Western Maine
Sunday River & Bethel
Oxford County, Maine delivers one of the Northeast's best ski mountains and some of its most underrated hiking — all anchored by a genuine New England village with no outlet malls, no chain restaurants, and a food scene that consistently surprises. Here's how to make the most of it across every season.
Filter by season
3 places match your filters
Grafton Notch State Park
One of Maine's most spectacular state parks, threading Route 26 through a glacially carved mountain pass in the Mahoosuc Range. The roadside attractions are unusually democratic: Screw Auger Falls (a 23-foot cascade through a narrow bedrock gorge, 0.1-mile accessible path), Mother Walker Falls (a V-shaped gorge 40 feet deep and 1,000 feet long), and Moose Cave (a 600-foot granite canyon where a stream vanishes beneath a slab, 0.4-mile loop). All three require minimal effort and are family-accessible. The park is also the trailhead for Old Speck Mountain and the 39-mile Grafton Loop backpacking circuit.
Hit Screw Auger Falls before 9 am — the gorge is narrow and intimate, and by 10 am tour buses arrive. Combine it with the Eyebrow Trail on Old Speck for a half-day: a 2.5-mile loop with iron rungs and a cliff-edge overlook at 2,900 feet that skips the full summit.
Bethel Outdoor Adventure
The area's primary outfitter for Androscoggin River trips — tubing, kayaking, and canoeing with a shuttle service to upstream put-in points. The upper Androscoggin from Gilead to Bethel is Class I–II: calm enough for all skill levels, remote enough for wildlife. Eagles, great blue herons, turtles, and occasional moose are regular sightings on quiet mornings. River tubing runs about $30/person including shuttle. The campground operates mid-May through mid-October directly on the river.
Weekday mornings transform the experience — the river is nearly silent, wildlife is active, and you may go an hour without seeing another boat. The Gilead-to-West Bethel stretch is the most remote and scenic. Bring a dry bag; shallow sections can tip inexperienced paddlers.
Maine Mineral & Gem Museum
Opened in 2019, this 15,000-square-foot museum has rapidly become one of the most remarkable small museums in New England. Oxford County is among the world's premier mineral-collecting regions — specifically for tourmaline, beryl, and quartz — and the museum does justice to that heritage. The collection includes the largest piece of the Moon ever recovered as a meteorite, plus approximately 6,000 extraterrestrial specimens in the Stifler Collection. Four galleries cover Maine minerals, planetary science, the Perham Collection (90 years of Maine mineral specimens), and special exhibits. The gift shop sells genuine Maine tourmaline.
The meteorite gallery is the sleeper highlight — moon rocks, Mars rocks, and asteroid specimens you can actually touch. Consistently surprises even sophisticated travelers. Walkable from DiCocoa's and the Good Food Store; a natural Bethel village morning: bagels, the museum, provisions for the rental house.
