Summer Days in Western Maine
Sunday River Golf Club is one of the best reasons to visit western Maine in the summer. But if golf isn't your thing yet, or you're tagging along with someone who's spending the day on the course, the region has plenty to keep you busy.
People are sometimes surprised to hear just how much is going on up here once the snow melts. The lifts go quiet in spring, but the mountains don't. They just change their outfit. Come summer, the valley turns every shade of green you can imagine, the air smells like pine and wildflowers, and the whole western Maine region opens up in a way that even longtime visitors haven't fully explored.
Here's what a day could look like.
A Summer Day at Sunday River
Breakfast at Gemini
Before you do anything else, get yourself to Gemini Cafe & Bakery on Main Street in Bethel. Seriously. Whatever you had in mind for breakfast, set it aside.
Gemini is one of those places that feels like a well-kept secret, even though the line out the door on a summer morning suggests otherwise. Everything is made in-house, from the bread (do not leave without a loaf) to the pastries that will make you rethink your relationship with scones. The coffee is roasted locally by Greenwood Bean, a women-owned company right here in the region, and it hits exactly right. Sit outside if you can, let the morning be slow, and remind yourself you're on vacation.
When you're there, order the pastry that catches your eye first. That instinct is never wrong at Gemini.
Maine Mineral & Gem Museum
A couple of doors down the street, you'll find one of the most genuinely surprising museums in New England.
The heart of it is Maine's extraordinary geology. This corner of the state sits on some of the richest pegmatite deposits in the world, and the museum holds the finest collection of Maine minerals and gems anywhere, including specimens from the legendary "Big Find" of 1972 at the Dunton Quarry right here in Newry, where two metric tons of tourmaline were pulled from the earth. Tourmaline, incidentally, is Maine's state mineral, and after you see the colors on display here, you'll understand why.
But the museum doesn't stop at what's under our feet. It also houses one of the world's most significant collections of extraterrestrial rocks: meteorites from the Moon, Mars, and the asteroid belt. Standing in front of a piece of Mars in a small town in western Maine is a genuinely strange and wonderful experience.
Whether you're eight years old or eighty, this place earns every minute.
Grafton Notch State Park
Just up Route 26 from Sunday River, past the covered bridge and through the valley, the mountains open up into Grafton Notch State Park. This is the real stuff: dramatic gorges, thundering waterfalls, and some of the most rugged terrain on the entire Appalachian Trail.
For those who want a full-day challenge, Old Speck Mountain (4,180 feet, Maine's third highest peak) rewards a tough 7.6-mile round trip with 360-degree views from an old fire tower at the summit. The White Mountains, the Mahoosuc Range, the whole sweep of western Maine spread out below you. Worth every step.
If you're looking for something more accessible, Table Rock is a 2.4-mile loop that puts you 900 feet above the valley floor with sweeping views of the notch and Old Speck. And if you just want to feel the place without committing to a climb, pull over at Screw Auger Falls, where a 23-foot waterfall cuts through a narrow granite gorge. Pack a sandwich. Stay a while. There's a reason people come back to Grafton Notch every summer for decades.
Dinner at The Clubhouse
After a day on the trails or the golf course, The Clubhouse at Sunday River Golf Club is exactly where you want to be. The views stretch out over the golf course toward the mountains, and honestly that alone is worth the stop.
The menu is the kind that makes it hard to decide, which is a good problem to have. The lobster roll is exactly what it should be in Maine: generous, fresh, no fuss. The chicken sandwich is a house favorite for good reason, and the wings have a way of disappearing before anyone at the table means for them to. If you're staying for a proper dinner, the ribeye is the move. You've earned it.
It's the kind of dinner that turns a great day into a great memory.
Relax at The Jordan Spa
There's a particular kind of tired you feel after a day in the mountains. The good kind, the kind where your legs are heavy and your mind has finally gone quiet. The Jordan Spa, tucked inside The Jordan Hotel, is built for exactly that moment.
Book a massage and let a therapist work out whatever the trail left behind. Or go for a custom facial and just let yourself be taken care of for an hour. Spa guests also get access to the hotel pool and hot tub, which means you can move from treatment table to warm water without any particular plan or agenda, the way a good afternoon should go. It's the rare kind of rest that actually feels restorative, not just restful.
Book ahead. You'll be glad you did.