Add Lake George to Your Maine Vacation
Enjoy Four Seasons of Outdoor Recreation at an Unspoiled Park
Feb 19, 2009
Outdoor pleasures abound at Lake George Regional Park in Maine. Lake George is a small lake nestled in the hills of Central Maine between the towns of Skowhegan and Canaan. The park surrounds the southern half of the lake, is composed of two separate sections (East and West), and is accessible via US Route 2. The park covers 320 acres, with about 10,000 feet of shore frontage on Lake George.
Low-cost Family Recreation
The park is open year-round for day-use activities. Entry fee is $3 adults, $1 children. Admission is free for children under 5, senior citizens, and disabled veterans. Families planning on multiple trips to the park can save money by purchasing a seasonal pass. Visit Lake George's webpage for additional details.
Ready for summer fun? Lake George offers two clean sandy beaches, both are small, but immediately adjacent to picnicking and barbequing areas, making it easy for families to watch their kids and get lunch on the table. The water is cool and crystal clear. No lifeguards are on duty.
A boat launch is available on the East Side. Kayakers and canoers can also launch from the beach area on the East Side (it's a 30-yard carry to the lakefront). If fishing, visitors (Maine residents over age 16, non-residents over 12) need a license, obtainable online from Maine's Inland Fisheries and Wildlife.
Take to the trails! A web of multiuse trails has been gently carved out of the forests surrounding the lake. Hikers and mountain bikers are welcome, motorized vehicles are not. Equestrians can use the trails from June 15 through first snowfall.
Hiking groups can mix and match segments to make loops of various lengths to fit members' skills. Trail maps are available at trailheads.
- The Pinnacle Trail (East Side) ends at an attractive lookout over the lake, where Sugarloaf and Bigelow, two of Maine's highest mountains, can be seen in the distance.
- The Fisher Trail (West Side) travels along the rocky edge of the lake before cutting inland to the Podooc, Porcupine, and Moose trails.
Ready for winter fun? Getting outside is a potent cabin-fever cure!
- Park staff groom the trails, making cross-country skiing and snowshoeing easy and accessible.
- More advanced skiers or snowshoers can branch out onto ungroomed trails where the snow is more challenging.
- Snowmobiling is allowed, though only on a limited number of trails.
- Ice shacks dot the lake and a road is plowed across the ice to create convenient vehicle access to the shacks.
- The annual ice fishing derby and winter carnival occur in February. Participants can watch snowshoe demos, roast marshmallows, enter their favorite recipe in the chili cook-off, and have a chance to win prizes, too!
A Jewel of a Maine Park
For visitors who attended a Maine camp during their youth, this park just might look familiar. For 70 years, the site was Camp Modin, a summer youth camp that catered to urban Jewish families of New York and the Northeast.
In 1992 the lakefront and surrounding forests were saved from development by the Land for Maine's Future, and the Lake George Regional Park was born. An army of volunteers helped turn the site into a wonderful day-use park, touted as a "jewel of a park" when it won the H. King Cummings Leadership Award in 2003 from the Western Mountains Alliance. Travelers should be sure to include Lake George in their next Maine family vacation.
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