Wilhelm Reich Museum Trails, Rangeley

If the museum is closed, come back another day! And to get over your disappointment, hike the charming nature paths, or “Orgonon Trails.” The museum is a fascinating and off-beat place where you can check out Reich’s cloud busters, orgone box, exuberant paintings, and the lab where he worked on his experiments. Even if you don’t accept Reich’s theories — he was a wildly radical psychoanalyst — the museum offers an interesting glimpse into Reich and the turbulent times he lived through, and the way in which the federal government persecuted him for his medical pursuits.

The museum trails are diverse, some (the Quincy Brook Loop, about 1.6 miles) make large swings out well beyond the museum. Others stay close by and take you to destinations like Reich’s tomb or a bird blind. A particularly charming trail is the “Trail of Thoughts,” which has quotes by Reich scribbled into signs posted to trees. (Unfortunately, many of these were so worn by age when I visited, they were not legible.) The views from the house and the fields are magnificent.

Directions: From the intersection of Routes 4 and 16 in downtown Rangeley, follow Route 4 West toward Oquossoc for 3.6 miles. Continue .1 miles after the sign for the Wilhelm Reich Museum, turn right onto Dodge Pond Road and continue 0.4 mile to the entrance to Orgonon, which is what Reich called his Rangeley estate.