V O L . X X I I I N O. X V I
12
FA C T BO O K / D O I N G B U S I N E S S I N M A I N E
Q UA L I T Y O F L I F E
Maine's most popular tourist attractions
Ranked by 2016 attendance
C O M P I L E D B Y S T E P H A N I E R . M E A G H E R
2016
Attendance
No. Employees
No. Volunteers Description
Top
executive
Year
founded
1 Acadia National Park
P.O. Box 177, Bar Harbor 04609
288-3338, www.nps.gov/acad
3,303,393 90
2,700
50,000 acres of the Acadia archipelago and Schoodic peninsula with
historic carriage roads, hiking trails and motor roads along diverse
natural habitats and glacially-sculpted mountains
Kevin
Schneider
1916
2 Funtown Splashtown USA
774 Portland Road, Saco 04072
284-5139,
funtownsplashtownusa.com
500,000 500
0
Amusement and water park Violet
Cormier
1967
3 Coastal Maine Botanical Gardens
132 Botanical Gardens Drive,
Boothbay 04537
633-8000, mainegardens.org
188,000 100
350
295 acres of tidal shore connects people, plants and nature through
horticulture, education and research; cultivated gardens, woodland
trails, education program, docent-led tours, electric-boat excursions;
open daily May - October
Bill Cullina 1992
1
4 Maine Wildlife Park
56 Game Farm Road, Gray 04039
657-4977,
www.mainewildlifepark.com
125,000 4
180
Over 30 species of native Maine wildlife that cannot be safely released
back into the wild; nature trails, picnic and grilling areas, gardens,
nature store, snack shack and adjacent fish hatchery
John Pratte 1940
5 Allagash Brewing Co.
50 Industrial Way, Portland 04103
878-5385, www.allagash.com
120,000 112
0
Independent Portland brewer striving to make the best Belgian-inspired
beers in the world; open seven days per week for free tours and
tastings
Rob Tod 1995
6 Great Falls Balloon Festival
Simard-Payne Memorial Park,
Oxford St., Lewiston 04240
240-5931,
greatfallsballoonfestival.org
120,000 0
25
Three-day hot air balloon festival over the falls in downtown Lewiston/
Auburn; entertainment, food and balloon launches at 6 a.m. & 6 p.m.
Mell
Hamlyn
1992
7 Children's Museum & Theatre of
Maine
142 Free St., Portland 04101
828-1234, www.kitetails.org
112,000 20
150
More than 20 hands-on exhibits, education and enrichment programs,
theatre productions and more
Suzanne
Olson
1976
8 Fort Knox and Penobscot
Narrows Observatory
740 Fort Knox Road, Prospect
04981
469-6553,
fortknox.maineguide.com
105,000 15
35
Two-for-one admission fee attraction includes a preserved, Civil War-era
seacoast fort and observatory with elevator rides over 400 feet up for
views of the Penobscot Bay region
Leon
Seymour
2006 &
1923
9 Songo River Queen
841 Roosevelt Trail, Naples
04055
693-6861, songoriverqueen.net
100,000 12
0
Sightseeing and cruise ship Kent Uicker 1971
10 Maine Maritime Museum
243 Washington St., Bath 04530
443-1316,
MaineMaritimeMuseum.org
49,000 18
2
250
Independent, nonprofit on a 20-acre campus along the Kennebec River
that promotes Maine's maritime heritage; gallery exhibits, children's
activities, educational programs, research library, trolley tours, narrated
lighthouse and nature cruises
Amy Lent 1962
11 Maine State Museum
230 State St., Augusta 04333
287-2301,
mainestatemuseum.org
46,952 20
36
Stories of human interactions with the natural environment over the
past 12,000 years; premier repository of the state's natural, pre-historic
and historical legacies
Bernard
Fishman
1836
3
1 Opened to the public in 2007.
2 Additional part-time and seasonal employees
3 Originally founded as part of the State House, the museum, as known today, moved into the new Cultural Building in 1971.
4 Renovated in 2005.
Augusta's Viles Arboretum did not respond to the survey
N/A: Not available.
S O U R C E : Each attraction via survey, visitmaine.com and Maine Offi ce of Tourism.
