By state · ME

National Parks in Maine.

Maine's NPS network at a glance — units, designations, visit totals, and what shapes the visiting season.

By Nicholas Major · Last updated

Maine has Acadia National Park as its NPS flagship — the only National Park in the northeastern United States — plus Saint Croix Island, Roosevelt-Campobello (jointly with New Brunswick, Canada), and Katahdin Woods and Waters National Monument. Bangor (BGR) and Portland (PWM) are the main anchor airports; Bar Harbor's local airport (BHB) operates seasonally. Acadia covers most of Mount Desert Island plus parcels on the Schoodic Peninsula and Isle au Haut. The park's busiest months are July and August; foliage peak runs early to mid-October when crowds drop and the weather still holds. The Park Loop Road's one-way section is open from late April through November in normal years. Cadillac Mountain has a vehicle-reservation system in season; check the official NPS Acadia page for the current window.

Every NPS unit in Maine.

Maine's 7 NPS units: 2 National Monuments · 1 National Park · 1 National Scenic Trail · 1 Other · 1 International Park · 1 International Historic Site. Combined 5-year-average annual visits: 10,257,971 (multi-state units count their full visits in every state they touch — see methodology). The most-visited unit is Appalachian National Scenic Trail at about 6.22M annual visits.

UnitDesignation5-yr avg visitsBusiest month
Appalachian National Scenic Trail National Scenic TrailAPPA 6,215,118 July
Acadia National Park National ParkACAD 3,992,045 August
Katahdin Woods and Waters National Monument National MonumentKAWW 38,036 February
Saint Croix Island International Historic Site International Historic SiteSACR 12,772 August
Frances Perkins National Monument National MonumentFRPE
Maine Acadian Culture MAAC
Roosevelt Campobello International Park International ParkROCA

Methodology

Unit list and per-unit visit counts come from the official NPS Visitor Use Statistics Data Package, 2025. The "5-year average visits" column is the mean of 2021-2025 Recreation Visits. Multi-state NPS units (Yellowstone, Death Valley, Great Smoky Mountains and others) are listed under every state they touch; the per-unit visit count is the unit's total, not a per-state share. Independent site, not affiliated with the National Park Service.

Independence

Independent site. Not affiliated with or endorsed by the National Park Service. Data comes from the official NPS Visitor Use Statistics Data Package, 2025; editorial analysis is ours. The NPS Arrowhead and other NPS marks are not used.

Last updated · 2026-05-19