ME Route 3 (East → West) Maine Route 3 has that funny Maine road trip thing where it keeps switching personalities. It runs between Augusta and Mount Desert Island, passing through small towns, lake country, wooded stretches, and eventually straight into Acadia traffic. At first it can feel like a regular inland road with gas stations, pizza places, and people just trying to get where they’re going… and then suddenly you’re headed toward Bar Harbor with everyone else who had the exact same national park idea. It’s not exactly a quiet hidden gem, but that’s kind of the point. It starts out feeling normal and somehow ends with you saying, “well, we’re basically at Acadia now.”

Mount Desert → Bar Harbor → Trenton → Ellsworth → Orland → Bucksport → Prospect → Stockton Springs → Belfast → Belmont → Liberty → China → Augusta

ME Route 4 (North → South) Maine Route 4 is where southern Maine starts stretching its legs and heading for the mountains. It runs between South Berwick and the Rangeley Lakes region, passing through busy everyday places like Sanford, Auburn, and Farmington before getting into that western Maine world of rivers, woods, hills, and lake views. It has a little bit of everything — commuter road, small-town connector, college-town energy, and then eventually that “okay, now we’re really in Maine” feeling. Route 4 feels like the kind of road where you start out grabbing a coffee in town and somehow end up talking about moose, cabins, and whether you packed a sweatshirt.

Rangeley → Rangeley Plantation → Sandy River Plantation → Township E → Madrid Township → Phillips → Avon → Strong → Farmington → Wilton → Jay → Livermore Falls → Livermore → Turner → Auburn → New Gloucester → Gray → Windham → Gorham → Buxton → Hollis → Lyman → Waterboro → Alfred → Sanford → North Berwick → Berwick → South Berwick → NH Route 4

ME Route 4A (North → South) Maine Route 4A is a little quirky because it is not one long road – it shows up in two separate pieces, both acting like alternate versions of Route 4. It’s not a big dramatic road trip route, but it is very Maine: useful, slightly confusing, and full of those “wait, are we still on the same road?” moments. Route 4A is like the side quest version of Route 4.

Buxton → Hollis ; Alfred → Sanford

ME Route 5 (East → West) One of those roads that quietly shifts from beach traffic to backroads Maine before you even realize it. Maine Route 5 starts down near the southern Maine coast and slowly works its way inland through small towns, forests, lakes regions, and classic “blink and you’ll miss it” New England communities. One minute you’re near beach traffic and ice cream stands… the next you’re passing farm fields, campgrounds, and old general stores. It’s not flashy, but honestly? That’s part of the charm.

Andover → Rumford → Hanover → Newry → Bethel → Albany Township → Stoneham → Lovell → Fryeburg → Brownfield → Hiram → Baldwin → Cornish → Limerick → Waterboro → Lyman → Hollis → Dayton → Biddeford → Saco → Old Orchard Beach

ME Route 6 (East → West) Maine Route 6 is a big, stretched-out cross-Maine kind of road, running between the Canadian border near Jackman and the Canadian border again in Vanceboro. It cuts across some of the quieter, wilder parts of the state, with long stretches of woods, lakes, small towns, and “make sure you got gas when you had the chance” energy. This feels like the kind of road where Maine stops trying to impress tourists and just becomes Maine – remote, practical, pretty, and slightly intimidating in the best way.

Vanceboro → Topsfield → Springfield → Lee → Lincoln → Enfield → Howland → LaGrange → Milo → Dover – Foxcroft → Guilford → Abbot → Jackman → Sandy Bay

ME Route 7 (North → South) Maine Route 7 has that “cutting through the middle of Maine” feeling. It moves through small towns, farm country, wooded stretches, and the kind of inland Maine where things get a little quieter and a lot more spread out. It’s not a flashy coastal road, but it has that steady, practical Maine charm – the road you take when you’re heading somewhere peaceful, outdoorsy, or just far enough away from the usual tourist traffic. Route 7 feels like the kind of road where you stop for gas, accidentally find a cute little local spot, and then realize you are definitely not in beach-town Maine anymore.

Dover – Foxcroft → Dexter → Corinna → Newport → Plymouth → Dixmont → Brooks → Waldo → Belfast

ME Route 8 (North → South) Maine Route 8 has that inland Maine connector feeling. It moves through river towns, lake country, wooded stretches, and those quieter communities that feel very “real Maine” without trying too hard. It is more practical than flashy, but that is kind of the charm – a road that ties together small towns, backroads, and everyday local life while sneaking in some pretty scenery along the way. Route 8 feels like the kind of road where you think you’re just getting from one place to another, and then suddenly you’re passing lakes, old houses, and little towns you want to come back and actually explore.

