QUICK TRAIL FACTS
- Preserve Size: Not sure
- Trail Mileage: more than 30 miles
- Pets: yes
- Difficulty: easy to difficult
- Sights: Saddleback Lake, views
I have only dipped my toe into the more than 30 miles of trails at this four-season center in Saddleback Preserve. (The center offers x-c skiing, snowshoeing, and biking in the winter, hiking and mountain biking the rest of the year).
You can do a wonderfully big loop here, staying out all day if you wish. (My map is incomplete.) The trails are groomed for classic and skate skiing, but narrow tracks wind through the labyrinth of wider groomed trails for people on snow shoes and fat bikes. During the winter, you’ll need to buy a day pass or season ticket to use the trail system.
I found the ski from the hut to Upper Pipeline and Nat’s Alley to be particularly beautiful, with views both of Saddleback and the western high peaks.
One trail — Geneva Loop — is open to dog walking, skijoring, and snowshoeing on weekdays. Dogs are also allowed year-round on Lake Trail and Snowshoe Alley.
The center is open in the off-season to hikers and mountain bikers (and dogs), but quite a few of the trails are said to be boggy. That being said, some trails are recommended over others — Tote Road, Bridge Trail, Upper and Lower Pumphouse, Outer Loop and Lower Pipeline.
Directions: The center’s HQ, a yurt, is located at 524 Saddleback Mountain Road, below Saddleback Mountain. To reach Saddleback Mountain Road from downtown Rangeley, take a left off Route 4 onto Dallas Hill Road. When the road splits into two at 2.5 miles, veer right onto Saddleback Mountain Road. The yurt will be on the left in another 2.5 miles.
