Hike Peaks Island

Peaks Island is the closest of the Casco Bay Islands to Portland, ME. It is a residential island that fills up with tourists in the summertime. If you visit the Peaks mid-spring, you can count on fairly decent weather and fewer crowds. There is a hotel and three or four restaurants on the island, most of which close in the off-season. 

You'll be able to find a map of Peaks in any number of Portland establishments. There are trails all over the small island, some through fragrant pine forests, others along the rocky coastline. 

You can catch the $7, 15-minute ferry once an hour (more during rush hours) from the terminal on Commercial Street in downtown Portland. Once you get off the ferry, head south to check out the tide pools at picnic point or inland to the Battery Steele, a WWII military fortification that now contains tunnels of elaborate (read: terrifying) graffiti.