Solon → Embden → Anson → Madison → Norridgewock → Smithfield → Belgrade → Sidney → Augusta

ME Route 9 (East → West) From deep northern Maine woods to southern Maine beach traffic, this road covers a little bit of everything. Maine Route 9 begins way up near the Canadian border and cuts across the state through forests, tiny towns, inland backroads, and eventually the busy coastal communities of southern Maine. Up north, it’s known as the “Airline Road” and feels remote, rugged, and very different from the beach-town energy it eventually connects to farther south. It’s basically a road trip through multiple versions of Maine all stitched together into one highway.

Calais → Baring → Baileyville → Wesley → Beddington → Aurora → Amherst → Clifton → Eddington → Brewer → Bangor → Hampden → Newburgh → Dixmont → Troy → Unity → Albion → China → Augusta → Randolph → Gardiner → West Gardiner → Sabattus → Lisbon → Durham → North Yarmouth → Falmouth → Portland → South Portland → Scarborough → Old Orchard Beach → Saco → Biddeford → Kennebunk → Wells → North Berwick → Berwick

ME Route 9A (East → West) Maine Route 9A is one of those little southern Maine alternate routes that makes more sense once you’ve driven it a few times. It has that mix of beach-town backup plan, local connector, and “wait, are we in Kennebunk or Kennebunkport now?” energy. It feels like the side road you take when you’re trying to avoid one mess and accidentally find yourself in a different, prettier, slightly more confusing mess.

Kennebunkport → Kennebunk → Wells

ME Route 9B (Local) Maine Route 9B is a short little Wells road with big “local shortcut to the beach” energy. It runs entirely within Wells, connecting Route 9 with U.S. Route 1 near Wells Beach, so it is less of a full road trip and more of a quick coastal connector. It has that classic southern Maine summer feeling – beach traffic nearby, side roads everywhere, and everyone either heading toward the water, heading away from the water, or trying to avoid the people doing both. It is one of those roads you don’t plan a trip around, but you absolutely end up using when Wells is doing Wells things.
Runs locally in Wells

ME Route 9 Business (East → West) Maine Route 9 Business is the “old way through town” version of Route 9 in the Bangor area. It runs through Hampden, Bangor, Brewer, and Eddington after Route 9 was shifted onto the newer connector, which means this road keeps more of the local traffic, downtown edges, river-area driving, and everyday city stuff. It is not the dramatic “Airline Road” part of Route 9, but it tells you a lot about how people actually move through this part of Maine.

Eddington → Brewer → Bangor → Hampden

ME Route 10 (East → West) Maine Route 10 is a tiny little northern Maine route with a surprisingly specific job. It runs between Presque Isle and Easton, cutting through Aroostook County farm country not far from the Canadian border. This is potato field Maine, not postcard coast Maine – quieter roads, wide-open views, and that very northern Maine feeling where everything feels a little more spread out. It may be short on miles, but still manages to remind you that Maine is way bigger and more varied than people give it credit for.

Easton → Presque Isle

ME Route 11 (North → South) Maine Route 11 is a monster of a state route – in a very Maine way. It runs nearly the whole length of the state, from the New Hampshire line in Lebanon all the way up to Fort Kent near the Canadian border, passing through everything from southern Maine towns to central Maine crossroads, mill towns, woods, lakes, and deep northern Maine. It is long, practical, a little all-over-the-place, and honestly kind of impressive once you realize just how much of Maine it touches. It is Maine’s “back way through the whole state” – less polished than Route 1, less fast than I-95, but probably way more interesting if you actually have the time. We plan on exploring this route in detail next summer.

Fort Kent → Ashland → Moro Plantation → Patten → Sherman → Medway → Millinocket → Milo → Bradford → Charleston → Corinth → Corinna → Newport → Palmyra → Clinton → Benton → Fairfield → Waterville → Oakland → Belgrade → Sidney → Augusta → Manchester → Winthrop → Monmouth → Leeds → Lewiston → Auburn → Minot → Mechanic Falls → Poland → Casco → Naples → Sebago → Baldwin → Standish → Limington → Limerick → Newfield → Shapleigh → Sanford → Lebanon

ME Route 11A (North → South) Maine Route 11A is one of those slightly confusing Maine route numbers because it shows up in two totally separate places. There is a short southern section in Sanford, where it feels more like a local in-town connector, and another section way up in the Charleston and Bradford area, where it acts more like the old road through town while Route 11 takes the bypass. Neither one is trying to be the big adventure – that job belongs to Route 11 but they both have that very Maine “alternate road with a purpose” feeling. It is like the route number equivalent of “there’s more than one of these?” and honestly, that is kind of on brand for Maine roads.

