5 Best Sights in Western Lakes and Mountains, Maine

Height of Land is the highlight of Rangeley Lakes National Scenic Byway, with unforgettable views of mountains and lakes. One of Maine's best overlooks, it hugs Route 17 atop Spruce Mountain several miles south of Rangeley's Oquossoc village. On a clear day, you can look west to mountains on the New Hampshire border. There's off-road parking, interpretive panels, stone seating, and a short path to the Appalachian Trail. Rangeley Lake unfolds at a nearby overlook on the opposite side of the road.

Bowling is just one reason families, couples, locals, and visitors head here for a night out, or indoor fun on a rainy—or sunny!—day. There’s arcade games, billiards, foosball, cornhole, shuffleboard, darts, air hockey, and dancing and live music (check the website for details), plus ten bowling lanes. Moose Alley’s Spirit Bar Grill & Cafe serves breakfast, lunch, and dinner. Folks also stop here for ice cream or baked goods, espresso or bubble tea, settling in upfront at the soda fountain-style and curvy lounge seating. Images of fish, moose, loons, and Rangeley Lake are smattered on the dance floor and antler chandeliers provide a mellow glow, but the woodsy decor is modern, stylish, and hip, not overdone. The cool curved bar in the center is faced to resemble river stones, as are pillars inside and out. There’s table seating, couches, and around the firepit, roomy armchairs (put your feet on the surround but not your food, as the sign reminds!). Order at the counter: your meal or snack is delivered to your table, bar seat, lane, or game spot. The pub fare is delish (try the chipotle sweet potato fries), and food is served until close. 

Spruce railings and siding on the museum's facade replicate a local taxidermy shop from about 1900. Inside, there's an authentic log sporting camp from the same period, when grand hotels and full-service sporting lodges drew well-to-do rusticators to Rangeley for long stays. One of the big draws is the exhibit on local flytier Carrie Stevens, whose famed streamer flies increased the region's fly-fishing fame in the 1920s. The many diverse exhibits include displays on U.S. presidents Dwight D. Eisenhower and Herbert Hoover fishing in Rangeley; vintage watercraft; Native American birch-bark canoes and artifacts; art of the region; and gleaming fish mounts of world-record-size brook trout. With free exhibits out front, this is a popular stop even when closed—don't miss the 12,000-year-old Native American meat cache.

On the south shore of Rangeley Lake, this 869-acre park has superb lakeside scenery, swimming, picnic tables, a playground, a boat ramp, a few short trails, and a campground. In the off-season, visitors can park outside the gate and walk-in.

The museum showcases the life and work of Austrian physician, scientist, and writer Wilhelm Reich (1897–1957), who believed that all living matter and the atmosphere contain a force called orgone energy. The hilltop Orgone Energy Observatory exhibits biographical materials, inventions, and equipment used in his experiments, whose results were disputed by the Food and Drug Administration and other government agencies. Stone faces the exterior of the boxy 1949 structure, which is listed on the National Register of Historic Places. A mid-century gem inside and out, Reich's second-floor study, library, and laboratory look as they did in his day, with original sleek modern furniture. The observatory deck has magnificent countryside views. In July and August, the museum presents engaging nature programs; trails lace the largely forested 175-acre property, known as Orgonon, which has a waterside vacation rental cottage. Reich's tomb sits next to one of his inventions, a cloud accumulator.