Anyone have experience with Maine?

[doubler]

Looking for info that anyone can share about riding in Maine.  Doing a lot of research and thought I should ask this group if anyone has any knowledge (best places to stay, etc…).  To give you an idea of what I am used to, I typically stay in Mont Laurier (Comfort Inn) or Val d’Or, so I like being in a town but also close to the trail.  In other words, I like being close to restaurants so I don’t have to eat at the same place every night, but also don’t want to be far away from the trail so if roads/sidewalks aren’t covered I don’t have to scrape through town to get to the trail.  Thanks in advance for any replies.

[KenP]

Head up to the County.  That is Aroostic County. My recommendation would be the towns of  Presque or Caribou. Multiple Restaurants & Hotels to choose from & are either on the trail or have feeder trails to them. Was there 2 weeks ago weather -35 below & table top trails.  Very similar to Quebec Trail riding.  2nd day weather was -15 below and rode a 260 mile loop. Planning to return in the beginning of March. Good Luck 

[Jackstraw]

Scroll down to covid section. There is a thread on Maine riding

 

[snowmaster2112]

Spent a couple days riding up in the Alagash many yrs ago. The place is "as remote" as any place you will find in Quebec. Spent one of THE most bat shit crazy nights in St Francis ME, closing down the bar "The American Dream" I have ever had in all my snowmobile days !!   UP TO CLAYT'S !!!!!!!

[mikerider]

I am a Mainer who normally rides Quebec, (almost exclusively quebec last 15 years but have decades of riding Maine);  but past two years have ridden Maine due to the Covid situation.

Go to page 7 of the  QuebecRider general discussion section for last season's rides and pictures,  ***titled  "maine ridn"***mine of the Millinocket area of trails and lunch stops, as well as others who posted their rides of Aroostook County.

My favorite places over the years of riding all the various Maine snowmobile hot spots:

Rangeley:  very busy trails Thurs. -Sun.   Lots and lots of fantastic restaurants. Big entertainment center (Moose Alley) with games, bowling, bar food etc., small downtown but has great shops, big ski area (Saddleback Mountain) and another ski resort Sugarloaf Ski Resort that also has outdoor center and is about a 40 minute drive, and some nice places in Rangeley to stay as well as large amount of camp rentals. Lots more to do for kids and family type trip. Beautiful area!

Millinocket: love the big wide logging roads they use for trails,  lots of trails,  not enough restaurants at night, not much to do at night, lunch stops  on trail can be small and crowded at lunchtime.  Popular starting point for saddle bagging to Aroostook County, and saves few hours in truck driving to Aroostook.

Aroostook County:  considered best area in Maine to ride, good combo of fields, RR beds, trails etc.  I like to stay in Presque Isle or Caribou as they are centrally located for riding in all directions.  Only downside is it is a long drive to get there.

mike

 

[doubler]

20 hours ago, mikerider said:

I am a Mainer who normally rides Quebec, (almost exclusively quebec last 15 years but have decades of riding Maine);  but past two years have ridden Maine due to the Covid situation.

Go to page 7 of the  QuebecRider general discussion section for last season's rides and pictures,  ***titled  "maine ridn"***mine of the Millinocket area of trails and lunch stops, as well as others who posted their rides of Aroostook County.

My favorite places over the years of riding all the various Maine snowmobile hot spots:

Rangeley:  very busy trails Thurs. -Sun.   Lots and lots of fantastic restaurants. Big entertainment center (Moose Alley) with games, bowling, bar food etc., small downtown but has great shops, big ski area (Saddleback Mountain) and another ski resort Sugarloaf Ski Resort that also has outdoor center and is about a 40 minute drive, and some nice places in Rangeley to stay as well as large amount of camp rentals. Lots more to do for kids and family type trip. Beautiful area!

Millinocket: love the big wide logging roads they use for trails,  lots of trails,  not enough restaurants at night, not much to do at night, lunch stops  on trail can be small and crowded at lunchtime.  Popular starting point for saddle bagging to Aroostook County, and saves few hours in truck driving to Aroostook.

Aroostook County:  considered best area in Maine to ride, good combo of fields, RR beds, trails etc.  I like to stay in Presque Isle or Caribou as they are centrally located for riding in all directions.  Only downside is it is a long drive to get there.

mike

 

Thanks Mike!  When I started researching I sort of landed on Moosehead.  Found a reasonable place on Airbnb in Caratunk that is very close to the trail.  It's about a 500 mile drive which is about the most I really want to drive.  I see Rangeley would be closer so will look into that.  I think your other two suggests are a bit far.  Will be riding with my wife so only looking for 80-150 miles a day.  Obviously on the lower side if they are rough and/or tight, and the higher side if they are wide and smooth.  Where are you located?  Wondering if you would be able to provide an update Friday after the rain?  Hoping to leave Sunday but we haven't booked yet because we don't want to go (i.e. spend the money) if trails/weather aren't great. Will probably wait until Saturday morning to decide then rush around all day making arrangements, lol.  One last question, it appears I can register sleds online, my question is what does one carry as proof?  Last time I was in Quebec they went electronic in place of stickers, so you just had a screen shot on your phone.  Just want to make sure I don't overlook something regarding registration if we decide to go last minute.

