Maine Lakes and Mountains

Maine Lakes and Mountains covers the western interior of the state, the rolling-to-mountainous country that holds Maine’s highest peaks west of Baxter and most of its skiing. The terrain stacks from the working-river country at Lewiston-Auburn up through the rolling lake country of central Oxford to the high country of the Mahoosuc and Bigelow ranges. Mount Sugarloaf and Saddleback Mountain top out around 4,000 feet; Mount Washington (just over the New Hampshire line) defines the western horizon. Androscoggin, Oxford, and Franklin counties cover the region. Lewiston-Auburn (the state’s second-largest urban area) anchors the south; Farmington holds the University of Maine at Farmington; Rumford and Mexico hold the working paper-mill towns of the upper Androscoggin; Bethel and Newry hold the Sunday River resort; Rangeley anchors the high lake country. The Rangeley Lakes, the Appalachian Trail, the Carrabassett Valley, Sugarloaf, Saddleback, and Sunday River ski areas concentrate the major outdoor attractions. Most trips here run by season. Winter is ski-resort dominant — Sugarloaf, Saddleback, and Sunday River carry most of Maine’s ski traffic; summer pulls the cabin-and-lake crowd to Rangeley; fall foliage runs strong through October. Whitewater rafting on the Androscoggin draws warm-weather day visitors.