Seven hours north of the Hudson Valley, tucked into the Maine woods, there’s a perfect vacation destination on the shore of a vast, pristine lake, protected from hordes of tourists by the lack of nearby highways. (The mosquitoes also help.)
When I say it’s a “perfect” destination, I do so with the understanding that it might not be perfect for everyone. If natural beauty, cold swims, rustic cabins, paddleboarding, starry skies, great hikes, board games, and roughing it appeal to you, this might be your spot. (The fact that you’re reading an outdoor-focused blog lends me to believe these things just might apply to you, but, you know, I don’t want to make any assumptions about you, except that you’re probably awesome.)
If your concept of the ideal vacation destination involves the phrase “thread count” in any way, though, you might want to stop reading now and go book a stay at Sandals or something.
For my family, we’ve found our spot: North Camps, a family-run camp consisting of 13 rustic cabins on the shore of Rangeley Lake. We’ve been coming here every summer for forty years, and the novelty still hasn’t worn off.
“I wish we were in Rangeley right now,” my sons have both said recently, independently, apropos of nothing.
I remember being a kid, enduring the long car ride to Rangeley (I grew up near Philly, so it was even further – you have a four-hour head start when you’re coming from the Hudson Valley, you lucky duck!), and being so excited when we came around that last corner to see the North Camps sign.
It’s such a gift, forty years later, that my kids feel the same way, and that the place has changed so little.
“In a few years, this place will probably be all built up, condos and motorboats everywhere,” we’ve been saying for the past forty years.
But it keeps not happening, in the best possible way. Rangeley in general, and North Camps in particular – they both feel almost exactly as they did when I was a kid.
For North Camps maintaining it’s awesome, rustic vibe for so many years, we have the Gibson family to thank. Just as my family is on its third generation of North Camps devotees, North Camps itself “has been run by three generations of Gibsons with the fourth and fifth generations currently assisting in the operation. Glenn Gibson Sr. is currently heading the day to day operations.”
The Gibson family has owned and run North Camps continuously since 1950. The people in the cabin next to us last summer have been coming for over fifty years. Multi-generational North Camps families are common here. And Glenn does an amazing job making everyone who visits here feel like part of the family.
But how do new folks find out about this place? It seems so unique, and so hidden, and so removed from the world of social media (though Glenn does a great job running the North Camps Facebook page), that I wonder how anybody could find this place.
“Hey Glenn, I have a hiking site for outdoorsy folks in the Hudson Valley. I bet they’d love North Camps. Want me to write an article about it?” I asked him last summer.
“That’d be great!” Glenn replied.
“Awesome, then I’ll write it before next summer,” I said.
So that’s why I’ve written this post – because I said it out loud to Glenn, I consider him like family, and I don’t want to show up this summer without having followed through.
And because I really think you might just love this place. Maybe your family could start some new traditions here.
Just a quick warning: If you might be described as “froofy,” this might not be your place.
“Aw, dude, you got the room with the light switch! Fan-cy!” is something you might hear at North Camps. The cabins are very rustic. If you don’t like the quirks and foibles of a rustic cabin, please don’t come here and complain to Glenn.
If the above caveat didn’t scare you off, maybe this place is your thing! You can take a photographic tour of all the cabins on the North Camps Cabin Rentals page. Check ’em out!
Here’s a list of activities to help you put together an awesome week in Rangeley. It took us forty years to perfect our annual agenda. Hopefully this list will help your family do it a little quicker.
Things we never get tired of doing, year after year (and which I highly recommend you also consider doing, year after year):
1. Jumping into the ridiculously cold water of Rangeley Lake
Many of my relatives forego this part. The water is just too cold. “Bracing” is how I like to describe it. I think the lake temp is actually somewhere in the mid-sixties, but man, it takes your breath away every time.
It’s also beautifully clear. You can easily see the rocky bottom to depths of ten feet or more (the lake has a max depth of 149 feet). I think the coldness killed everything that could make the water funky.
Unlike the ocean, you’re at the top of the food chain here! Did something just brush against your leg? Don’t worry, it’s not gonna eat you!
Hop on in! (Hey, no counting to three and then just standing there!)
We try to jump in at least once a day, even if the weather is bad.
The water is so clean, I secretly count my at-least-daily swim as my shower. Hey, I’m on vacation! Stop judging me.
Also, because this water feels like it just melted yesterday, any water you swim in for the rest of the year will feel warm by comparison. Bonus!
