Page 79 - WCM 2021 Winter

Rangeley Lakes Trails Center
Above: Children delight year-round at Rangeley Lakes Trail Center’s Gnome Home Roam.
Below: Preserving winter’s ice took many man hours with sharp saws during sometimes blistering cold weather.
might want to stay out there for a while! Keep your eyes peeled while navigating to your special destination. Pack a lunch, and maybe some gear for staying over- night, because the real adventure begins with under- standing that unknown variables can come into play. I spent some quality time behind the wheel recently, and have some suggestions for starting your own exploits, ones that begin almost in your back yard, and never take you any further than Western Maine.
Traversing the Trails in Rangeley
Since 1995, the Rangeley Lakes Trails Center has provided public, multi-use recreational trails for the Rangeley Lakes region. Located at 524 Saddleback Mountain Road in Dallas Plantation (just east of Rangeley), it’s truly only a short jaunt from anywhere in Western Maine. In the winter, the Trails Center offers meticulously-groomed packed trails in a wil- derness setting, and a cozy yurt for warming up and catching a bite to eat. And their woodsey offerings spill comfortably into a multitude of activities during other seasons of the year.
We were so impressed with the well-planned system of trails when my wife and I skied there. I’m not the great- est on skis, so I jumped at the chance to warm up in the
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Courtesy Washburn-Norlands Living History Center