Adventures on wheels.

* Mountain Biking 

The Bicycle Transportation Alliance of Portland offers three bike route maps, including a seven-mile route through Historic Portland, two trips on Islands of Casco Bay, and a 21-mile Lighthouse Tour. The maps are available for $1 each from the Alliance at PO Box 4506, Portland 04112. [telephone] 773-3053.

A fine, off-road ride follows the old bridle trail along the Mousam River in Kennebunk. Park at the edge of the entrance road to the Sea Road School. Head in either direction. This former rail line ends in the north at the old railroad depot. It heads southeast along the Mousam River and then cuts back north to end at the Webhannet Golf Course. The entire path is just over three miles long. Much of it is wheelchair accessible.

Bradbury Mountain State Park, [telephone] 688-4712, on Route 9 in Pownal has about seven miles of trails on its 450 acres. Most riders agree the trails are intermediate.

There is the Knight Woods Loop east of the paved road, a boundary ride and one to the 485-foot summit of Bradbury Mountain, which offers excellent views. Trails open to bikes are also used by hikers, who have the right of way. Trails closed during mud season. Call to check, [telephone] 688-4712.

Mount Agamenticus in York (parking area off the Mount Agamenticus Road) A variety of trails ascend this 691-foot peak just west of I-95. Many more traverse the nearby woods and fields and run alongside ponds. Difficulty of trails varies from beginner to expert.

Medicine Man Gravesite 

A mound of rocks with a cross at the top of mount Agamenticus reportedly marks the grave of a Pawtucket Indian medicine man who converted to Christianity. He was named St. Aspinquid.

Trail are multiple use. Hikers and equestrians are likely to be encountered. [telephone] 363-1040.

Bike Rentals

Cape-Able Bike and Rentals 83 Arundel Road, Kennebunkport 04046, [telephone] 967-4382. Rentals bikes, helmets, sales and service. Bills itself as Maine's biggest bike shop. Free maps. Open daily year-round.

Cycle Mania 59 Federal Street, Portland 04101, [telephone] 774-2933. Complete bicycle shop offering rentals of bikes and helmets, sales, service and repairs.

Wheels and Waves 579 Post Road, Wells 04090, [telephone] 646-5774. Surf, fishing and bicycle shop with rentals of bicycles, helmets, sales and service. Open year-round.

* Foliage/Motor Tours

You can drive for days along the South Coast and never tire of the beautiful landscape, quaint fishing villages and craggy coastline. The following routes are provided courtesy of Maine Department of Conservation.

Beaches & Boutiques

95 miles, 2 1/4 hours, one way

Highlights: This tour winds you along Maine's colorful southern coast, where stunning fall foliage meets cozy harborside towns, wide sandy beaches, superb outlet shopping and vibrant arts and culture communities.

Route: Start in Kittery, where you can go outlet shopping and find something to suit any taste. Head north along US 1 through The Yorks, Ogonquit, Wells and Kennebunk, where you'll find shops, period homes, art galleries and sweeping ocean beaches. Plan a side trip to Cape Elizabeth, site of Maine's famous lighthouse, Portland Head Light. Visit Portland, and choose between historic Old Port shopping, fine dining, museum and gallery art viewing, or strolling the Eastern Promenade for stunning views of island-studded Casco Bay. Take US 1 north to Route 88 in Falmouth, passing the marinas and waterside restaurants of Falmouth Foreside and Yarmouth. Continue on US 1 to Freeport, home of L.L. Bean and a myriad designer outlets. Continue on through Brunswick to Bath, whose shipbuilding heritage is evident today in Bath Iron Works, the Maine Maritime Museum and historic Front Street. Continue toward Phippsburg, and the wide sandy beaches and historic fort at Popham.

Foliage Hotline: The Maine foliage hotline, in service each fall, offers the latest color-peaking information for leaf-peepers. [telephone] 800-932-3419.

Apples & Antiques

85 miles, 2 hours, round trip

Highlights: This region is known for its wealth of antiques shops, beautiful period architecture, superb pick-your-own apple orchards and numerous roadside stands, which feature everything from fresh apple cider and maple syrup to family farm-grown vegetables and pumpkins.

