14 years ago me, my dog, my dad and his 1970’s motorhome made the trip to Rangely Lake State Park campground. I fell in love with this place then and knew I would eventually make it back. In July I finally returned, this time with my husband and two kids.
14 years later this place is unchanged in all the best ways.
As we rolled up to site 19, spacious, wooded, flat with a private path to the lake 15 feet away, I fall more in love with Maine.
Day One
We arrived at our campsite, took a quick tour including a visit to our private lake access and then we got set up.
After setting up the kids immediately wanted to swim.
This was followed by hammock time, reading (we are currently reading everything we can get our hands on by Gordon Korman) a fire, dinner and s’mores. We also enjoyed watching the sunset on the lake.
Day 2
The next morning we ate breakfast and headed into downtown Rangely for a bit. We walked along the downtown stopping at a few shops. Jamie purchased a hat with a moose on it. We stopped at Rangely’s water front park and the kids played on the playground for a bit.
By this time it was lunch and we decided instead of getting pizza for dinner to do lunch out instead. We went to Sarge’s. They had the Olympics on which the kids and I were excited about.
After lunch we made the short drive to Smalls Falls. I don’t know if I’d recommend this place. It’s for sure a beautiful water fall with a series of smaller falls at the top, similar to Diana’s Baths in New Hampshire, but the falls are like a 30 second walk from the parking lot. Ease of proximity is great, but also lends itself to people. Lots of people. People smoking cigarettes everywhere. This place was no where near as crowded had it been if it was in New Hampshire, but still a bit more crowded than our preference.
After hanging out in the falls for a bit. We headed back to the campsite. We all went for a swim then had some snacks and a campfire. Jamie made burgers for dinner and we had s’mores for dessert.
Day Three
The next day we headed back into downtown Rangely for a bit. On the way out we got our Maine State Parks Passport stamped at the campground ranger station. We went into a couple more stores where we got a mug and a nice lady gave Anika a free sticker for her collection. Then headed back to our campsite for an afternoon of swimming.
Rangely Lake State Park Campground is a 10 out of 10. No notes. We will be back.