2. Visiting Smalls Falls
About 30 minutes from North Camps, you can visit perhaps the nicest “rest area” in the known universe: Smalls Falls Rest Area, where you’ll find the picnic tables and bathrooms you’d expect to find at a highway pulloff, but also much, much more.
Down a flight of stairs from the parking area, there’s a footbridge crossing Sandy River that offers views to the largest falls, with a nice natural wading area. This is where many people stop. But not you! Keep going!
Across the bridge, turn right to follow the trail steeply uphill beside a chain link fence.
You will sometimes see crazy people cliff jumping here into the deeper pools. They are crazy. You are not. Keep walking uphill.
In just a moment (perhaps five minutes beyond the bridge), you’ll arrive at a nice cascade and swimming hole.
Here, you can (water level permitting) find a much saner, pleasant little leap into the pool.
If you don’t like this one (or it’s already occupied), keep going, and there’s ANOTHER nice cascade and shallower swimming hole just uphill.
Our kids love this spot, though when they were little we did have to remain vigilant to make sure they stayed safely away from any large drops. And I’m pretty sure the water here is even colder than Rangeley Lake – it feels like it melted maybe five minutes ago. Bracing!
Can you believe you can find all this at a rest area? Compare Smalls Falls to the Richard Stockton Service Area on the New Jersey Turnpike, and Smalls Falls absolutely comes out on top. It could use an Auntie Anne’s, though.
3. Hiking Bald Mountain
From the docks at North Camps, just across the lake to your right, Bald Mountain rises from the shore, smiling back at you.
Many years ago, the hike up Bald Mountain had an extremely limited payoff. You could juuuust barely see the hint of a view between all the trees at the summit.
Not anymore! There’s now an awesome tower with a viewing platform that gets you up above the trees, giving an amazing vantage point onto Rangeley Lake and the surrounding lakes and mountains.
My family makes this trek every year.
And every year, we say “I thought Bald Mountain was supposed to be easy!”
While it is a relatively short hike – 2.5 miles roundtrip – it does have about 1000 ft of elevation gain, and it gets quite steep for the final 1/3 of the climb.
But man, it’s worth it.
Plus, after you’ve burned all those calories, you can proceed to the next step.
4. Eating ice cream at Pine Tree Frosty
Ice cream! This is vacation. You are entitled to eat ice cream AT LEAST once a day.
No visit to the town of Rangeley is complete without a stop at Pine Tree Frosty, with its walk-up windows, picnic tables, and beautiful Haley Pond out back. Grab a cone and have a seat by the water, while the ducks quack longingly at the cone in your hand.
They also have hula hoops strewn about their yard, in case you want to try to make this a calorie-neutral excursion. I saw that extra hot fudge. Better get hooping!
Pine Tree Frosty is a cash-only establishment, so you might want to stop by the bank on the way here to grab some cash, or take out a second mortgage. Those sundaes aren’t going to pay for themselves!
5. Bowling at Moose Alley (bad weather only)
On those days when it’s pouring outside and you’re cooped up in the cabin, Moose Alley can be a lifesaver.
They have those ramps that make bowling fun for little kids, too. (And for me when I’m having a bad day.)
A 7-10 split. Dang it.
They also have an arcade that gives tickets, so kids can convert your quarters into plastic stuff that will be the most important thing in the world for four minutes.
The bar even has a nice little fire pit where you can put your feet up for a bit.
When you’re in Rangeley, you should probably be outside. But when you can’t be, Moose Alley is a great option.
6. Catching a sunset at Quill Hill
A fairly new addition to our annual routine (because it didn’t exist until recently) is a drive to the top of Quill Hill (el. 2,848 ft) to catch the sunset.
Quill Hill is open 24 hours, so I suppose this could be a primo sunrise spot as well, but dude, I’m on vacation. I only see sunrises involuntarily.
Man, what a great view up there.
Quill Hill exists as an awesome attraction thanks to the efforts of one man, Adrien Brochu, who passed away in 2019. From his obituary: “It is a testament to Adrien’s will that he single-handedly turned Quill Hill into a Maine treasure. “The best view in the state”, he often said.”
There’s educational signage around the parking area that explains how Adrien willed the road and public access to this awesome place into being. Drive up there and read it!
On your way back down the mountain, there’s a kiosk that asks for donations (suggested at $10 per car + $5 per visitor as of this writing in 2025). Money well spent. Thank you, Adrien!
7. Playing tennis at the town courts in Rangeley
The town of Rangeley features a beautiful town park, right on the lake. There’s a small playground, a swim dock, a boat launch, a paved basketball court, a public restroom (clutch!), and a couple of nice, free tennis courts.
