

  A parking lot where vans or very small RVs will fit is located on Museum St. on the opposite side of the street from the museum. We parked along the street, taking two parking spaces.  Museum
44.10364, -69.11005

Savage Oakes Vineyard & Winery

  Elmer and Holly Savage planted two acres of vineyard in 2002 to diversify their marketable products and keep the family farm operating. They now grow ten varieties of grapes and harvest wild blueberries for wine in addition to raising chickens for eggs and pigs and cattle for meat. We bought hot and sweet Italian sausage. Both are very good but the hot is really hot!

  RVs can park in the hay field directly across the road from the little store (not accessible due to steps and no ramp). Harvest Hosts guests use this field too. We parked fairly close to the road because rain was in the forecast but the field is very big and by driving farther in you’ll have a nice view of the hills.  Winery
44.21776, -69.26212

Matthews Museum of Maine Heritage

  The museum is stuffed with thousands of artifacts arranged according to their use and all neatly labeled but the coolest exhibit is the 33’ tall wooden Moxie bottle. The bottle was built as a traveling vending booth to be disassembled and trucked from town to town. And, for everyone who has never tasted Moxie, cans and bottle are for sale along with Moxie memorabilia.  It tastes kind of like a combination of cola, Dr. Pepper, root beer and cough syrup. We probably won’t be drinking another can! :- D

  The accessible entrance is on the far end of the museum. The door doesn’t have an exterior handle so either call ahead or have someone in your party alert the museum staff so that they can open it. The exhibits are all fairly easy to view and the aisles are kept wide enough for wheelchair access.

  The museum is on the edge of the fairgrounds so there’s plenty of parking for any size RV.  Museum
44.21354, -69.28417

Bragg Farm Sugar House

  Doug Bragg makes maple syrup the same way that his father did and the same way his great, great grandfather did on this sugar farm that’s been in the family since the early 1800s. The sap is hand collected in 2000 buckets and poured in a huge wood-fired evaporator. It takes about fifty gallons of sap to make one gallon of syrup. Visitor may watch a short film about making maple syrup and take a free guided tour.

  RVs will fit in the parking lot. Harvest Hosts visitors should drive around to the rear of the store and park in the grass along the road. The far side is a little bit more level but it’s okay to park on either side.  Farm
44.2816, -72.47404

Maine State Museum

  Riverways, where water powered mills could be built, determined town location and industries for early Maine settlers. Grist mills, sawmills, carding mills, tanneries, shingle mills, and woolen mills all used waterpower. An entire three-story woodworking mill has been reassembled in the museum along with equipment from other industries. Natural resources also drew settlers and Maine had an abundance of trees, granite, fish and ice.

   The museum is accessible but the layout is unusual. The museum entrance is on the third level but to follow in chronological order start on the first floor. There are several long uphill ramps and a long downhill ramp around the woodworking mill. The elevator and two small lifts provide access to all of the exhibits.

   Visit during legislative session breaks and the parking lots should be almost empty – plenty of room for RVs.  Museum
44.30626, -69.7826

Old Fort Western

   Fort Western, built in 1754, is the oldest surviving wooden fort in the US. In truth Fort Western was more a fortified storehouse than an actual fort. Supplies were shipped up the Kennebec River from Boston to the fort four times a year. The river past the fort was not navigable by large ships so supplies were unloaded, stored at the fort and taken by flat bottom boats seventeen miles upriver to Fort Halifax, an outpost built during the French and Indian War. By 1775 James Howard had purchased the fort and built a store and living quarters for his family in the soldiers barracks. The Howards operated the store and lived in the fort for at least 50 years.

   The barracks have been restored to look as they did at the time of the Howard’s store with furnishings in the family’s rooms and articles on the store shelves. One of the blockhouses is a gift shop, the other holds examples of articles that would have been stored at the fort ready to resupply Fort Halifax. Fort visits are by guided tour only.

  The paths to the fort are covered with large gravel and the grounds are rough grass. A makeshift ramp leads to the store and first floor living area. The second floor of the store and the storage blockhouse are not accessible. About 2/3 of the tour takes place on the second floors. For this reason and also because the admission price is on the high side ($10.00) I don’t recommend visiting if you can’t climb stairs.

  RVs will fit in the lot parked lengthwise across the spaces.  Fort
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Colby College Museum of Art

    Most college art museums are fairly small but Colby has a surprisingly large and varied collection of American art. Some of the works have been donated by the artists themselves. Others were donated by individual collectors. In 2007 Peter and Paula Lunder donated their collection of forty years – 500 pieces worth 100 million dollars. The museum rambles a bit so make sure that you don’t miss any galleries.

  Everything is accessible.

  Visit during the summer when most students are on break and the parking lots are empty. Any size RV will fit in the lot.  Museum
44.56552, -69.66071

Tallest Falls East of the Niagara

  The Androscoggin River drops 177 feet at the falls but not straight down so it isn’t super impressive. It’s still worth a quick stop because there’s also a giant Paul Bunyan and his blue ox, Babe.

   A short, paved trail leads down to a view point of the falls.

  The parking lot is large enough for RVs.  Falls
  44.54271, -70.54766