72 Hours at Sugarloaf
There's more to Sugarloaf than world-class skiing and riding. As a year-round destination, Sugarloaf offers a range of fun and engaging Summer Activities suitable for the whole family.
Carrabassett Valley is not known only for its sweeping mountain views, but also for its unparalleled access to outdoor recreation. Located within a day's drive from nearly every corner of New England, Sugarloaf is an exciting year-round destination offering everything from alpine and Nordic skiing to downhill and cross-country mountain biking, plus championship golf, scenic chairlift rides, and more.
Whether you're a thrill seeker looking to get air at the bike park or a leisure lover in search of a relaxing mountain escape, Sugarloaf has something for everyone. Join us as we spend 72 hours exploring what makes Sugarloaf a unique Maine summer destination.
Friday Morning
Upon arrival, we stopped into the Sugarloaf Mountain Hotel to check into our room. Sweeping views of Sugarloaf's summit greeted us from our room, re-affirming that our decision to make the Sugarloaf Mountain Hotel our home base for the weekend was the right choice. Located in the heart of the Sugarloaf Village, the hotel boasts a heated 30-person hot tub, a private gym, spa services, and a lobby-level restaurant, 45 North, with direct access to lifts, restaurants, and shops.
Our first activity for the weekend was a Scenic Chairlift Ride on the Whiffletree Quad. This 15-minute ride up offered us 360-degree views of Sugarloaf and nearby mountains, including the Bigelow Range and, with a careful eye, Katahdin to the northeast.
While on the lift, we enjoyed listening to the calls of nearby Hermit Thrush as they flew between pine trees, and we even caught sight of a few downhill mountain bikers making their way down Syncline—Sugarloaf Bike Park's newest green circle trail. With anticipation rising, we were eager to hit the trails ourselves, as the Whiffletree Quad provided the perfect preview with a bird's-eye view.
Though the resort is deep in the woods of Maine, the delicacies of the coast are never far out of reach. 45 North offers Lobster Roll Flight Night every Friday throughout the summer. Featuring three mini brioche rolls, one classic Maine roll paired with two chef's choice rolls, alongside a healthy serving of homemade potato chips. This particular evening's flight featured a candied bacon BLT roll and a crispy garlic and browned butter roll—a truly mouth-watering trifecta.
Fresh lobster rolls paired with a craft cocktail and a relaxing dining environment on 45 North's back deck left us feeling fully satisfied and ready to turn in for a great night's rest among the mountains.
Saturday Sends
After a deep and peaceful sleep, we grabbed a quick coffee and breakfast before heading to New England's newest gravity-fed, downhill bike park—the Sugarloaf Bike Park.
As a fully lift-supported mountain bike park, riders can anticipate fast laps, wide berms, and steep descents. The machine-built flow trails provide the perfect progression-based complement to the existing west-side enduro trails, initially built for world-series mountain bike competitions. The Sugarloaf Bike Park currently caters to intermediate and advanced riders, but there's exciting news on the horizon with a top-to-bottom green circle flow trail set to open in the Fall of 2025.
Our first stop of the day is the Sugarloaf Bike Shop, a full-service bike repair and rental shop, located on the second floor of the Sugarloaf Base Lodge. Equipped with cross-country focused Transitions and decent driven Specialized downhill bikes, we were grateful for the Bike Shop Team's knowledge as they helped us choose the bike that best fit our riding interests for the day.
We started on Boulder Dash, a blue square trail with a mildly techy approach and tight berms, followed by Emerald, a green circle trail with large, fast, and flowy berms that had us smiling from ear to ear with each turn. Widowmaker offered a punchy finish with some classic New England tech—rocks, roots, and a smooth finisher with some machine-built flow.
After a few hours of progressing through the machine-built trails, braving the west side enduro trails, and re-riding our favorites, it was time to head to The Beach for a beverage and some lunch. Boasting a legendary view of Sugarloaf Mountain, The Beach is the perfect après spot to kick back and relax.
We wrapped up lunch and went back out for another session in the bike park before all agreeing it was time to do some shopping. We were eager to check out Downhill Supply Co., a well-stocked must-stop shop for all outdoor enthusiasts. We were greeted by friendly staff upon entering, as well as racks teeming with the latest trends and styles in many of our favorite name brands—Patagonia, Flylow, Khul, Prana, and Nordica, to name a few. Needless to say, we did not leave empty-handed.
We couldn't resist a visit to Maine's most iconic and Sugarloaf's newest retailer—the L.L.Bean shop. Here we browsed Bean's latest collections of summer and winter-weight flannels, loaded up on everyday basics, and picked up the perfect mid-weight jacket, ideal for those unpredictable New England weather swings. It was impossible to leave without picking up a Sugarloaf-branded Boat and Tote, because no trip to the loaf is complete without a new piece of logo wear.
The Sugarloafer Shop has a great selection of unique home goods and fun Sugarloaf logo wear—the perfect gift shopping destination for Loafers of any age, or yourself.
Sunday Funday
Waking up and getting out of bed on a Sunday is never easy. However, with brunch specials and tantalizing mimosas waiting downstairs at 45 North, we found no problem in the quick transition from bed to bacon. We had a hard time choosing between the avocado BLT egg Benedict and the savory waffle, featuring smoked Gouda, prosciutto, and a roasted garlic maple glaze. I didn't find that I had any trouble ordering a cookies and cream cinnamon roll—a delicious treat that blurred the line between breakfast and dessert seamlessly.
After brunch, we decided it was time to try our hands at a round of Disc Golf. With 18 holes weaving through the Whiffletree and Superquad regions, this was the perfect activity to wrap up our visit. Each basket brought its unique challenge, as we laughed endlessly in our attempt to score with the fewest throws.
We came, we saw—and we already booked our return visit for later this season. With many activities yet to be experienced, including 18 holes at the Sugarloaf Golf Course, hiking, dining, and live music on the beach during the Summer Après Series, we knew when we arrived that one weekend visit just wouldn't be enough.