Maine drawing new tourists: winter visitors
More visitors seem to be heading for Maine — in the winter, not the summer.
Tourism in the fall and winter months now account for about one fourth of tourists visits to Maine, a long-time traditional summer vacation spot.
One of those benefiting from the added overnight stays in the state is The Birches Resort in Rockwood, Maine.
Located on Moosehead Lake on 11,000 acres of wilderness, The Birches offers various winter activities. Cold weather visitors find miles of trails to explore on skis, snowmobiles and snowshoes.
In addition, Moosehead Lake offers ice fishing and a landing strip for ski plane tours over Maine’s winter land. Accommodations include main lodge rooms and luxury vacation homes as well as rustic yurts and cabins.
The lodge, complete with roaring fire in the stone hearth, serves three meals a day.
The Birches winter menu of activities includes:
ü Up, Up and Away – A tour of the Maine wilderness in winter in a ski plane which takes off and lands on the frozen lake. ($90 per person for an hour ride).
ü Guided Yurt to Yurt Cross Country Ski adventure – visitors ski from the resort on well-maintained trails to a Yurt for lunch, then ski to a different yurt for dinner of their choice (steak, chicken or fish) prepared by a guide. After a night at the yurts, visitors ski back to the lodge for breakfast. (price of $139 per person includes guide and three meals.
ü Trailblazers – The Birches offers some of the best snowmobile trails in the Northeast. Visitors hop on one of the resorts top-of-the-line Arctic Cat sleds to explore the 100-mile Moosehead Trail loop that circles the lake. (Rentals range from $185-235 per day, guided tours available).
ü Go Fish – Visitors catch landlocked salmon, trout and brook trout in an ice shack on Moosehead Lake. Guided full day trips with rental gear and snowmobile rides to the fishing area can be arranged ($320 per day).
Report by David Wilkening
David
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