What to Do in Skowhegan, Maine

The folks in Skowhegan sure know how to heat up winter’s chill. Imagine fearless skiers and snowboarders flying over jumps, swerving through gates, and veering around tight turns—all while being pulled by galloping horses. The fast and furious late-February spectacle, called equestrian skijoring, is a highlight of Skowhegan’s annual Somerset SnowFest.

The weeklong celebration packs in a lot more adrenaline-fueled fun, too, such as a kayak race down a snowy slope and a triathlon on snowshoes, cross-country skis, and fat-tire bikes, plus a full roster of other events.

While this small town may not top everyone’s list of day-trip destinations, there are plenty of reasons to visit Skowhegan: an abundant calendar of spirited celebrations, delightful public art, and a burgeoning culinary scene that draws on the city’s traditional role as an agricultural center.

Street art in Skowhegan

Photo by Mimi Bigelow Steadman

The Langlais Art Trail delights visitors with more than 20 large folk art–style sculptures, all crafted from scrap wood in the mid-20th century. Celebrated Maine artist Bernard Langlais used his whimsical imagination to create the oversize animals, people, and fantastical creatures that enliven the city’s streets and parks.

Download a map to discover such creations as a mermaid, a bear, a panther, and football and basketball players. Most impressive of all is a 62-foot statue that Langlais dedicated to “the Maine Indians, the first people to use these lands in peaceful ways.” It’s said to be the world’s tallest sculpture of a Native American.

Skowhegan’s bread winners

Photo courtesy Maine Grains

The gray and yellow silos of Maine Grains’ gristmill sit just across the street from Langlais’ Indian. While shepherding the development of the Skowhegan Farmers’ Market more than a decade ago, local mill owner Amber Lambke became concerned that participating bakers could not source Maine-grown grains because there was no mill to process them. So in 2009, she bought the former Somerset County Jail and built a gristmill in it, boosting Skowhegan’s position as an agricultural hub and energizing its ongoing revitalization. “I believe it helped transform downtown,” says Lambke. “It’s gone from a blighted area to a vibrant place.”

Lambke proudly notes that Maine Grains recently celebrated its 10th anniversary. In that first decade, she says, it purchased 10 million pounds of grain from central and northern Maine farmers and sold $10 million worth of milled grains to Northeastern wholesalers and online retail customers.

Photo by Edwin Remsberg/Alamy Stock Photo

Curious to see how the stone-milling process works? Sign up online for a free tour. Then taste the results at The Miller’s Table, the mill’s inviting café that serves sandwiches made with baked-in-house breads and wood-fired pizzas on excellent whole-grain crust. Pizza dough, bread, and flour are also sold.

Next door, Crooked Face Creamery offers fresh ricotta and other cheeses made in the mill building. On Saturdays, the Skowhegan Farmers’ Market sets up nearby; it will soon have a year-round home inside a second mill building now under construction.

Photo courtesy The Bankery & Skowhegan Fleuriste

While you’re in town, check out other businesses that support Maine Grains: The Bankery (pictured), a bakery in a repurposed, circa-1864 bank; The Maine Meal, maker of pastas (fresh and frozen) and prepared dishes to eat at home; and Bigelow Brewing, which uses Maine Grains in some of its beers.

For even more local grains, the single-day Maine Artisan Bread Fair in July gathers more than 60 vendors selling bread, pizza, pastries, and other handcrafted foods. It’s part of the annual Kneading Conference, which draws a national audience of farmers, bakers, and other professionals to its workshops and demonstrations.

It all happens at the local fairgrounds, home to the Skowhegan State Fair. Dating from the early 1800s—even before the city’s founding—it’s the country’s oldest continuously operating state fair.

What’s coming to Skowhegan

Kristina Cannon, executive director of Main Street Skowhegan. Photo by Tim Greenway

An affiliate of Main Street America, Main Street Skowhegan partners with the local business community to nurture new shops, restaurants, and other enterprises.

“We are on the cusp of big things,” declares Executive Director Kristina Cannon (pictured), noting that the organization is hard at work on Skowhegan Riverfront, a major project destined to add a new attraction to the town. A 2-mile-long promenade beside the Kennebec River, which rushes through the heart of the city, is set to debut this summer. The once-neglected riverbank will gain viewing areas, seating, a stage for live performances, and spots for vendors.

A whitewater park in the river itself will enhance access to kayaking and tubing. With the installation of a slalom course, events could draw competitors ranging from amateur to Olympic level. Perhaps most exciting, a couple of artificial wave features will make it possible to surf right in the middle of town.

Whenever regular contributor Mimi Bigelow Steadman visits Skowhegan, she can’t leave town without picking up some Maine Grains bread and saying hello to the Skowhegan Indian.

Pizza with a pedigree

The new Maine Craft Pizza Trail leads to about a dozen spots in the state that adhere to guidelines set by the Maine Grain Alliance. Crusts are made with Maine grains, toppings come from Maine farms, pies are baked in a wood-fired oven (because it’s a sustainable energy source), and meals are served with a Maine craft beer.

Main Street mentors

Skowhegan is 1 of 22 towns in Maine—and more than 1,200 communities nationwide—that are “designated members” of Main Street America. Since its founding 4 decades ago, the organization has guided many aging municipalities to newfound prosperity.