Mount Apatite Park in Auburn is a free collecting site where children can search through rock piles scattered through the woods; Lord Hill Quarry within the White Mountain National Forest in Stoneham, another popular collecting site where visitors might find topaz, quartz and aquamarine crystals. Mount Apatite Park is owned and administered by the City of Auburn. It is open to the public, and no special permission to visit is required. Further information, including a detailed map of the park and its trail system, is available from the Auburn Parks & Recreation Department Phone: 207-784-0191.

Meet “The Crag”

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At an elevation of 510 feet, Thorncrag Nature Sanctuary in Lewiston (“The Crag”), a 312-acre wildlife preserve, is forested oasis above the city surrounded on three sides by urban development. Thorncrag encompasses several habitats: upland wetlands, mixed forest, restored farm meadows, vernal pools, and old growth forest. Visitors are encouraged to walk the trails, using a 32-page brochure for guidance. Passive recreation like birdwatching, walking, snowshoeing, cross-country skiing, sledding, skating, and nature photography are encouraged.

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Step on his Toe; He Won’t Mind

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The Rumford Information Center on Route 2 has an 18-foot-tall statue of folk lumberjack Paul Bunyan that seems to serve as a magnet for visitors who can’t resist taking whimsical pictures of their traveling companions. Also nearby is the beautiful Rumford Falls (also known as Pennacook Falls), a 180-foot-tall cascade of water into the Androscoggin River. So save some film after having your fun with the biggest lumberjack of all. Phone: 207-364-0925‎.

The Artists Can’t All Be Wrong

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Sunday River Bridge, popularly known as the Artist's Covered Bridge , in Newry, achieved that name because of its reputation as being the most photographed and painted of the venerable covered bridges in Maine. If the artists, all agree, what are you waiting for? Those of us who don’t measure up to the skills of a Matisse can at least grab a camera and a traveling companion and do some poses on this very New England-y piece of essential architecture. The bridge is located about four miles northwest of North Bethel near Routes 2 and 26.

Trail to 53,000 Works of Art

Trail to 53,000 Works of Art The Maine Art Museum Trail offers more than 53,000 works of art, from ancient to contemporary, in a dazzling array of collections at seven leading art museums. Museums on the trail include Bates College Museum of Art (Lewiston), Bowdoin College Museum of Art (Brunswick), Colby College Museum of Art (Waterville), Farnsworth Art Museum (Rockland), Ogunquit Museum of American Art (Ogunquit), Portland Museum of Art (Portland), and University of Maine Museum of Art (Bangor). The museums’ permanent collections include works of art by the many artists who have vacationed or worked in Maine. They also feature masterpieces by Pierre-Auguste Renoir, Edgar Degas, Mary Cassatt, and Pablo Picasso, Greek and Roman sculpture, early American silver and furniture, and contemporary textiles, prints, ceramics, and sculpture. Some museums also offer free admission during selected hours.

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A Jangle of the Harness and Off We Go

It has been called the “ultimate low-impact winter sport” – that is, a horse-drawn sleigh ride through the New England woods and meadows. That description is, well, reasonable, but a sleigh ride also is pure fun in a beautiful, unforgettable winter landscape. Rides are offered by many farms, including High View Farm in Harrison, where the farm’s host promise that the jingle of sleigh bells on the night air will ring on as a wonderful and lingering memory. Phone: 207-595-1601. Meadow Creek Farm in Sumner offers sleigh rides at many different locations throughout Maine. Each of the beautiful Belgian draft horse teams weighs 2000 pounds and carries more than 200 bells on the harnesses and wagon. Meadow Creek also offers private specialty rides geared to your specifications. Phone: 207-388-2044.

All the Routes for All the Snowmobiles

To say the snowmobile trails in Maine are some of the finest in the country would be an understatement at best. Maine’s Interconnected Trail System (ITS) is provided to snowmobilers through the joint effort of the Maine Snowmobile Association, headquartered in Augusta, and the Maine Bureau of Parks and Lands, Department of Conservation. You can get a detailed map of the Interconnected Trail System by contacting the Maine Snowmobile Association at PO Box 80, Augusta, 04332. Phone: 207-622-6983

Appalachian Trail, Northern Version

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The The Rangeley Lakes National Scenic Byway follows Routes 17 and 4, around Rangeley Lake. The route follows the ridgeline of the Appalachian Mountains before dropping into rolling hills and valleys. The Height of Land on Route 17 is the centerpiece of this scenic drive, offering breathtaking views of Mooselookmeguntic and Upper Richardson Lakes. Prepare to see moose.

Bethel Welcomes Walkers and Bikers

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Bethel is an ideal place for walkers of all ages and abilities, from a leisurely stroll through the National Historic District to a more rigorous walk through the village up Paradise Road. For starters, the Bethel Recreational Path is a one-mile multi-use paved trail that begins at Davis Park and extends across the Androscoggin River on a multi-use bridge and out to the North Road. The path features an authentic scaled replica of the famous Artists’ Covered Bridge over the Sunday River. The Androscoggin River Recreational Walking Trail is a 1.5-mile trail from the Riverside Rest Area on Route 2, three miles east of Bethel, to the River View Resort. This trail provides the visitor an opportunity to see the river up close and enjoy the serenity of a wooded setting.

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Dogs + Sleds = Wow!

Experience the thrill and beauty of sledding over frozen ground and snowy mountain passes behind a team of powerful Siberian Huskies or Alaskan Malamutes. New England Dogsledding is located in Mason Township, Maine, on the Maine and New Hampshire border of the White Mountain National Forest. The company hosts fun and educational dog sledding, mushing, and sled dog tours in the Bethel, Maine; the Sunday River Ski Area; North Conway, New Hampshire; and on 15,000-acre Wilderness Trail System at the Balsams, New Hampshire. The company teaches guests the ropes and allows them to experience the thrill of driving their own team. Be whisked off on an amazing winter adventure through the majestic wilderness. Phone: 207-836-2703.

Enter the Life of a 19th-Century
Maine Farm Family

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The Washburn-Norlands Living History Center on Norlands Road in Livermore offers living history tours led by interpreters in mid-18th century clothing who portray people of the neighborhood. In the school house you will learn first hand about rural education in 1853. You can try using a quill pen or test your skills in arithmetic or spelling. In the mansion house you can chat with young Caroline Washburn as she shows you through the family home. The Washburn kitchen is always a busy place of cooking, ironing, playing games, story telling, and spinning. There a guided tour in the buildings and self guided on the grounds. Tours offered Tuesdays and Thursdays, June 29 to September 3, 2010. Phone: 207-897-4366

Floating on the Boardwalk

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Holt Pond Preserve in Bridgton is a scenic and fun walk through woods and over a quaking bog boardwalk. Starting at the parking area off Grist Mill Road, the path takes you through a mixed forest and into a red maple swamp. Next comes the Holt Pond Overlook and Boardwalk. The boardwalk crosses a quaking mat of sphagnum moss. The boardwalk quakes because the sphagnum moss is floating, colonizing the open water in front of you. Phone: 207-647-8580

History and Culture of Mills on Display Here

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From the 1850s to the 1950s the textile mills, shoe mills and brickyards of Lewiston and neighboring Auburn (L-A) made up the state's largest manufacturing center. Museum L-A documents the industries and the people who made them thrive. Within the 1850s Bates Mill, the museum displays vintage machinery, tools, shoes and quilts along with an oral history tour of mill workers from both cities. Open year-round, Monday through Saturday,10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Phone: 207-333-3881.