Route: From Sanford, go east on US 202 through historic Alfred Village, with its period architecture and rustic antiques shops. At Hollis Center, go north on 35 to Standish, keeping an eye out for the 1806 Old Red Church. Head west on 25 through Kezar Falls, along a scenic route that includes numerous apple orchards and the Porter Covered Bridge. In Porter follow 160 south to Limerick for more antiquing, then head south on 11, past Newfield's gracefully restored 19th-century Victorian village of Willowbrook. Stay on 11 to Emery Mills, then continue on 11/109 back into Sanford.

The Pros & Cons of "Old" Route 1

Mention the idea of driving through Maine on "Old" Route 1 and images of the romance of the open road and a simpler time before Interstate highways come to mind. In reality, that can often be far from the truth as everyday traffic and starry-eyed tourists clog that route.

If you are in the mood to explore on older roads, allow yourself plenty of time for traffic, particularly around the pervasive strip malls that seem to spring up near main byways.

US 1, Kittery to Portland

75 miles, 3 hours, one way

Highlights: A modified route up the coast is your best bet for experiencing that old-style coastal drive. Combining travel on "Old" Route 1 with occasional detours on Route 9 and other state roads that will actually get you closer to the shore and to the best scenery.

Route: If you want to avoid the outlet malls, discount liquor store and the Kittery Trading Post traffic, hop on US 1 in York by taking Exit 1 off the Maine Turnpike. Turn right and go a mile or so, then turn left onto Route 1A, which takes you through the village itself, by the harbor and along the sandy shores. Eventually the road loops back north to rejoin US 1 as it heads to Ogunquit.

North of Wells, turn left onto Route 9 near the headquarters for the Rachel Carson National Wildlife Preserve. Side roads lead to some of the prettiest beaches in the state as you near Kennebunkport. After crossing the Kennebunk River, in the middle of the village turn left again onto side streets and pass Walker Point, summer home of former President George Bush. Ocean Avenue and the Wildes District Road will bring you back out to Route 9 near Cape Porpoise.

Stay on Route 9 as it continues to hug the shore and loops through the bustling town of Biddeford. The route then takes you along more beaches, through the honky-tonk downtown of Old Orchard to Pine Point, where it turns north back toward US 1, passing through the Scarborough Marsh with its Audubon Nature Center.

Take a right on US 1 and go about 3 1/2 miles. Turn right onto Route 207. Straight takes you to the Prouts Neck Sanctuary. A left turn onto Route 77 after a few miles loops you around Cape Elizabeth with its Crescent Beach State Park and numerous lighthouses. Eventually you end up in busy downtown South Portland. Take 77 across the new bridge into Downtown Portland and stop by the Old Port shopping district with its cobblestone streets, unique shops and restaurants and antique buildings.

Signs in Portland will direct you back toward I-295 and other highways headed north.

Orrs Island/Bailey's Island

15 miles, 30 minutes, one way

Highlights: Traveling out to the tip of Bailey's Island in Harpswell from Brunswick is one of the unique driving experiences in Maine. Boat launch ramps and places to picnic abound on this 15-mile, one-way trip. Unless you have a boat waiting, there's only one way back--the way you came. Route: Get on Route 24 where it crosses US 1 in Brunswick and head east. The road soon cuts south around the end of the Brunswick Naval Air Station and heads out onto a narrow finger of land left over from the time when glaciers gouged out Maine's many bays. Between Orrs and Bailey Islands the road crosses the unique Cobwork Bridge, which is registered as a National Civil Engineering Landmark. The criss-crossed granite "logs" of the bridge, which sit on a ledge, allow the tidal waters to course through with little impedance.

On the way back, take a right onto the Cundy's Harbor Road and visit, where else, Cundy's Harbor. This is the quintessential Maine fishing village is there ever was one.

* Riding the Rails

Maine Narrow Gauge Railroad Company and Museum, 58Fore Street, Portland 04101. [telephone] 828-0814. Maine two-foot gauge operational museum and railroad. Celebrates the history and tradition of Maine's tiny two-foot trains. Train rides daily in season on three-mile stretch along Casco Bay. Museum and train ride are handicapped accessible. Adults $5, children $3. Open May-October, with some runs offered on weekends and school vacations throughout the rest of the year.