[doubler]

20 hours ago, mikerider said:

I am a Mainer who normally rides Quebec, (almost exclusively quebec last 15 years but have decades of riding Maine);  but past two years have ridden Maine due to the Covid situation.

Go to page 7 of the  QuebecRider general discussion section for last season's rides and pictures,  ***titled  "maine ridn"***mine of the Millinocket area of trails and lunch stops, as well as others who posted their rides of Aroostook County.

My favorite places over the years of riding all the various Maine snowmobile hot spots:

Rangeley:  very busy trails Thurs. -Sun.   Lots and lots of fantastic restaurants. Big entertainment center (Moose Alley) with games, bowling, bar food etc., small downtown but has great shops, big ski area (Saddleback Mountain) and another ski resort Sugarloaf Ski Resort that also has outdoor center and is about a 40 minute drive, and some nice places in Rangeley to stay as well as large amount of camp rentals. Lots more to do for kids and family type trip. Beautiful area!

Millinocket: love the big wide logging roads they use for trails,  lots of trails,  not enough restaurants at night, not much to do at night, lunch stops  on trail can be small and crowded at lunchtime.  Popular starting point for saddle bagging to Aroostook County, and saves few hours in truck driving to Aroostook.

Aroostook County:  considered best area in Maine to ride, good combo of fields, RR beds, trails etc.  I like to stay in Presque Isle or Caribou as they are centrally located for riding in all directions.  Only downside is it is a long drive to get there.

mike

 

So upon closer inspection it seems my original place I found in Caratunk isn't that far from Rangeley, so wanted to see what your thoughts are with this location? Going to go look for your post now, thanks again!

http://quebecrider.com/forums/uploads/monthly_2022_02/image.png.e6868586ccaf8bab4c98552ed5d62a2d.png

[Yeti62]

Do yourself a favor & just go to Eagle Lake @ Over look Motel!!!!! The further north you go the better!!!

[mikerider]

Caratunk is near The Forks, Maine, not near Rangeley and not an area I would suggest. Between last weeks warm up and the upcoming rain, I doubt anywhere in Maine will be good. (although the top of Aroostook County -Fort Kent area-may??? get clobbered with snow and not rain). Last I knew, you can buy out of state Maine registrations at some businesses,,, do a search for the area you are going to. On line, not sure if you can use the receipt you get, maybe you can. But pretty sure the state mails you your registration and stickers.

mike

 

[doubler]

3 hours ago, mikerider said:

Caratunk is near The Forks, Maine, not near Rangeley and not an area I would suggest. Between last weeks warm up and the upcoming rain, I doubt anywhere in Maine will be good. (although the top of Aroostook County -Fort Kent area-may??? get clobbered with snow and not rain). Last I knew, you can buy out of state Maine registrations at some businesses,,, do a search for the area you are going to. On line, not sure if you can use the receipt you get, maybe you can. But pretty sure the state mails you your registration and stickers.

mike

 

Ok, thanks Mike.  Yeah, I guess Caratunk isn’t that close to Rangeley, by car it showed 85 miles but is like a “v”, not a straight line so it seemed like you could get from Caratunk to Rangeley for lunch and back easily via sled.

[dooright]

10 hours ago, doubler said:

Thanks Mike!  When I started researching I sort of landed on Moosehead.  Found a reasonable place on Airbnb in Caratunk that is very close to the trail.  It's about a 500 mile drive which is about the most I really want to drive.  I see Rangeley would be closer so will look into that.  I think your other two suggests are a bit far.  Will be riding with my wife so only looking for 80-150 miles a day.  Obviously on the lower side if they are rough and/or tight, and the higher side if they are wide and smooth.  Where are you located?  Wondering if you would be able to provide an update Friday after the rain?  Hoping to leave Sunday but we haven't booked yet because we don't want to go (i.e. spend the money) if trails/weather aren't great. Will probably wait until Saturday morning to decide then rush around all day making arrangements, lol.  One last question, it appears I can register sleds online, my question is what does one carry as proof?  Last time I was in Quebec they went electronic in place of stickers, so you just had a screen shot on your phone.  Just want to make sure I don't overlook something regarding registration if we decide to go last minute.

I'm riding in Maine now.   We did the registration online  .. printed out the temporary pass info,  good to go . Easy as that .

[Sled Dog]

I rode in Maine a couple weeks ago.  First timer.  Normally we go to Quebec.  It was great.  1000 miles in 5 days.  Very similiar to Quebec riding.  Registered online.  Carried the printable version, sticker arrived when we got home.  We started in Rangley and went north.  I do think it was much cheaper than Quebec.  But the acommadations were not as nice.   Towns seemed to close at 9.  Its a pretty remote state.  We had some trouble navagating.  I didn't think it was signed as well as Quebec.  Lots of intersections!  Lead rider saw 3 moose!

Lots of snow when we were there, but also a few warmups since.