This trip was the definition of an adventure. A portion of it self-induced, a side of it was out of our control with just a dash of bad luck. At times it felt like we were the Griswolds in National Lampoon’s Vacation. Everyone was trying so hard to make sure it all went smoothly but there was lots of swinging and missing going around. Let’s get things straight though, Rangeley Lake State Park is a damn near perfect place and park. Normally we save many of the general observations until the end of our write up but after a little less than positive post about Scarborough Beach State Park we didn’t want this to seem like a negative trend. It most certainly is not and we truly loved this park.

We have tried to schedule a visit here for the last two summers. Last year it was canceled twice and we decided to postpone until 2018. We knew we didn’t want to force this one because having been to the area before, we had a feeling the park would be extra special. The good news about having to cancel your Maine state park camping reservation is that they’ll process a full refund on the card that you reserved with, except the reservation fee which is only 10 dollars. If you need to switch out parks or a weekend, it’s not the end of the world. We had to do this for Rangeley Lake last year due to unforeseen life events and then lack of availability at places like Lily Bay State Park this year. So on try #4 we finally got this weekend locked in and no better time than August. Doing anything outdoors in Maine during the month of August feels like you are body surfing the last wave of summer. Almost like you’re holding out for the best of everything. Most Mainers go through the August panic when they realize summer is ending soon so you get a lot of “out of office” replies come mid-month. We never know what is in store weather wise come September in Maine so everyone is all in this month just in case.

Maybe the scheduling was the first bad omen and we just overlooked it. The next one was attempting to grocery shop in Rumford on our way there, with a dog in tow. Sometimes we grocery shop the morning of and it has worked out alright, even though doing it the night before is really the way to go, especially for the longer drives. However, after a busy work week it wasn’t in the cards for this trip, so we ended up trying to divide and conquer. It didn’t go well and took twice as long. 

The next misstep was a major one. With an hour left of driving we were going to need gas at some point before reaching the town of Rangeley, but our GPS conveniently sent us on a loop bypassing the last station for many many miles. Neither one of us has spent a ton of time in Rumford and we are usually good about keeping the tank quite full on trips. Well after this incident, it will never go below half again. As we pushed off expecting to see service stations before leaving town, we didn’t. As we drove on, expecting other towns to have some sort of fuel on a 40 mile stretch, they didn’t. Our family vehicle has handful of shortcomings and one of them is the fuel efficiency but when you hook up the teardrop, it’s like driving a sports car. Over the next 20 miles or so the gas tank looked like a scale on the show The Biggest Loser. It was dropping at an alarming rate. By the time we hit Byron, aka Coos Canyon, the fuel light was on! The woman at the general store politely informed us that the closest pump was turning around and heading back to good old Rumford. We knew we couldn’t make it back there with the camper attached, so mama jumped out with the coolers to have lunch with the kiddo and dad unhooked the camper on the side of the road. Then it was a white knuckled drive back to the Shell station we apparently drove around. Coasting in on fumes was an embarrassing but huge accomplishment.

Somehow we adverted this disaster by only tacking on another hour to the trip and shaving a year off dad’s life. When it was all said and done, a 2 hour 15 minute drive turned into 4 plus hours. After getting back to Coos Canyon to pick up the rest of the family and our bed on wheels, Eloise seemed to be very tired and extra snugly. This was much different than her normal wild behavior just hours before at the grocery store. She took a good nap the rest of the way and things we looking on the up and up…so we thought.

The peaceful and beautiful drive into the park sets the tone. Like always, the park staff here were beyond sweet and very welcoming. This family campground has only 50 sites and is spread around a small loop. You would think that this meant everyone was on top of one another but not at all. The sites are spaced out wonderfully with lots of wilderness surrounding you.

Besides Cobscook State Park, Rangeley Lake State Park might be one of the most private of all the campgrounds we’ve stayed at so far, and that scores some major points for us. It’s as if they took very dense woods on a large lake and only carved out what was necessary. Everything (bathrooms, signs, trails, etc.) is wrapped in trees and it gives the park an incredible, intimate feeling. Some of the sites even had water access to the lake. Almost all of the sites were just steps away from everything you needed (bathrooms, showers, water station, dish washing station) or wanted to access (trails, the playground, the lake) but without it all being in front of your face.