You can see the lake and mountains in the distance while standing on the courts.
If there’s a nicer place to play tennis, I’m not immediately calling it to mind. Pack your racquets!
(North Camps also used to have a dirt tennis court, but the net came down for the last time many years ago. It’s still a nice spot for a frisbee toss or a corn hole game, though.)
8. Watching for falling stars
With no major cities nearby, the Rangeley night sky is blessedly free of light pollution. Stargazing is one of our favorite things to do there. You almost always see shooting stars if you’re patient enough. (And if you wore enough bug spray not to get chased back inside – the skeeters at night can carry you away like an Amazon drone with a package.)
It’s a perfect place to go outside at night, bring a pillow and blankets down to the dock, lie down, look up, and contemplate things like, “Why do my worries seem so big, when I’m actually just a tiny speck in this giant universe?” and, “Did I remember to check for duck poop before I put my blanket down?”
When I was in college, I studied for a semester in Australia. One night, we went on a camping trip to the Outback, and I couldn’t wait to see the night sky out in the desert, a zillion miles from civilization. On a beautifully clear night, I looked up, and did indeed see a gorgeous night sky. But I also had the thought, “I think Rangeley has more stars.”
I didn’t make an official count, but if Rangeley doesn’t have more stars than the Outback, it’s at least in the celestial ballpark.
9. Catching crayfish (and then letting them go)
You’ll have to consult the kids of our family on the proper technique here, but for the patient and the properly trained, you can catch dozens (hundreds?) of crayfish right off the docks.
It would be difficult to overestimate the number of hours that this activity has occupied the kids in our family. (With much respect to my younger cousins, who are the O.G. crayfish catchers.)
This is the reason we pack snorkels, masks, and nets.
If you do partake in this activity, be sure to keep the crayfish’s water cold – they don’t like sitting in a bucket on the dock for too long.
And don’t worry – our kids put them all back. There are still plenty of crayfish for your kids to catch. But if they want to set the Rangeley record, they’ll have to catch more than 224 in one day. Happy hunting!
10. Exploring other awesome hikes in the area
We don’t do these hikes every year (Bald Mountain, affectionately known as Baldy, is the only one we do without fail every year), but there are plenty of hikes around.
Here are some other local hiking destinations:
- Tumbledown Mountain (challenging, popular hike with the beautiful Crater Lake near the top)
- Angel Falls (short hike to a 90-foot waterfall)
- Aziscohos Mountain (3.5-mile hike to great views)
- Saddleback Mountain (hike on ski slopes to amazing panoramic views)
- Mahoosuc Notch (known as the toughest mile on the Appalachian Trail due to the carzy bouldering – we’ve done it once, and that was plenty)
- Piazza Rock (haven’t done this one, but I keep see it showing up in lists of local favorites – maybe next time!)
- If you’d recommend any others, please leave them in the comments and I’ll update this list accordingly. Thanks!
11. Cruising around at dusk to find some “meese”
With the caveat that you should always keep your distance and never pester a moose, there are plenty around Rangeley. The best time to see them is at dawn and dusk. (As we’ve already established, I’m on vacation, so dawn is out.)
We’ve had much luck over the years in taking a slow cruise beyond Rangeley after dinner, taking Route 16 headed north toward Quill Hill (we’ve seen some on the driveway headed up Quill Hill, too).
Good luck and happy moosing!
To help you prepare to tell the story later, here’s a test:
Say you’re driving down Route 16, and you see these two moose (but not a flock of goose) on the side of the road.
Five minutes later, you pass this one.
In a few more minutes, you turn around and head home. On the way, you pass this moose:
Five minutes later, you pass these two:
How many meese did you see?
The correct answer is six. No, not three. My family has firmly established these rules. You saw six meese. Don’t let anyone tell you different.
12. Listening to the loons calling across the lake(s) at night
It always surprises me how many people have never heard a loon calling across a lake. At North Camps, you’ll hear it pretty much every night (and often during the day as well).
These birds have a nearly spiritual significance to my family.
Whenever they’d start calling, my mom would smile and hold up her finger, asking us all to be quiet so we could appreciate the haunting, beautiful sounds. Mom passed away in 2021, but I cannot hear the call of a loon without immediately thinking of her.
