Farmington is a college town that happens to sit at the gateway to western Maine's mountains. The University of Maine at Farmington gives the main street a few cafes and a bookstore, and the Sandy River runs through the valley below, with wooded hills on every side. It is a quiet, old-fashioned place, with brick buildings, white churches and a courthouse, and it serves as the county seat and the commercial hub for a large, thinly populated region.
Farmington's small-town history includes two surprising names. Chester Greenwood, who invented earmuffs as a teenager in the 1870s, was born and lived here, and the town celebrates Chester Greenwood Day each December with a parade. The soprano Lillian Nordica, who became one of the most famous opera singers in the world, was born in Farmington in 1857, and her family farmhouse is preserved as a museum with her stage costumes. Neither would have predicted that this small Maine town would end up in the history books.
As a start for the Rangeley loop, Farmington is ideal. Route 4 runs north through Strong and Phillips toward Rangeley, rolling through forest and farmland with moderate curves and a good surface, and the Sandy River runs alongside for much of the way. The road climbs gradually into the mountains, and the lakes of the Rangeley region lie beyond. Route 27 heads northwest to Kingfield and Sugarloaf, a bigger climb and bigger scenery, past the Carrabassett River and the high ridges of the Bigelow range.
Farmington has fuel, supermarkets, restaurants and several inns, and it is the last place with a wide range of services before the mountains. Fill up here if you are heading north, because stations beyond are scattered. The best season is September to mid-October, when the maples and birches turn, but June has long days and few crowds. Black flies in May and early June can be a pest if you stop, and moose are a hazard on the northern roads at dusk, so keep your speed down at the edge of the day.