Picture the snow softly falling on a dusky evening, curled up in front of a fire under a cuddly blanket with a warm mug of apple cider with a cinnamon stick, your favorite tea, hot chocolate, coffee, or other warm beverage of choice. If you have kids, they are all tucked into bed after a fun-packed day out in the snow or maybe quietly playing a board game in the other room.  You discuss the day’s events, the memories made, and plans for tomorrow.  Winter in Rangeley brings so many ways to get outside that it’s hard to choose!

Let’s start with today’s activities.  After breakfast, you went up to the Rangeley Trail Center, rented snowshoes for the whole family, had a quick lesson on how to walk in them, and then set off on one of their many trails. The kids had fun trying to locate all the Nome houses sprinkled along the trail. The adults thought they were cool too.  After the snowshoe adventure and a quick warm-up in the Yurt, it’s back to town for lunch in one of the many restaurants; hot soup is on the plans for today.  After lunch, the kids got their second wind, so over to Haley Pond and Rangeley Adventure Company/Ecopelagicon to use the free skates and do some ice skating.  It was so nice to see that they have skate trainers to help the kids to get steady on their skates, but soon they are off skating on their own.  The older kids might have brought their hockey sticks and practiced shooting the puck into the goals they have set up. The warming hut was a nice place to warm up quickly before returning to the ice.  When everyone is tired, it’s time to head back to the Inn or hotel or maybe your rental house to rest, relax, and freshen up.  Then it’s back to town for dinner, or perhaps you keep it simple and order a couple of pizzas to go from the Red Onion, Furbish Brew House, Sarge’s, Oquossoc Grocery or Portage Taphouse.

So, what’s planned for tomorrow?  Maybe it’s going back to the Rangeley Trail Center, renting cross-country ski’s and learning how to cross-country ski.  Or you might head up to Saddleback Mountain and do some downhill skiing or snowboarding while the kids work with a ski or snowboard instructor with lunch in the Saddleback Pub right on the mountain.  Hmmm, but snowmobiling looks interesting.  You can head over to Mountain View Adventures, Rangeley Jet Ski and Snow Mobile Rentals, or Flagstaff Rentals, rent a snowmobile or two, get some instructions or hire a guide and head out on the local snowmobile trails.  After a day on the trails, grab a quick meal in town and head home.  But maybe you have had several days outside and want to take a break, or the weather is not conducive, so it is shopping in town, and an afternoon bowling with the family at Moose Alley or Rangeley Lakes Theater is showing a family-friendly movie.

Don’t forget to take advantage of the many winter events while planning to visit!  Don’t miss out on these annual traditions and events: Mountain Holly Days ended with the traditional Walk to Bethlehem, reenacting Mary and Joseph’s Walk to Bethlehem and being turned away. In between stops, the crowd sings Christmas Carols.  The Walk ends at The Church of Good Shepherd, where the Rangeley Community puts on a show full of Bell Ringers, Christmas stories and poems, choirs and soloist singing, dancers, and other fun Christmas Stuff, Rangeley Legendary Snodeo (think rodeo with snowmobiles) including fireworks and snowmobile parade, The Annual Fat-Tire Bike Loppet, Winterpaloozah, February Festival, Legendary Rangeley Lakes Loppet, Annual Moose Dash Snowshoe Race.