From her obituary:
“Perhaps her favorite activity was listening to the loons calling to each other across Rangeley Lake in Maine… Loons feature prominently in her home décor, and could often be found on her earrings and coffee mugs. If you think of Clara the next time you hear a loon calling across a lake, she would certainly approve of the association. (She would tell you that some of her favorite people are loons, too.)”
Oh man, watching (and listening) to this YouTube video: Voices: Common Loon is gonna make me cry. Let’s go to the next one now.
13. Trying to get close enough to a loon to get a good picture
As much as Mom loved listening to loons, Dad loved trying to get a good picture of one.
The challenge is that as soon as you get anywhere near a loon, they disappear underwater. They can come up hundreds of yards away, minutes later.
Sometimes, you’ll glance up and see one right there. Blink, and it’s gone again.
A couple years ago, we paddled upon a nesting loon. (This image is 300mm zoomed and cropped – we kept a quiet, respectful, reverent distance.) So cool to see.
If you’re lucky, while you’re sitting on the dock, a loon will float by, close enough to see the white spots on its back. Until then, the ducks will be happy to keep you company.
14. Paddleboarding
A few years back, we bought inflatable paddleboards (Costco often has great deals on them), and they have been game-changing, especially in Rangeley.
There’s nothing as serene as paddling out into the middle of the lake and jumping in.
If you’re feeling ambitious, you can paddle around the small islands across the lake (make sure you check the weather report before you do that – don’t want to get blown across the lake or caught in a storm).
A couple of the islands have houses on them, adorned with about a zillion “No Trespassing” signs. They don’t want to hang out with you – keep on paddling! Still cool to see, though. The round trip can be done in about an hour.
We inflate the paddleboards at the beginning of the week, and set them outside our cabin. It takes 170 pumps to inflate the 11-footer with an old-fashioned hand pump (included with the paddleboard), and 240 pumps to inflate the 14-foot tandem. But who’s counting?
So nice to be able to just inflate them once and use them all week.
If you don’t have a paddleboard of your own, you can rent them at reasonable rates from North Camps (they also have kayaks, canoes, and motorboats for rent).
Can’t go wrong with any of them! (Also, Hudson Valley Renegades represent!)
But for me, floating on a paddleboard in the middle of Rangeley Lake is about as good as it gets.
15. Hanging out at one of Glenn’s campfires
Glenn will often plan a campfire or two during the week. Bring your marshmallows!
And perhaps a libation or two. Oh, and insect repellant! Actually, no sense in bringing the marshmallows or the beer if you forgot the repellant. You’re gonna need it.
Or, if you really hate mosquitoes THAT much, you might just decide to go Rangeley chic and wear that head net.
16. Sitting on the dock to dry off and/or drink beer, or for no reason at all
North Camps has several docks along its stretch of shorefront. If you don’t spend most of the week on one (or all!) of those docks, it’s possible you’re doing something wrong.
17. Just, like, taking it all in, man
This one is self-explanatory.
18. Catching a movie or live show at the Lakeside Theater
We usually don’t see a movie while we’re in Rangeley, just because we’re too busy swimming and eating ice cream, but there’s a great one-screen theater in town that also hosts live concerts and events. We’ve seen some really good live shows at the Lakeside Theater, and it’s nice to have movies as a rainy day option, too.
19. Grabbing a souvenir at the Alpine Shop or Ecopelogican
As it so happens, I’m wearing a Rangeley hoodie as a I type this. It’s actually not that much of a coincidence, since half of my wardrobe says “Rangeley” on it.
There are several great souvenir shops in Rangeley, but Alpine Shop and Ecopelogican (also branded as the easier-to-pronounce Rangeley Adventure Co., where you can also rent kayaks and paddleboards) are our favorites. They also both carry a nice selection of camping and outdoor gear in case you forgot to pack anything you might need.
The Appalachian Trail runs very close to Rangeley, and you’ll sometimes see (and smell) through hikers at these shops replenishing their gear.
One year, my inflatable paddleboard (which I’d purchased at Costco) popped because I accidentally bumped it into a sharp piece of metal while carrying it (my fault entirely). The folks at Ecopelogican gave me their own patch kit (for free!) and wished me luck. Stuff like that makes me want to give them money (and encourage you to do the same) pretty much forever.
20. Getting some pizza and beer on the patio at Furbish
Rangeley has several great restaurants, as does nearby Oquossoc. I recommend trying them all! But you really can’t go wrong with hanging out on the patio at Furbish Brew House & Eats.
If you decide to order the cheese curds for the table (and you should!) at Furbish, you have to refer to them privately as “cheese cruds.” Order them like a normal person, but amongst yourselves, they will always be cheese cruds. That’s our family tradition, and maybe it should be yours, too.
