Maine in winter

February 9, 2010 5:25 PM

A friend and I are driving down to New England from Quebec next week. We'd be interested in snowshoeing somewhere in Maine, probably somewhere not too far from the 201. We were looking at the Kennebec Valley Trail. Anyone have recommendations?

We do not own any snowshoes so information about where to rent them would also be very welcomed.

I looked at previous questions (and lots of New England guides) but I guess it's not a very common winter vacation spot!

posted by domi_p to Travel & Transportation around Maine (8 answers total)

Best answer: I'm just south of the Kennebec Valley. I'm not sure that decent snowshoeing will be in the cards around here next week -- it's supposed to be near or above freezing every day this week and there's not much new snow in the forecast. We had about two feet of good snow cover last month; now I can see the grass. They've already sent icebreakers down the river to mitigate flooding; usually that doesn't happen until March or April. This is not to say there won't be more, or even a lot more, snow, just not any expected this week.

Maybe you should try Baltimore. Heh.

You could try any Play it Again Sports for reasonably priced equipment rentals. As for places to go, someone else will have to answer that part -- if I want to go snowshoeing I just go outside. But I live in the woods.
posted by mneekadon at 5:54 PM on February 9, 2010

Response by poster: oh, wow, thanks for the info about the snow level... Didn't think to check for that!
posted by domi_p at 6:12 PM on February 9, 2010

Just want to clarify that I'm only describing what I see around here. No clue how the snow cover is around Jackman, say, or other points north. My guess is they have more.
posted by mneekadon at 7:00 PM on February 9, 2010

It looks like you'd be pretty close to Sugarloaf (near Kingfield) - some of the ski shops around there may rent snowshoes and they could send you somewhere local to use them.
posted by Sukey Says at 7:30 PM on February 9, 2010

I'm sitting on the other side of the country right now, but a few years back I had a GREAT day of skiing at Big Squaw Mountain. It's near Moosehead lake, and I bet you could do some snowshoeing around there, conditions permitting.
posted by thebergfather at 8:48 PM on February 9, 2010

nthing what was said above about low snowcover. Typically, you can rent snowshoes from places that rent x-country ski equipment, but while its cold enough for the downhill resorts to make snow, the x-country/snowshoe trails are fairly barren.

Coming down 201 (we would call it "Route 201" not "the 201" FYI), you'll go through Jackman, which is a winter sports mecca. You can try getting in touch with their chamber of commerce to see what snowcover is like there and if they recommend any place to rent snowshoes. More resources about Snowshoeing in Maine.

Most of the big resorts (Sugarloaf/Saddleback near Farmington, and Sunday River in Western Maine) are going to be a ways outside your path. Pineland Farms in New Gloucester is a great place, and rents snowshoes, but a little farther south than you were thinking of. (And again, very limited snow cover here.)
posted by anastasiav at 10:45 AM on February 10, 2010

An update -- we're supposed to get 8 inches of snow tomorrow. I'll believe it when I see it.
posted by mneekadon at 6:05 PM on February 15, 2010

Response by poster: Thanks for your answers! We ended up just walking in Acadia National Park.
posted by domi_p at 9:28 AM on February 22, 2010