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Summer! It is a special time of year, especially this year. For many of us in our country and our Covid-afflicted world, the past year seemed way too long. The isolation, separation and restrictions highlighted the social connections that we so missed. And now we can finally come together in many places but especially in the great outdoors. Here in the Western Mountains of Maine we are blessed with the best “outdoors” anyone could imagine, just waiting for us to visit and enjoy them. Our mountains, our lakes and our trails have missed us and are inviting us back. We in TRAC (Trails of the Rangeley Area Coalition) invite you to join us in heading out into the great outdoors.

TRAC is an informal gathering of people interested not only in being in the woods and on the waters but of doing so with like-minded people who share the desire to hike, paddle and bike the healing environs of our surroundings. Our hikes vary from quite easy, such as the Mingo Springs Loop or the Dartmouth Grant, to slightly more difficult, such as Cascade Gorge, Mountain Pond, Bemis Stream or Table Rock in Grafton Notch, to some more challenging mounts such as Burnt Mtn., Cranberry Mtn., Mt. Blue, Tumbledown Mtn., Little Bigelow Mtn., West Kennebago Mtn. and, of course, our own Saddleback Mtn. Our paddles include trips on easy waters such as Cupsuptic River, Chain of Ponds, Mooselookmeguntic, or the Magalloway River. We even have bike trips on rail trails or at the Dartmouth Grant. Our group includes people of different ages, different skills, and, certainly, different speeds. But we all share the desire to be out in the woods or on the water with people of good cheer who share an appreciation for the surrounding woods and waterways of our own local great outdoors.

We meet at 8 am on Tuesdays and Fridays at either Rangeley (behind the Chamber of Commerce) or Oquossoc (in the parking lot at the junction of Rts. 16 and 4) and then travel in our cars to the trailhead or put-in of our destination. There are NO CHARGES OR DUES of any kind. In the spring some of us try to do trail maintenance on some of the trails but there are no obligations to do this or any other commitments. Our participation is all voluntary yet well organized and enjoyable. If you would like to learn more about TRAC please check out our Facebook page at https://www.facebook.com/TrailsforRangeleyAreaCoalition/or email Jeff at [email protected]. A monthly schedule of planned TRAC activities and meeting places can be found on our Facebook page or at the Rangeley Lakes Chamber of Commerce website. And did we mention TRAC is completely FREE?

Whether you are new to our area or just new to the outdoors we welcome you to join others in our community who share your appreciation for our own “great outdoors”. It’s summer! Join us.

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