Local Family Trips
Less traffic, slower pace, and many destinations right from your house
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Rachel's on the Green - 90 mins
We love this short trip because we can leave directly from our house located on the Hidden Pond Trail. We take the long way around to make it an adventure. If we leave around 11:15 and take our time, we’ll be at Rachels before noon for pizza. We use the North Trail, connect to the the Blueberry Hill Trail, Rine Forest and then the Town Trail to reach Rachel’s for lunch. The snow-covered trees are picturesque and sometimes we see some wildlife. It’s so interesting to see our towns from a different perspective.
After Rachel’s, we finish the loop and return home. A perfect short adventure with the family.
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Jess 'n Nic's Pizzeria & Pub - 1 hour
My wife and I have two kids that love short rides from our West Cumberland house. There are many options in any direction from our house. Within less than one hour we are able to stop and get something to eat/drink and maybe warm up. Heading west we can ride through 4 different club’s trail systems - Falmouth, Westbrook, Windham, and Gorham - giving us access to a variety of restaurants. One of our favorites is a 30-minute ride to Gray to Jess n’ Nic’s for their amazing pizza. We also love the family atmosphere at Birchwood Brewing next door.
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Toddy Brook Cafe - 90 mins
My two sons and I really enjoyed being able to leave from our house in Cumberland’s Crossing Brook Development and snowmobiling over to Toddy Brook Café in North Yarmouth for lunch. This destination became our nearly every weekend event with the typical order of the Chicken Tender and French Fries Baskets. Great food and perfect place to warm up!
It’s about a 45 minute trip and the trails are great. We use the Town Trail to the North Trail, then. take a right at the “Steel Poles” to North Yarmouth. After going along the ridge of Dugas Gravel Pit, we cross RT 231, then RT9 and we arrive.
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Long Lake -8 hours
From the “Steel Poles” (see map), we left the Moonlite Sno-Skimmers trails going north. We continued onto our neighboring club trails of North Yarmouth, Gray, New Gloucester then into Poland. We rode past the Oxford casino and over to Harrison for an amazing lunch at the Olde Mill Tavern at the north end of Long Lake. We took a different route home, through Otisfield and onto Thompson Lake. The trip continued into Poland and back through Gray. Overall, a great day trip of over 100 miles (8 hours) from our backyard in North Yarmouth.
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Bradbury Mountain - 3 hours
Most people think of hiking Bradbury Mountain, but I was excited to learn that there was a legit snowmobile trail to the top. We unloaded at the park & ride to the left of the Cumberland House of Pizza. We took the West Trail and continued north through North Yarmouth. A quick hot chocolate stop at Toddy Brook and then onto Pownal. The trail up the mountain has a gradual grade and was well groomed. It’s a multi-use trail, so we rode slowly to watch for snowshoers and cross-country skiers. It was a clear day and the winterly views from the top were spectacular. We ate some snacks at the top and then rode back the same way. When we returned to the trailer, we had a cold beverage at the bar and a delicious pizza at the Cumberland House of Pizza.
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Turnpike Tunnel & Overlook - 45 mins
We unloaded our sleds at the park & ride at Cumberland House of Pizza. We stopped to get gas at J Brothers Variety and then headed out. The trail to the Overlook started behind J. Brothers. It was a great wooded trail that paralleled the turnpike going south. The trail went under the turnpike using what was originally a tunnel to move cattle many years ago from one side of the highway to the other. Just after the tunnel was the Falmouth snowmobile club’s, Trolle Picnic Area, and then the trail climbed to the “Overlook”. It was a fantastic view and completely worth the trip.
“Riding in southern Maine presents a fantastic opportunity for my young kids to learn how to trail ride in a more controlled manner with less traffic. After much practice in the yard, they were ready for short trail rides. While riding with an adult at first, then slowly behind me, they experience winding trails to train their eyes to look for oncoming sleds while watching for trail obstacles. On the power lines speeds can increase, teaching the kids to ride right and ride safe. They learn the hand signals to stop, slow and turn and the importance of staying on the marked trail. Southern Maine riding gives me the opportunity to create these learning moments in order to keep the sport I love going in the future.”
-Shaun Breton, Trail Master