Bradford → Charleston ; Sanford

ME Route 11B (Local) Maine Route 11B is barely a route, which honestly makes it kind of funny. It is a tiny business route in Millinocket, mostly following Penobscot Avenue through the downtown area before reconnecting with Route 11. This is not a “pack snacks and hit the road” kind of drive – it is more like a quick little downtown loop with local traffic, storefronts, and that old mill town feeling. Maine looked at one block of town and said, “yes, this also needs its own route number.”

Millinocket

ME Route 15 (North → South) Maine Route 15 is a long one, and it covers a lot of different Maine personalities along the way. It’s coastal, woodsy, practical, remote, and a little bit “are we still on the same road?” all at once.

Jackman → Abbot → Guilford → Dover – Foxcroft → Charleston → Corinth → Bangor → Brewer → Bucksport → Orland → Penobscot → Blue Hill → Sedgwick → Stonington

ME Route 15 Business (North → South) Maine Route 15 Business is the in-town Bangor/Brewer version of Route 15, following the older surface-road path while regular Route 15 uses I-395 and I-95 to get around the downtown area. It runs between Brewer and Bangor, crossing that busy river-city part of Maine where the road trip vibe gets traded for traffic lights, bridges, and errands.

Bangor → Brewer

ME Route 16 (East → West) Maine Route 16 is a big inland Maine route, running between the New Hampshire border and Orono with a whole lot of woods, lakes, small towns, and quiet stretches in between. It is not coastal Maine, and it is definitely not fast Maine – this is the slower, woodsy, pack-a-snack-and-watch-for-moose kind of Maine. It feels like the kind of road where the cell service gets questionable, the scenery gets better, and you start seriously considering a cabin by a lake.

Orono → Old Town → Lagrange → Milo → Dover – Foxcroft → Guilford → Abbot → Mayfield Township → Bingham → Embden → Anson → New Portland → Kingfield → Rangeley → Magalloway → NH Route 16

ME Route 17 (East → West) Maine Route 17 is a big scenic cross-Maine route, running between Oquossoc in the Rangeley Lakes region and Rockland on the coast. It has a little bit of everything: mountain views, lake country, river towns, Augusta traffic, quiet backroads, and then that Midcoast Maine feeling once you get closer to Rockland. This is also the road with Height of Land, one of those Maine overlooks that makes you understand why people pull over and take the same photo 500 times. It is like Maine showing off without being too obvious about it – mountains, lakes, state capital chaos, and eventually the ocean.

Rockland → Rockport → Union → Washington → Jefferson → Whitefield → Windsor → Chelsea → Augusta → Manchester → Readfield → Livermore Falls → Jay → Wilton → Dixfield → Mexico → Oquossoc

ME Route 22 (East → West) Maine Route 22 is a short but busy little southern Maine connector, running between Buxton and Portland. This one is personal for me because I drove this route almost every day as a young adult, commuting from home in Buxton to school in Portland. It is not a big scenic road trip route, but it is definitely one of those practical Maine roads people actually use – commuting, errands, airport runs, beach detours, and all the little in-between trips that don’t make the postcards.

Portland → Scarborough → Gorham → Buxton

ME Route 23 (North → South) Maine Route 23 has that quiet central Maine connector vibe. It stays inland, moving through lake areas, river towns, farm country, and the kind of practical Maine roads that locals probably know way better than tourists do. It is not flashy, but it does a lot of work tying together towns that sit just far enough away from the bigger roads to feel a little more tucked in. It feels like the road you take when you’re just letting central Maine be central Maine.

Guilford → Dexter → Ripley → St Albans → Hartland → Canaan → Fairfield → Oakland → Sidney

ME Route 24 (North → South) Maine Route 24 has a little bit of coastal charm, college-town traffic, and river-road Maine all packed into one route. The southern end has that salty Harpswell feeling – bridges, islands, seafood, and “should we pull over?” views – before the road shifts into busier Brunswick/Topsham energy and then quieter river towns farther north. It starts with a coastal daydream and slowly turns into the kind of Maine road where you’re following the river, passing old houses, and wondering why you don’t explore this part of the state more.

Gardiner → Richmond → Bowdoinham → Topsham → Brunswick → Harpswell

ME Route 24 Business (Local) Maine Route 24 Business is the downtown version of Route 24, following the older path while regular Route 24 skips around on the bypass. It has more of that in-town Midcoast connector feeling – Cook’s Corner, local traffic, Bath Road, Maine Street energy, and the “I swear I know where I’m going but Brunswick is testing me” vibe. It is not the island-and-seafood part of Route 24, but it keeps the route tied to the places people actually stop, shop, eat, and get mildly confused at intersections.

Brunswick

ME Route 25 (East → West) Maine Route 25 is one of those southern Maine routes that does a little bit of everything – city edge, commuter road, small towns, lake country, and then that quieter stretch toward the New Hampshire line. It starts out feeling busy and practical, then slowly trades shopping plazas and traffic lights for old houses, fields, rivers, and classic western Maine small-town energy. It is the road you take when you need to escape Portland, but you don’t want to fully commit to disappearing into the woods.