Rangeley Lake State Park is a place you want to spend more than just a few days at. Yes, we know we have said that before about a couple parks already but it has to be stated again. Not only for what you can enjoy on location but also in the area. It is littered with endless daily activities. Normally we only promote non-park actives on day trips and not on our camping trips, but you would be missing out if you didn’t try to take full advantage of this region. The added days would allow you to enjoythe best of both worlds.

We unfortunately did not get the chance to do much of either on this trip. It wasn’t too long after we started to set up the site that we noticed Eloise was feeling warm and not acting like herself. She had a temp (not high) but it explained her snuggles. Yes, we bring a thermometer and yes, we bring children’s Tylenol along with some other back up go-to meds/items in her bag. Soon after some medication she was running around again and being herself.

It wasn’t until bedtime that we realized this wasn’t the average daycare cold and the guessing game began. Spoiler alert, it ended up being your average daycare cold but just hit her extra hard this time. She had a top 3 terrible night’s sleep and seemed to be super uncomfortable with none of our normal tricks working. The night started with dad and Braddock in the tent and ended with all four of us in the camper riding out the storm together. In the morning, she was exhausted from little rest and had spouts of energy here and there. We decided to take our time packing up and tried to take advantage of the afternoon before heading back home in time for bed. We ended up cutting the trip short a night and it was the right decision in the end. This cold lingered on well into the next week but the bambino is back healthy and doing her thing.  

This post is like when a fancy magazine editor gives the company credit card to an employee and says, spend 24 hours somewhere and report back. We were in this park for exactly 24 hours but we still got to experience a good chunk of it. Who knows, besides the rough night, it was probably better to be outdoors on these beautiful summer days than cooped up in the house fighting a cold. As the saying goes “I would rather feel bad in Maine, than good anywhere else” – EB White.

One thing that has always brought us Rubys comfort over the years has been our bulldog, Braddock. Like most dogs, Braddock can sense when we aren’t feeling well and he’ll setup shop by our side and won’t move for hours. He turns 11 this month and he came along so we could spoil him for a few days. He’s taken a back seat for a while now, first with the adoption of Baxter (4 years ago) and then the birth of Eloise (almost 2 years ago). Of course of all the weekends, his is the one we have to leave early, but our little Pepere had a blast. He was a wonderful distraction for Eloise and always near by when she needed to pet something. For an arthritic, half blind, city dog, he turns into White Fang in the woods. Something kicks in and he’s 10 years younger and down for anything. He’s now outliving the average max age for bulldogs (10), so we try to take nothing for granted with him each and every day. Extra wet gross kisses for everyone.

This park being a place we would have liked to spend more time at is now at the top of the list for parks to return to when we have completed this journey. Though there are lots of rustic options for places to stay in the Rangeley area, we recommend that you spend your nights at the state park. We promise that you will not be disappointed in any way; especially if you are looking for more of an escape. Just one sunset on the lake had us completely hooked, that’s all it took.

We can’t forget to mention that the beach is gorgeous but also in theme with the rest of the park, very natural. You can rent canoes right on location! We saw that some families even brought their motor boats because there is a launch right on the property as well. Seeing lots of families brought some comfort in the middle of the night as we passed a crying kiddo back and forth like a hot potato.

9 Rubies for sure at Rangeley Lake State Park and honestly if we had more time it probably would have been a 10. These ratings are obviously bias and just for fun because Maine state parks are all so different and it would be impossible to stand them up against one another. Many times it depends on what you are looking for that will determine your favorites. At this point Rangeley is definitely in the top 3 for camping destinations for us, along with Lilly Bay and Cobscook. Hopefully what you got from this post is that Rangeley Lake is a true Maine outdoor getaway. This park can be a home-base for a laundry list of outdoor activities or you can just hideaway in the wonderful wilderness. Or even better… do both.