This websitelists all the events Bethel will be home to!
Bethel Art FairBethel Town Common, Broad St, Bethel, ME 04217 | (800) 442-5826
This annual event features over 50 artists and artisans at over a dozen locations around town with art openings, film, gallery open houses, youth art shows, and hands-on create-your-own-art activities for all ages.
“Celebrate the harvest and the beginning of fall foliage season with arts, crafts, a farmers’ market, an apple pie contest, live music, and much more on the town common of Bethel, Maine’s most beautiful mountain village.”
Looking for a unique event? Head over to Sunday River for the Wife Carrying Championship, where couples cross a 278-yard obstacle course over hurdles, through a watery mud pit, and up an unsteady sandhill, competing to win the wife’s weight in beer and five times her weight in cash.
There are hikes along the waterfalls and also trails such as the Caribou Trail and Blueberry Ridge trail. The level of difficulty ranges so there is a match for everyone. Check out this site for the best trails. Check out this article for directions to the Blueberry mountain hike with an emerald lagoon at the top! This starts from Gilead, Maine, which is west of Bethel on Rt 2 and Rt 113.
The final 282 miles of the Appalachian Trail is located in Maine. The difficulty varies depending on the part of the trail, but Maine’s portion of the trail is the “most challenging, rugged, and remote state, and it has the wildest feel of any area of the trail.”
“These lands offer rugged terrain for backcountry hikers and include 12 of the most challenging miles along the entire Appalachian Trail… those who seek tamer adventures can find short walks leading to impressive waterfalls and gorges.”
Maine’s finest collection of minerals and gems, which includes Maine tourmaline and “one of the world’s foremost collections of extraterrestrial rocks … including the five largest pieces of the Moon on Earth!”
Skiing
The Bethel Inn Resort21 Broad St, Bethel, ME 04217 | (207) 824-2175Sunday River Ski Resort – Photo Credit: Sunday River
Ski resort great for weddings and other events, and more activities including golfing and a spa.
One of Maine’s most popular waterfalls located in Grafton Notch State Park. There is a relatively short trail to the waterfall, which is a beautiful 25-foot plunge into the Bear River that goes into more shallow pools. Past this, also in Grafton Notch, is the smaller Mother Walker Falls.
“Spectacular long chain of descending horsetails and cascades… Wight Brook, a wide mountain stream, meanders its way down several hundred feet of sunny granite slabs.” One thing to keep in mind is that during the spring it is filled with water but later in the summer it mostly dries up.
Bethel has many swimming holes to cool off in the summer. These holes include the Angevine Park Swim Hole and Frenchman’s Hole. For waterfalls, there are Screw Auger Falls, Mother Walker Falls, and Rumford Falls. If you’re feeling determined you can add a hike in to get to Dunn Falls.
There are over 50 fishing spots in and around Bethel. This link will help guide you.
