We were looking for things to do, and my wife came across the Cole Land Transportation Museum. She said it had trains, and we both love trains (who doesn't?) so we made the trip. After paying the entrance fee, they do offer a free "scavenger hunt" placard divvied out by easy, medium, and hard. They each have photos of emblems or things for you to try and locate throughout the whole facility. You then write them down under the pictures with your erasable marker. The Cole family made their fortune in the trucking industry and eventually sold the business in the 90s. A very loving family, and after seeing and reading about Cole Transportation, seemed like a wonderful place to work for that treated their customers and employees right. The patriarch of the family eventually established the idea for the museum, and got to work. The museum has many aspects of transportation within, and lots of Maine background stories. There's Snowplows, Fire Equipment, Farm Equipment, Cars, Trains, Military, Construction vehicles, Sleighs, and so much more. The signage gives everything you'd want to know about the vehicles and artifacts, and if you want more info, any of the volunteers (most, if not all are military veterans) can probably answer your questions. If you have young children, you'll probably be in and out of here as I'd have to bet that most young children would be relatively quickly bored even with the variety of exhibits. But, my wife and I actually spent several hours slowly going up and down each aisle so we could get a good look at everything. The place was not full at all. The museum says they sponsor many school trips there and "be a friend to a veteran" talks. They sponsor essay writing contests with topics such as "What Freedom Means to Me." They have pictures of their former 18-wheelers with patriotic slogans painted on the sides entered by school children and voted on by committee. This museum shouts out loud that you're proud to be an American and able to live the American Dream. It's $7 for adults to enter, and all children are free. Well worth it and very happy to support local businesses. FYI, we ended up finding just over half of the "hard" scavenger hunt items. We'll have to look for more next time. read more

Cole Land Transportation Museum - I'm driving away! - Museums Near Me - Bangor, Maine

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By no means am I a transportation enthusiast, but for $7, I got a lot out of it and had a good time. There is quite the collection of various modes of transportation (tractors, cars, sleighs, buses, train cars, etc.). Our group of twenty-somethings had a great time learning and enjoying the various photo ops. I can see people of all ages enjoying this museum. read more

Cole Land Transportation Museum - Museums Near Me - Bangor, Maine

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WOW! Hands-Down the best museum my family and I have ever been to. I can go on and on, but; cheap admission price, scavenger hunt, a great variety of autos, trucks, motorcycles, bicycles, tractors Etc... I was pleasantly surprised to see an excellent showing of military memorabilia. Some of the vintage snow plow trucks were some of the coolest things I've ever seen. I highly recommend a visit even if your miles away. read more

Fantastic fantastic place with amazing staff that truly love this museum. Most of the staff have been there for years. They all had a personal connection to Mr Cole or were friends with him. Such a beautiful place with amazing history. Kids are free. It's such a great place I can't say anything bad about them! Love it and I'd come back time after time to check it out. read more

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This place is a gem. My husband and our 3 kids absolutely loved the amazing collection of vehicles and memorabilia from our nation's history. The Cole family has done so much for their community and for our country and it was great for our 3 children (under 12) to witness. The staff couldn't have been nicer and after our children finished the scavenger hunt the got a small reward on top of their free admission in! The world is a better place thanks to the people who created this place and who continue to work at it. Thanks for the fun memory! read more

Cole Land Transportation Museum - WW2 Vehicle - Museums Near Me - Bangor, Maine

Super little hidden gem on the outskirts of Bangor! Very clean and well organized.. street signs at each "intersection", signs on everything indicating what is was and from what year. Quite an extensive and very cool collection! The military memorabilia was also fantastic. Highly recommend for kids and adults looking for a good rainy day activity. read more

This museum is a MUST SEE if you are in the area. The best collection of wheeled vehicles from locomotives to farm equipment, to cars and even baby carriages!!! All of the vehicles are in Superb condition. They look like they can be driven off their displays and onto the street Quick ride outside of Bangor is worth more than the $5 admission! read more

Cole Land Transportation Museum - Petey driving a !! - Museums Near Me - Bangor, Maine

We love this museum. It has great collection of cars and transportation. It is wonderful for every age group. We love their scavenger hunts. If you stop in Bangor, you should visit! read more

Was here with my family on a rainy Saturday in October. Everyone had a lot of fun. Extremely curious collection, workers are really passionate about the exposition and I learned a lot of new and fun facts from them. Scavenger hunt was a nice touch. Never seen so many vintage firetrucks in one spot. Being dentist I liked that they had an old dental chair with pedal drill - don't see those often nowadays. Highly recommend! read more

My parents and I took a trip to Ellsworth, ME all the way from NJ and spontaneously decided to go to Bangor. As a millenial looking to make my folks happy, I took them to the Cole Land Transportation Museum and didn't expect it to be so interesting! At first glance, the museum looks small but it's packed with a TON of history! I'm not much of a history buff (neither are my parents actually) but the exhibit was super fun and informative. Even little kids that came to the museum with their families looked like they were having a blast. What a great way to spend 1-1.5 hours (especially on a rainy day)! read more

