Over the summer, my friend and I visited Rangeley, Maine and had a great time. We did a lot of hiking so we could complete most of the Maine 14 4,000 footers. Rangeley also has a ton of lakes and boating nearby if you are interested in that. In addition, Saddleback Ski Resort is right down the road and Sugarloaf is about 40 minutes away. Thus, if you are an outdoorsy person, you might want to look into booking a trip.

Rangeley is located in the middle of Maine, making up the north-western region of the state. Rangeley is known for its many lakes, sea planes, boating, and mountains. It does have a small downtown/town center but there are a couple of great restaurants with live music and gift shops to buy souvenirs. Because this is a small town, gas prices and groceries are a little expensive, thus if you’re doing a road trip, you might want to stock up at home before coming to Rangeley. Overall, my friend and I had a great trip and I think any outdoor lover would as well.

In this post, you will read about Rangeley Maine, places to stay in Rangeley Maine, Rangeley Maine Cabin rentals, Rangeley Maine fall activities, Rangeley Maine restaurants, Rangeley Maine things to do, and more.

This post is all about Rangeley, Maine.

Rangeley Maine:

Places to Stay in Rangeley, Maine

Once you get to the interior of Maine, there are only SMALL towns. Rangeley is a small town, only having a population of about 1,300 residents. This is the biggest city within 40 miles. The next biggest cities are about two hours away being, Lewiston, Augusta, and Bangor. So, yes, population wise, the interior of Maine is small. This makes finding a place to stay a little more difficult.

However, when my friend and I went we stayed in an AirBnB. My friend and I lucked out and booked our AirBnB about 6 months early (you don’t have to book it this early unless you’re staying between July-September) and got our place for about $950 for a full week. Split between two people, I thought this was a great price. Most of the places if you book in advance are pretty reasonable.

As far as hotels go, many of them range from $170-220 per night. A cute hotel in town is the Rangeley Inn & Tavern. I’m not sure how it looks on the inside but my friend and I loved the vibe of the outside. I looked up prices and it is a little on the expensive side, being almost $200 a night. Thus, I suggest staying in an AirBnB. Many of the AirBnBs are cute cabins just outside of town. My friend and I actually stayed in a cabin just outside of town and loved it. However, it was the perfect size for two people, much more than that and it would have been a very tight space. If you interested in more Rangeley Maine cabin rentals, this website has a lot of places and campsites to stay at. Vrbo also has some nice cabins to stay in, however, they are a little pricy, ranging from $300-400 a night.

Rangeley Maine Things to Do

As I said above, if you are an outdoorsy person, this is the place for you. When the weather is good, there’s so much to do, however, when it rains, there really isn’t much to do in Rangeley. It is geared for the outdoors. The main activity I’m going to talk about is hiking. However, there are many lakes that you could boat, fish, swim, kayak, and paddle board on. There’s also a couple different sea plane companies that offer rides/tours of the area. Acadian Seaplanes is the most well-known one in town. Also, in the center of town, they have a public lake and beach area that you can swim at.

In addition, there is some great skiing and snowboarding nearby. Saddleback is right down the road and Sugarloaf is about 40 minutes away. Additionally, Sunday River is only an hour and a half away. At Sugarloaf make sure to eat at D’Ellies. They are open from Sunday through Friday at 8am-3pm and Saturdays from 8am-4pm. It is also open in the summer time, so after your hike, make sure to stop in and get a sandwich.

The Best Hikes in and Near Rangeley

1. Saddleback & the Horn
2. Mount Abraham
3. Avery & West Peaks
4. Sugarloaf & Spaudling (maybe just Sugarloaf if you’re not interested in hiking all the 4,000 footers)
5. South & North Crockers Plus Redington (only recommend South Crocker if not hiking all the 4,000 footers)
6. Burnt Mountain Trail
7. The Horns Pond Trail

Rangeley Maine Fall Activities

In addition to the summer and winter time, fall is also a popular time for people to visit Rangeley, Maine to see all the foliage. We visited in the summer time and the nature was beautiful, I can only imagine how much prettier it is during the autumn season. The fall time activities are pretty similar to the summer time ones. However, I won’t go boating much past the middle of October, but the seaplane rides are probably beautiful. Until the snow falls you can go mountain biking and regular biking, whitewater rafting, fishing, and kayaking.

Rangeley Maine Winter Activities

Now, once the snow hits, there are a lot of different outdoor activities to enjoy. I’ve talked about skiing and snowboarding, which I love and highly recommend. As stated above, Saddleback, Sugarloaf, and Sunday River are all relatively close to Ranegley and are great mountains for any levels to ski/snowboard at. The only mountain I would avoid is Saddleback if you are a beginner. Most of the runs are double diamonds and intermediate runs. Thus, as a beginner there won’t be a lot of options for you and it wouldn’t be worth the money.

Some other winter activities I recommend in the Rangeley area are cross-country skiing, snow-shoeing and winter hiking, fat biking, ice fishing, ice-skating, snowmobiling, and sledding. I highly recommend winter hiking, I got into it a couple years ago and fall in fell in love with it. I actually prefer the summits in the winter because I think the snowcapped mountains and trees are more majestic than the summer time. Now, if you’re new to winter hiking, you might want to read this article before you go. The cold really is brutally especially when hiking.

Rangeley Maine Restaurants & shops

Lastly, the best places to eat and shop in Rangeley I will talk about now. My friend and I lucked out and the first restaurant we ate at ended up being our favorite throughout the entire trip. I HIGHLY recommend the Furbish Brew House. We had blueberry barbeque wings and they were so good. Anything on the menu is delicious. Additionally, they had live music when we ate there that was really enjoyable. Some other great restaurants are the Rangeley Inn & Tavern, Portage Tap House, The Hungry Trot, and Loon Lodge Inn & Restaurant. Below are also some great coffee shops and ice cream places.

1. The Hideaway
2. Marmee Dearest Espresso (about 48 minutes away)
3. Carrabassett Valley Coffee Company (about 50 minutes away)
4. Pine Tree Frosty (Ice Cream)
5. Scoops Ice Cream
6. Loon Lodge Inn & Restaurant

Distance of Rangeley Maine & Nearby Towns

If you are planning a trip to Rangeley, from the capital region of New York, it is about 6 hours away. From Burlington, Vermont, Boston, and Montréal, Rangeley is about 4 hours. From Manchester, NH, it is a little over 3 and a half hours away. Finally, from Syracuse, NY, Rangeley is about 8 hours away. I would say Rangeley is worth the drive to hike the 4,000 footers there and to ski/snowboard there.

As I stated above, there are a lot of small towns in and near Rangeley. Rangeley is probably the most populated town within 40 miles. Maine is SMALL population wise. Some nearby towns are Kingfield, Carrabassett Valley, Bigelow, and Gorham (New Hampshire). If there are no places available to stay in Rangeley, any of the towns listed above are close enough that you could also stay there.

Conclusion

In conclusion, I had a wonderful time when I stayed in Rangeley. I am an avid hiker, so it would have been hard for me not to enjoy myself here. I also love lakes, so again, it would have been difficult for me not to enjoy this place. As previously stated, if you are not an outdoor lover, I would not plan a trip to Rangeley. However, if you love the outdoors during any season, then this is the town for you. I hope this article was helpful to you if you have questions about Rangeley, Maine. Thank you so much for reading and take care!