Things to Do in Belfast, Maine
Belfast's attractions skew toward arts, history, food, and a real working waterfront rather than beaches or a windjammer-tourism harbor. This page lists what is genuinely confirmed and currently operating, by name and address where available, rather than generic "charming coastal town" filler.
Waterfall Arts and the Colonial Theatre
Waterfall Arts, 256 High Street, is a currently operating nonprofit community arts center offering adult and children's classes and community studios in ceramics, printmaking, glasswork, and darkroom photography, plus artist residencies and public exhibitions — a genuine hands-on creative destination, not just a gallery to browse. The Colonial Theatre, 163 High Street, is a currently operating three-screen cinema and performance venue with a stage called "the Dreamland," describing itself as having served downtown Belfast for over a century; check its own site for current film and event listings.
Perry's Nut House and Colburn Shoe Store
Perry's Nut House, on Route 1 toward Bar Harbor, opened in 1927 as a classic Maine roadside attraction and still sells fudge, candy, and Maine souvenirs alongside a restored taxidermy collection — a gorilla, a 21-foot python skin, a stuffed albatross, a 13-foot alligator, a cougar, and a baboon — reassembled after a 1997 auction dispersed the original collection under prior ownership. Colburn Shoe Store, 79 Main Street, founded in 1832, markets itself as "America's Oldest Shoe Store" — a genuine, browsable piece of living retail history rather than a museum piece, since it still functions as a working shoe store today.
The Belfast Harbor Walk, Rail Trail, and Steamboat Landing
The Belfast Harbor Walk is a free, paved, year-round pedestrian and bike path running an uninterrupted route from Thompson's Wharf through Heritage Park to Front Street, connecting downtown directly to Front Street Shipyard's working boatyard — a genuine, walkable way to see Belfast's real working waterfront up close. The Belfast Rail Trail extends that idea inland: a roughly 2.3-mile packed-gravel path opened in 2016 on a former Belfast and Moosehead Lake Railroad right-of-way, running alongside the Passagassawakeag River. Steamboat Landing Park, 34 Commercial Street, is the harborside park anchoring the Harbor Walk's southern end and the site of the annual Belfast Harbor Fest each August.
Where Belfast Sits on the Route 1 Corridor
Belfast makes a genuinely convenient base for exploring beyond its own city limits: it sits roughly 20 miles (about a 31-minute drive) south of the Camden/Rockport area along US-1, and about 7 miles (roughly a 10-minute drive) north of Searsport, whose own antiques shops and the Penobscot Marine Museum are a common add-on day trip for Belfast visitors, though this page does not itemize Searsport's own attractions in detail since they belong to a separate town's own research. The point for a Belfast-based visitor or new resident is practical: Belfast's own in-city attractions listed above stand on their own, but the city's position roughly midway along this stretch of the Route 1 corridor means neither Camden's nor Searsport's own draws require more than a short drive.
Belfast City Park and the United Farmers Market of Maine
Belfast City Park, a 17.5-acre park overlooking Penobscot Bay founded in 1904 by the Belfast Village Improvement Society, includes the city-run Belfast City Park Pool, operated in partnership with the Waldo County YMCA. For a different kind of Saturday outing, the United Farmers Market of Maine, at 18 Spring Street in Reny's Plaza, runs indoors every Saturday, 9 a.m. to 2 p.m., year-round, with more than 70 vendors selling everything from local seafood and produce to prepared food and crafts — a real, currently operating attraction in every season, not just summer.
Belfast Historical Society & Museum's Walking Tour
The Belfast Historical Society & Museum, at 10 Market Street, sponsors "Museum in the Streets," a self-guided walking tour covering 30 historic sites across downtown, the waterfront, and nearby residential neighborhoods — a genuinely useful, free way to see the city's history at street level. The museum building itself was closed as of spring 2026 for an expansion project, per its own site, so confirm current museum hours directly before planning a visit around the physical exhibits, even though the outdoor walking tour remains a separate, self-directed option.
Just Outside City Limits: Moose Point State Park
One genuinely nearby attraction is not in Belfast itself and should not be described as if it were: Moose Point State Park, at 310 West Main Street in Searsport, sits on US-1 between Belfast and Searsport near the Belfast town line, roughly a 10-minute, 7-mile drive from downtown Belfast. It is a day-use state park with hiking trails, tidal pools, picnicking, and panoramic Penobscot Bay views, open Memorial Day through October 1. It belongs to Searsport, not Belfast, but it is close enough that a Belfast resident or visitor can reasonably treat it as a short-drive outdoor option alongside the city's own in-town attractions.
Front Street Shipyard Tours and the Working Waterfront
Front Street Shipyard occasionally offers public tours, including during the annual Belfast Harbor Fest, giving visitors a genuine look at a large, active boatbuilding and repair facility rather than a staged maritime-history display. As of 2026, the shipyard's ownership transition to Safe Harbor Marinas — first announced in November 2025 — has closed, with Safe Harbor publicly committing to keep it an operating marina and boatyard and to invest $5 million in improvements over its first three years of ownership; worth knowing as background if you visit, since the facility itself continues operating even as its ownership has changed.
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Get a Free Agent Referral →Independent research. No ads. No sponsored listings. Data sourced from Waterfall Arts', the Colonial Theatre's, and Colburn Shoe Store's own sites; Wikipedia's "Perry's Nut House" article; PenBay Pilot's coverage of the Belfast Harbor Walk; Belfast Harbor Fest's own site; Wikipedia's "Belfast, Maine" article for Belfast City Park's founding; the Waldo County YMCA's own Belfast City Park Pool page; the United Farmers Market of Maine's own site; AllTrails and Coastal Mountains Land Trust listings for the Belfast Rail Trail; the Belfast Historical Society & Museum's own site for its "Museum in the Streets" walking tour and confirmed spring-2026 closure for expansion; Maine's Bureau of Parks and Lands and americasstateparks.org for Moose Point State Park's Searsport address, hours, and amenities, plus current drive-distance data (distance-cities.com, travelmath.com) confirming it sits in Searsport, not Belfast; and Marina World and Megayacht News reporting for the completed 2026 Front Street Shipyard sale to Safe Harbor Marinas. Nothing on this page is a paid or sponsored recommendation; confirm current hours, programming, and tour availability directly with each organization named above before visiting.