Rangeley Travel Guide
COMPARE PRICES on all Rangeley Hotels
Compare prices and availability on major travel sites with one click
COMPARE PRICES on all Flights to Rangeley
Compare prices and availability on major travel sites with one click
Mounted moose heads on the walls, log cabins tucked into spruce forest, and cool August mornings that sometimes require not one sweater but two are the stuff of the Rangeley Lakes region. Though Rangeley Lake and its eponymous town are at the heart of the region, its borders extend much further, consisting of a series of lakes that feed into and flow out of the main lake.
Upstream is Maine's fourth largest lake, Flagstaff, a beautiful, wind-raked body of water created in 1949 when Central Maine Power dammed the Dead River. (Below the dam, it's no longer dead; in fact, it's now noted for its white-water rafting -- see "The North Woods," later.) From Rangeley Lake, the waters flow into Cupsuptic Pond, which in turn flow to Mooselookmeguntic Lake, through the Upper and Lower Richardson lakes, down remote Swift River and to Lake Umbagog, which feeds the headwaters of the Androscoggin River.
The town of Rangeley (pop. 1,200), the regional center for outdoor activities, offers a handful of motels and restaurants, a bevy of fishing guides, a smattering of shops, and little else. Easy-to-visit attractions in the Rangeley area are few, and most regular visitors and residents seem determined to keep it that way. The wise visitor rents a cabin or takes a room at a lodge, and then explores the area with the slow pace that seems custom-made for the region. Rangeley is Maine's highest town at 1,546 feet, and usually remains quite cool throughout the summer.