Oh, and Portage Tap House in Oquossoc is also a favorite. Don’t forget about Oquossoc! It’s even closer to North Camps than Rangeley.
Last year, a local institution, The Red Onion, closed its doors after 50+ years. The building now houses a new restaurant, The Black Pearl. Looks promising! We’ll be hitting that place for sure.
Here’s a nice list of Rangeley restaurants to make sure you don’t go hungry.
21. Playing board games and doing jigsaw puzzles
Sure, you may not like playing board games or doing puzzles in your normal life, but there’s no WiFi at North Camps. Gotta do something! It’s like in the olden times, when human interaction mattered.
Hearts and liar’s dice are traditional favorites, but lately we’ve been mixing it up. Ever play Blank Slate? That’s a good one with a big crew – low-key, sort of competitive but not really, fun for kids and adults. Highly recommend.
22. Snagging your traditional free candy bar when you leave (kids only)
The major benefit of being a kid, besides the fact that you have no responsibilities, is that you get a free candy bar from the main office at North Camps on the morning you leave.
Parting is such sweet sorrow. But it’s a little bit sweeter at North Camps. (You officially count as a kid at North Camps until you get married. If you’re in a long-term engagement, feel free to use that as your excuse to put it off a little longer. They’ll understand.)
23. Visiting Dog Mountain in St. Johnsbury, VT, on your way home
I wrote extensively about Dog Mountain in another blog post. If you go through St. Johnsbury, VT, on your way to or from Rangeley as we do, and you’re a dog lover, it’s definitely worth a stop. Just a few minutes out of your way to this unique and special place.
Here’s my Dog Mountain post if you’re interested.
That’s it!
Holy cow, you’re still reading? I didn’t think anyone would make it all the way down here.
Since you must have some level of interest to have made it this far, here’s some more stuff you might want to know about Rangeley:
- There’s an IGA grocery store just up the hill from town, about ten minutes from North Camps. There’s also a general store with a decent selection of the essentials in nearby Oquossoc.
- North Camps takes orders to bring in a lobster dinner one night each week, and if you want to add that dinner to your tab, you can have lobster, steamed clams, and/or haddock delivered right to your cabin. I mention this only to say, if eating lobster is on your to-do list while you’re in Maine, North Camps makes it easy.
- You’ll often see (and hear) ATVs (or UTVs?) buzzing through Rangeley. You can rent them in town and take them on the nearby ATV trail. That trail goes all the way up to Quill Hill. We did it once.
You know, it was an experience. An expensive, loud experience. (Those things are like $500 each for a half-day.)
“It was fun, but I don’t think we ever need to do that again,” my kids both said afterwards. I agree. I like my nature served with quiet and calm. This was kind of the opposite of that. But, you know. Other people seem to enjoy it.
That’s really it now!
Okay, that’s all I’ve got! Phew, you made it to the end. You are now entitled to one free crayfish, which you can pick up from the bottom of the lake at your convenience.
Are you already a Rangeley person? Did I forget anything? If so, please drop a comment below.
One more thing
One of the reasons that I wanted to exhaustively document Rangeley and North Camps is that this place has always held a special place in my family’s history and lore, and it would make me happy if other families created some awesome memories here.
I mentioned above that my mom passed away in 2021. After 53 years of marriage, my dad also passed away in 2021, six months later. 2021 was a hell of a year, in the literal sense.
My sister, Amy, and I feel that it honors Mom and Dad’s legacy to keep getting our families together in Rangeley every year (besides being a fun thing that everyone wants to do).
Here’s a blurb from Dad’s obituary:
“[Clara and Maurice] also continued going to their favorite vacation spot of over 40 years in Rangeley, Maine, with Maurice’s brother Ed and his family. There, they continued the Todd family traditions of hiking, listening to the loons’ haunting calls over the lake, trying to get a decent photo of a moose, watching for shooting stars from the dock, playing hearts and liar’s dice, driving to glorious sunset spots in the evenings, and, most importantly, just being with each other. Clara and Maurice watched proudly as their grandkids continued their time-honored traditions and made new ones of their own. Amy and Mike plan to continue the Rangeley traditions for years to come.”
For us, this lake, and this place, will always be intertwined with our family.
I hope that for someone reading this, it may become intertwined with your family as well.
If that’s something that interests you, I’m sure Glenn would love to hear from you! You can find him via the North Camps Contact page.
