With the sea kayak now safely put away for the winter (perhaps there’ll be the opportunity to paddle a couple more times on some of Maine’s “quiet water” in the lake kayak), my thoughts turned one day last week to taking what might be the last autumn ride on the motorcycle.

There are a few favorites that I always save until foliage season, and this year the leaves stayed especially bright along the coastal plain right up until mid-October, so I turned my attention to the multitude of options for cruising and leaf peeping fairly close to our midcoast home.

Additional Images

The forests are still ablaze with autumn’s colors, but not for much longer, which means little time is left for foliage lovers to appreciate Maine’s seasonal charms. John Christie photo

My requirements for such a ride are pretty simple: beautiful views, attractive villages, good roads, minimal traffic, and a place or two to stop for a break and a bite to eat along the way.

Although my recent excursion was on the bike, you can enjoy it almost as much from your car. I say almost, because on the bike you can always have an unobstructed 360-degree view, fresh air in your face, and sensations that are about as close as you can get to being on skis. And since the season is fast approaching, it’s a great reminder of what lies shortly ahead.

The route I chose, and recommend, starts out right off Route 17 about midway between Augusta and Camden.

Heading north on Route 220 for a couple miles, you’ll intersect with Route 105 in Washington (the old Camden Road from the capital area), where you’ll turn east and head up to South Liberty, at which point you’ll turn right. After passing through Burkettville on your way toward Route 131, and at a distance of about 10 miles from the point where you turned off Route 17, keep your eye out for the Appleton Ridge Road, where you’ll turn left to head up to your first set of scenic vistas. A note to bikers: the 7-mile Ridge Road terminating in Searsmont has some gravel sections, but I’ve always found it to be well graded and smooth.

You’ll join Route 131 in Sears-mont, made famous as Fraternity Village by author Ben Ames Williams, and the Fraternity Village General Store is worth a stop for a pastry and a cup of coffee, as well as a chance to hear the locals joking with each other over breakfast.

Then it’s north, across Route 3 in Belmont Corner, through Morrill, across Route 137 and then across Route 7 (the Moosehead Trail north out of Belfast) on your way to Route 141, Swan Lake Avenue, heading up into Monroe. You’ll turn north on 141 and left again on Route 139 when you get to Monroe.

After driving west for seven miles, you’ll come to the intersection in downtown Brooks through which you’ll pass and continue on Route 139 toward Thorndike for exactly 2.5 miles, keeping your eye out for Wentworth Hill Road on your left. That road, one of Maine’s most scenic, in my view, runs four miles south to its intersection with Route 139 in Knox. You will have gotten your first great views of Maine’s western mountains in that short leg of your trip … but it won’t be your last on this scenic ride.

Turn right on Route 139 and you’ll shortly arrive at the aptly-named Ridge Top Restaurant, where the view west is just one of the attractions. If you’ve timed it right, it’s a perfect place to sample one of their ever-changing, home-cooked, daily lunch specials.

Sated, both visually and gastronomically, it’s back on the road through Freedom. Three miles farther along, where Route 139 turns sharply right, you’ll take the North Palermo Road that lies straight ahead.

It’s another especially scenic 11-mile stretch of undulating terrain, offering more west-facing views and terminating in the Branch Mills section of Palermo. There, you’ll bear right, keeping your eye out in a matter of only a few hundred yards for the Parmenter Hill Road heading west toward the north end of China Lake.

This segment of your trip offers still more wonderful views of Maine’s western mountains including, on a clear day, the Presidentials and Mount Washington on the far horizon.

Cross Route 202/9 at the end of the lake, then bear left on Neck Road down the western shore for less the two miles, where you’ll turn right on Stanley Hill Road as Neck Road will come to a dead end.

Four miles along you’ll arrive in East Vassalboro, where you’ll turn left on Route 32 and head south for five miles, to where it joins Route 3 east for a mile before it departs south for another seven miles to Windsor and the famed Hussey’s General Store.

From there, it’s a short hop farther along past the Windsor Fair Grounds back to Route 17. The whole excursion totals just about 100 miles, and I can’t think of another such route, especially during foliage season, offering so much of a reward in such a relatively short period of time.

John Christie is an author and year-round Maine explorer. He and his son Josh write in Outdoors about places to enjoy the beauty that only Maine has to offer. He can be contacted at:

jchristie@fairpoint.net

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