While visiting from San Diego, I visited Cole's. Actually, it was on my "bucket list" of things to do while in Maine. When I reviewed their website from home, the snowplows got my attention since I spent several years in my youth operating a highway plow. They have a section of old vintage plows, and even a horse drawn snow roller! We arrived shortly after they opened the doors. Admission is inexpensive. The facility is very modern, well organized and clean. We were very fortunate to have had a (almost) personalized docent for our entire tour. His name is George. George is a veteran of the Vietnam war and donates his time at the museum. He is incredibly knowledgeable of almost everything in the place. And, he is a very pleasant person. The museum is much larger than we had anticipated, and we spent about two hours touring. It was great fun. And, if your hungry before or after your tour, visit Dysart's truck stop. Wow, that was gooood! read more

A great, beautifully done museum. I spent a very worthwhile couple of hours there. The vehicles are displayed is an excellent way to allow plenty of visibility. This is a place NOT to miss. read more

Looking for something to entertain my 3 year old, we decided to take a trip to the Cole Land Transportation Museum. It's a very cool space with some amazing vintage and unique vehicles. It also hosts a Vietnam War Memorial. The set up is nice and concise and there's not a lot of fluff or boring lead ins, just rows and rows of vehicles. I would say, a 3 year old is not the best audience, unless your 3 year old is a bit more subdued than mine. Mine wanted to run around and climb on everything, and that is definitely not allowed, but once he understood that we could LOOK and not TOUCH, he was fine. Plus there were a few displays that you could either walk onto, or into. All in all, a very cool place with a very good message. Work hard, be kind, and take care of others. read more

We were driving from Greenville to Acadia and it was pouring rain. We were in Bangor and needed a break. A quick search and found this place. First, it is very affordable. They give AAA discounts and senior discounts. Then it has a lot of things to see. Even if you aren't really into transportation, I think you would enjoy stopping in. Being from the south I knew nothing about Mr. Cole or his company. I enjoyed reading his war story. My father got to walk down memory lane with some of the old cars and tractors. My husband being a big history buff enjoyed it as well. You could spend a ton of time in here. They have a cute thing for children to walk around looking for a poster of a guy and answer questions. If they complete it then they get something. They have one older car you can sit in and take photos. They have so much stuff they have started to hang some things from the ceiling. A good way for us to stretch our legs and take a break from the pouring rain. They have a few things outside as well but we skipped those because of the rain. A good stop. read more

Fun place to take you family to explore our military and automotive past. Really cool in the summer time but still fun place to break up winter monotony read more

THE most under-rated attraction ever! We gave ourselves just an hour, but could have spent 2-3 hours there. Fun for every member of the family, not just those interested in transportation. It's the kind of place you walk out of wishing you had every member of your family there. Jam-packed with information, the docents are absolutely dedicated to the place, and everyone there are just plain ole KIND people! It's way more than a museum, in a hard-to-explain way. It's an homage to the work of generations of owners and employees of a transportation company, and the lives they led in Maine. Trains, trucks, sleds, strollers, hearses, buggies, jeeps, snowplows, buses, delivery trucks... so much! And there is a heartwarming display about the life of one of their children who had osteogenesis imperfecta. read more

We saw the museum's helicopter and tank from the highway and had to stop in. This is a fantastic museum with all different kinds of land transportation, from snow plows (the most bonkers old timey snow plows!!) to fire trucks to sleds, and there are even several train cars in the back of the museum. Admission is inexpensive and children enter for free. There are docents available to answer your questions and fill you in on the history of the exhibits. I'm so glad we found this place! read more

Beautiful museum, very well kept. If you have small children (2-5) I recommend not going. We felt very unwelcomed, and followed around by the docent, reminded of the rules 3 different times. This is more of an older family's stop even though the adverts say children under 19 are free, they probably prefer children 10 and up. read more

The loving attention to detail is nothing short of amazing. The museum is packed with interesting pieces of transportation history. You will find everthying from an actual train station ticket office to cherished winter sleds. If you're really lucky you'll even get to meet Mr. Cole himself who introduced himself as me and my family were looking at one of his military displays. Mr. Cole, himself a veteran, promotes school class visits in which he arranges for students to meet with a veteran. The students then write papers and the museum displays one. Finally, the museum distributes specially made walking sticks, which are campaign specific, to Maine veterans who have military ID. We had a wonderful time and it was definitely worth the drive from Dexter. read more

Cole Land Transportation Museum - Museums Near Me - Bangor, Maine

I think for all ages. Great story about one man making a dream a reality. So many interesting vehicles to see. If you can get a tour it makes it even better. Dan was GREAT. read more

This is an amazing museum. It tells the story of the region, the city of Bangor, the development of technology, of warfare, and of one family. The collection is astounding and so very well kept and clean. There is something for everyone, including a section about a disabled woman which serves as a statement of disability rights. The Vetrans's Memorial is deeply moving, as well as being crafted out of enormous chunks of Deer Isle Granite. We have a train fan in the group who very much enjoyed the trains. A must see. read more

Stopped by on a road trip with my family as a brief visit to stretch legs, 3 hours later we left! It was the most thorough, thoughtfully organized museum. I really didn't think it would interest me but it was fascinating. A worker talked us through the WWII part of the exhibit and we were all enthralled. My kids had never seen snowplows before and still talk about it. Hard to explain but visit and you will enjoy it! read more

Today I stopped by the Cole Transport Museum in Bangor Maine, just off route 95 and was just amazed by the visit to this very fine and historic collection. Mr Cole was also WWII combat Veteran who served with 5th Armored Division and there are remarkable memorials and displays inside that that you must see. Stop and see, you will not be disappointed!! read more

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The most comprehensive well designed authentic museum I've ever. Fun and informative. Great staff