Top things to do near Rangeley, Maine: A hiking heaven, a cute small town, and good times!
Smalls Falls, Rangeley, Maine |
The state of Maine was one of the two New England states that my wife and I hadn’t visited, even after living on the East Coast of the United States all these years. Maine just seemed so far away from New York City, at around 8 hours drive time.
Of course we had heard so much about Maine from friends and family, who extolled the virtues of the state on many occasions. We longed to eat some fresh lobster and fresh seafood, visit the famous Acadia National Park, see a moose, and immerse ourselves with the “Pine Tree State.”
While searching for a suitable place to stay for the summer months, we were ecstatic when a cute mountain cabin in the town of Stratton (Maine) was available via AirBnB. We booked the cabin for June and July, then went to work exploring the area near where we were staying.
The town of Rangeley, is a great little town in the northwest part of the state of Maine. We first heard of the town from a friendly clerk at a Maine visitor center, who recommended the town. She mentioned the town is known for great hikes, excellent restaurants, and scenic views, which we love (and who doesn’t???).
The driving time of around 30 minutes from Stratton to Rangeley didn’t hurt either. In fact, we ended up visiting Rangeley several times during our 2 months long stay. We loved driving via Route 27 to Route 16, cutting through some of the most pristine forests and mountains along the way.
The crisp, alpine mountain air, the fragrant pine trees, and crystal clear/brightest blue skies we had ever seen on the East Coast, really made the drive enjoyable. These observations are also true on just about every sunny day during those two months. With less pollution resulting in excellent air quality, everything looked so beautiful…
During evenings, we got to see the most intense, twinkling of stars up in the sky. The first time I had turned off all the interior lights then opened the window drapes, I thought my eyes were playing tricks on me. Stars looked so close, with each seeming to send out beams of light so bright, I thought I was looking at a flashlight shone from outer space…
Two months long stay turned out to be an awesome introduction to the state of Maine, and we’re glad we got to experience various places. Rangeley turned out to be, indeed, the best place to do hikes as all the places we enjoyed visiting, are within a 15 minute driving distance from the town center.
And with that introduction, these are our top things to do near Rangeley, Maine!
- Smalls Falls
Crystal clear waters of Smalls Falls |
Staircase leading down to the falls |
Steel fencing next to the falls |
Enjoying a banana by the falls! |
Looking back down the falls |
Loved this area with the fallen tree |
Made it to the top of the falls! |
- Bald Mountain
Beginning of the trail |
At the parking lot/trailhead |
We started our hike fully aware that the weather had turned dramatically for the worse. Our drive to Bald Mountain started out nice and sunny, but that really changed in a hurry at the mountain!
Wind picked up and the sun was gone, trying to break out of the clouds here and there but not really succeeding. The forest looked forbidden and primordial, but we pushed on, just thanking the weather gods that at least it wasn’t raining yet.
The first 2/3 of the hike was relatively easy, in terms of height and elevation gained. The wet, muddy forest floor didn’t help with our ascent though. We slipped few times on our way up, so we took extra time getting a good, solid footing before moving on up.
The higher we went, rocks, pebbles, and boulders replaced the dirt/root/forest floor. At the last 1/3 of the trail, terrain got really rocky with gigantic boulders. We got a heck of a workout making our ascent from that point on.
Near the summit, brief periods of rain came then was gone just as fast, replaced by sunny skies. We saw rain with sunny skies, rain with cloudy skies, and rain with mixture of the two! It was definitely not boring!
We navigated our way up through the large boulder fields, making slow progress, yet enjoying the hike nonetheless. We loved the crisp, alpine air the higher we went. We loved the views of the lakes way down below peeking through the trees.
Just when we felt the trail was no longer ascending, we realized we had made it to the summit! Yes!
We immediately headed towards the fire tower, which was unmistakably prominent, beckoning us to check it out. We saw fellow hikers (a mother, and a daughter-in-law) coming down from the fire tower, so we waited our turn. We chatted with them for awhile, talking about our travels and of Maine. They were so nice and friendly that had we not decided to climb the fire tower after few minutes, we may have talked for 30 minutes!
After saying our goodbyes, we made our trek up to the fire tower. We took careful steps up, as the staircase was really narrow and steep. We felt and heard the howling winds picking up speed and intensity, but we had made it to the top!
What an incredible view! We could see miles out into the distance. We saw nearby lakes, mountains, and clouds so low, we could almost touch them. Wow…
After enjoying that view for several minutes, we headed back down the fire tower, then back down the same way we had come. On our way down, rain came back, drenching the forest, and drenching us!
My wife took out her windbreaker while I took out my umbrella to shield ourselves from the heavier rain. We started hugging each other under an umbrella, waiting out the rain for about 5 minutes. It was rather romantic and fun, able to enjoy some rainfall during our hike. Like I always say, it’s always the little things that we must learn to enjoy…
Heavy rain passed us by after few minutes so we continued our hike back to the parking lot. The hike back always seems shorter and more enjoyable than the hike up, most likely due to the terrain. Coming down the mountain is infinitely easier than going up! There’s always that sense of accomplishment and euphoria after making it to the top, which probably adds to the feeling as well…
Bald Mountain was a great hike with awesome views, and it’s not to be missed! For those of you interested in seeing how much we walked, see below.
- Lakeside Park
Boat launch |
Seaplane landing! |
We thoroughly enjoyed Lakeside Park. It is a great little park to spend several minutes to relax, and to enjoy the lovely scenery.
Honorable mention:
We couldn’t write this post without mentioning a local hotspot, Sarge’s Sports Pub and Grill. The restaurant was recommended to us by a local named Gary, who we met in the town of Rangeley. He mentioned it’s his favorite place to eat in town.
This restaurant is a favorite place for locals and visitors alike, thanks to its tasty foods, reasonable prices, and its fame, as it was originally designed by Bing Russell, the father of actor, Kurt Russell.
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