Top 10 Summer Activities Carrabassett Valley, Maine

I want to invite you to one of my (three) “happy places”! MAINE! Specifically, Carrabassett Valley, Maine, close to the Canadian border in Western Maine, and where I have been going since I was a 2-year-old skiing down the Sugarloaf mountain slopes. It’s about a 4 hour drive from Boston, and always worth the drive. This area of the world is, in my humble opinion, one of the most beautiful places in the world and a place where you can relax, smell fresh pines (truly, a walk outside smells like a Christmas candle!), exercise your endorphins, and live what I think is a classic New England experience. Think crisp air, fresh farm-to-table food, lakeside and mountain living, babbling brooks, deep forests, and tranquil seclusion.

Carrabassett Valley is beautiful anytime of the year (actually almost anytime– I avoid coming here in late April through May due to the flies), and there are different activities to do during each season. In this article, I have outlined for you my favorite summer activities. There are many DELICIOUS food options to go along with these activities—click here _____ to see my top 6 places to eat in Carrabassett Valley (6 because I couldn’t narrow it to just 5…)!

Top 10 Summer Activities in Carrabassett Valley, Maine:

Check out a concert on the mountain at Sugarloaf! Sugarloaf often hosts summer concerts or events, where you can bring your own chairs and sit on the lawn, grab a local Maine brew, watch the sun go down over the mountain, and star gaze or dance… or both… into the evening. They even have a Summer Après Series where they bring in some top bands. They usually list their concerts here and the concerts never disappoint: https://www.sugarloaf.com/events-calendar
Check out Bigelow Fields on Saturday morning! No big deal, this is only one of my FAVORITE BAKERIES ON THIS PLANET. Nicole and her family lives on a bison ranch, so they sell bison, and she is a ridiculous baker of macarons, smores cookies, sourdough bread, and don’t even get me started on her pizza dough. Her hutch is only open one day a week, on Saturdays, and she lives down a rural dirt road, and yet she has very loyal followers and gets sold out, and for good reason. THIS IS WORTH THE TRIP.
Take a scenic chairlift ride up the mountain! For $15 if you book online beforehand ($20 if you forget), you can take a gorgeous ride up the mountain and see all the way into New Hampshire and Canada. You can pick up lunch (sandwiches, chips, cookies, etc. on homemade bread—get the anadama bread) from D’Ellies Bakery at the bottom of the mountain before heading up the lift. Once you get to the top of the scenic ride, either enjoy a picnic right away surrounded by the mountain’s wildflowers and butterflies, or hike 15-30 minutes to the tippity top of the mountain for seclusion and even more views!
Explore over 80 miles of bike trails via mountain biking! This area has become pretty famous across the country for its mountain biking, and it’s for good reason. You can now even take your bike up the scenic chairlift and bike back down the mountain. You can head to the Sugarloaf Outdoor Center to get start your biking journey and if you don’t have a mountain bike, you can rent one at the Outdoor Center through Allspeed Carrabassett Valley.
If you’re a golfer, the Sugarloaf golf course is a gorgeous place to spend the day! If you’re a terrible golfer like I am, you can buy a bucket of balls and stand at a driving range with gorgeous views, only to go into the dining area an hour later for a glass of wine. 😉
Enjoy sunset at Trout Brook Campsites. This is the most stunning place to watch the sunset over Flagstaff lake. You need a car that can deal with a dirt road to get there. It’s a public, dog-friendly campground that’s tiny (aka never crowded) with a small beach to swim and relax. This is a hidden gem, 20 minutes from Sugarloaf mountain.
Go swimming! There are so many refreshing swimming holes– in rivers and lakes and small waterfalls– to discover in this part of Maine, and I’ve outlined some of them for you here ______!
Hiking! With the Appalachian trail surrounding you, there are AMPLE options. My favorite hike for the views is called Cranberry Peak.
Disc Golf! You can rent frisbees from the bottom of Sugarloaf mountain, and then walk around the mountain throwing the frisbees in that exact spot through the woods, while sporting your most competitive spirit. It’s a great excuse to have fun outdoors with beautiful views and pine trees everywhere.
Rent a Pontoon on Rangeley Lake! OK so this isn’t technically Carrabassett Valley, but it’s a fabulous day trip and one of the prettiest drives in Maine. You can rent a pontoon boat from Oquossoc Cove Marina (so you start in a little town called Oquossoc) to enjoy all day on the lake. What is better on a sunny summer day than music on a boat, seclusion, and mountains all around? You an even park your boat in Rangeley midday to explore the town and grab an ice cream from Pine Tree Frosty (they sell dog-friendly ice cream too!). Bliss.