Hikers Love Maine – Find Out Why It’s One of the Top-Ranked States for Outdoor Adventures

Maine is a wonderful hiking paradise.

From rugged cliffside paths to peaceful forest trails, the state is full of options for every skill level and adventure style. Whether you're into mountain hikes, scenic strolls, or historic rail trails, Maine offers endless ways to experience the great outdoors and get closer to nature.

So, with all that being said, it's certainly not crazy to think that our wonderful state is easily one of the best in the country for hiking. And that's exactly what a new article claims.

Is Maine one of the Best States for Hiking?

One of the best reference guides for hikers is a site called KÜHL. It’s essentially an online atlas and review guide for the world of outdoor adventures. The site published an article highlighting what they believe are the 10 best states for hiking. And guess what? Maine came in at number 10.

The site used three major categories to determine the rankings: Safety Rank, Trail Rank, and Weather Rank. Maine finished in the top 20 in all three categories, including an impressive 2nd overall for safety. You can find the methodology here. These rankings helped propel Maine into the top 10, which is a worthy position to be in.

Maine Has an Incredibly Diverse Trail System

How could it not be? Maine is essentially one big trail. The reference site AllTrails lists over 1,000 curated trails, and you know there are many more paths and walks that probably aren’t even listed.

The state also boasts famous hikes like Mount Katahdin, basically everything in Acadia National Park, the Appalachian Trail (including the 100-Mile Wilderness), Marginal Way (not the street in Portland), the Eastern Trail, and the Portland Trails Network — just to name a few.

Maine is also lucky to have a wealth of options for all skill levels, including some downright challenging hikes that will even test the experts.

Amazingly, Maine is the lone Northeast representative on this list, and just one of two from the East Coast — the other being Florida. The three best hiking states according to KÜHL are California, Arizona, and Utah. You can check out the entire list here.

Happy hiking!