Portland → Westbrook → Gorham → Standish → Limington → Cornish → Parsonsfield → Porter → NH Route 25

ME Route 25 Business (East → West) Maine Route 25 Business is the “through town” version of Route 25, running through Westbrook and into Portland while regular Route 25 uses the newer bypass. It has more Main Street energy than road trip energy – local shops, traffic lights, commuters, errands, and that slightly chaotic Westbrook-to-Portland stretch where everyone seems to know where they’re going except you. It is not the quiet western Maine part of Route 25, but it is still part of the route’s personality: practical, busy, and very much tied to everyday southern Maine life.

Portland → Westbrook

ME Route 26 (North → South) Maine Route 26 is a big one for anyone heading from southern Maine up into the western mountains. It starts out busy and practical near Portland, then slowly turns into lakes, hills, small towns, and Sunday River energy. It is the road you take when Portland has had enough of you and sends you north for trees, mountains, and possibly a giant baked good from a roadside bakery.

NH Route 26 → Upton → Newry → Bethel → Woodstock → West Paris → Paris → Norway → Oxford → Mechanic Falls → Poland → New Gloucester → Gray → Cumberland → Falmouth → Portland

ME Route 27 (North → South) Maine Route 27 is one of those roads that shows off how dramatically Maine can change without ever leaving the same route number. You get harbor towns, Route 1 traffic, capital-area errands, college-town stops, mountain views, ski traffic, river valleys, and eventually that deep-woods border feeling.

Coburn Gore → Eustis → Kingfield → New Portland → New Vineyard → Farmington → New Sharon → Rome → Belgrade → Sidney → Augusta → Gardiner → Randolph → Pittston → Dresden → Wiscasset → Edgecomb → Boothbay Harbor → Southport

ME Route 32 (North → South) Maine Route 32 feels like a quieter inland-and-coastal connector, running between Bristol and Winslow with a mix of Midcoast edges, small towns, lake country, and central Maine backroads along the way. It never really turns into a big flashy highway – it just keeps stitching together the little places between the coast and the Kennebec River side of the state. It feels like the kind of road where you’re not chasing the big-name stops, but you probably end up finding the kind of Maine people miss when they only stick to Route 1.

Winslow → China → Windsor → Whitefield → Jefferson → Waldoboro → Bristol

ME Route 35 (North → South) Maine Route 35 has that “southern Maine to western Maine” personality, running between Kennebunkport and Bethel with a whole lot of little shifts along the way. Route 35 feels like the road you take when you want to leave the coast behind, but not too quickly – Maine makes you pass lakes, old towns, and at least one confusing intersection first.

Bethel → Albany Township → Waterford → Harrison → Naples → Raymond → Windham → Standish → Buxton → Hollis → Dayton → Lyman → Kennebunk

ME Route 37 (North → South) Maine Route 37 is a short western Maine route, but it still manages to feel like it belongs in lake-and-camp country. It runs between Bridgton and Waterford, slipping through that quieter area of Cumberland and Oxford counties where the roads feel local, the lakes are close by, and the scenery does not need to work very hard to be pretty. It is more of a small connector than a big road trip route, but sometimes those are the roads that make you slow down and actually look around.

Waterford → Bridgton

ME Route 41 (North → South) Maine Route 41 is a short central Maine route, running between Winthrop and Farmington. It is not trying to be dramatic, but it does have that quiet inland Maine charm – small towns, ponds, woods, and enough turns to make you pay attention.

Farmington → Chesterville → New Sharon → Readfield → Winthrop

ME Route 42 (East → West) Maine Route 42 has that long inland Maine backroad feeling, it moves through small towns, farm country, river areas, wooded stretches, and the kind of central Maine places that don’t always make the tourist brochures but still have plenty of character. This is not coastal Maine or polished vacation Maine – it is the slower, practical, local side of the state. It feels like the road you take when you want to see the Maine between the big-name places – old houses, quiet towns, working farms, and roads that feel like they’ve been there forever.

Old Town → Hudson → Corinth → Corinna → St Albans → Hartland → Athens → Cornville → Madison → Anson → Starks → Industry → Farmington → Temple

ME Route 46 (North → South) Maine Route 46 is a short little connector in the but it has that very Maine “cut through the woods and meet the bigger road later” feeling. It is not a big destination route, but it does the job – woods, ponds, local traffic, and a quieter way to move between coastal Hancock County and the Bangor side of things. It is the kind of road you end up on because your GPS had an opinion, and then you realize it was not a bad little side quest.

Eddington → Holden → Orland