Sugarloaf - The drive

Heading up to the Loaf tonight for the weekend. Sounds like they are making a recovery from the rain and freeze earlier this week which is nice. They say they'll have King Pine re-opened by tomorrow and they have been doing some re-surfacing across the mountain.

I'll gladly take anyone's advice on what has been skiing well there recently, but my real question here is which way does everyone go on the long drive up there? I live in the Boston area and on a good day with no traffic and no snow, it's still a solid 4 hour drive. So I like to trim that down any way I can. Google maps always suggests exit 75 off I-95 in Lewiston. That leaves a whole lot of non-highway driving which I'm not a huge fan of. I tend to prefer more highway, especially now that Maine raised the speed limit to 70MPH. I typically go to exit 113 in Augusta which is a beautiful drive through Belgrade Lakes. I have also gone even further to exit 130 in Waterville which I also don't hate. There is a Hanniford right off that exit which is a good pit stop to avoid the higher prices at Mountainside Grocery for the weekend.

Just curious which way everyone prefers and which way people think is the fastest? Also if there are any good pit stops along the way that I'm missing out on. Would love to find a store on the route with a good craft beer selection or restaurant with a kitchen that is open late. Fighting traffic out of the city I'm usually not getting off the highway until 9pm and basically everything up that way seems to be closed by then.

There really is no other ""easier" way from Boston.Unless I was coming from the Franconia (NH) area,I would always take the Augusta exit and use Rt27 the rest of the way.

The only way I know to get there faster would be if you have access to a helicopter. I haven't been up there in a few years, but if you can make it from Boston in 4 hours that's pretty good. I remember it being about four and a half hours for me, but I usually stop for a leg stretch and pee break once I get off the highway. I found that the routes you mention end up being about the same time-wise. If you take the Lewiston exit then you hit more little towns and traffic lights, but the distance is quite a few miles less than the other ways. In a snowstorm the longer routes on more highways might be better. Someone once told me you are more likely to get a speeding ticket going through the small towns, but that never happened to me. Since it's a long drive any way you slice it, I try to relax and enjoy the scenery and not worry about getting there fast.

at least in vt you are most likely to get a ticket going thru a town. rt 100 goes from 50 mph limit to 30 mph limit often and suddenly, and cops love to post up just past the spots where the limit changes and bag out of state plates. its free money from non taxpayers.

I think the Waterville route is slightly faster, but it really depends on other drivers. Both ways, you get stuck behind one slowpoke and you are screwed

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I have always done it via L-A as we have family friends in Auburn. It's really not a bad drive as it is pretty open aside from a few stretches through Jay and Farmington. Kingfield is sometimes a speed trap but you have to go through it to get to the Loaf from almost anywhere except Canada or deep northern NH. Plenty of grocery stores and whatnot off Exit 75 as Route 4 is the main "strip mall paradise" in Auburn.

I like the Waterville route but I think it’s negligible time-wise compared to Augusta. The Lewiston route, no thank you.


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KustyTheKlown said:

at least in vt you are most likely to get a ticket going thru a town. rt 100 goes from 50 mph limit to 30 mph limit often and suddenly, and cops love to post up just past the spots where the limit changes and bag out of state plates. its free money from non taxpayers.

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Cops are savage on Route 100. I've never gotten bagged but have seen quite a few people get tickets for going just 8-10mph over.

Plymouth comes to mind just south of Killington. Cop is there 4/5 times I go by.

not vt, but I was at sunday river and loon earlier this season with a buddy who doesn't ski as much as I do, and he drove, and I had to backseat drive and scold him every time we entered a town. he would keep it at 40 and I'm like 'bro are you trying to get yourself a ticket and get me arrested for this here weed? slow it the fuck down thru the towns guy'

I used to do the route 27 route until some on this forum (I think it was Edd) pointed me to the Waterville route. That's the only way I go now.

One add'l suggestion - One of the things I've done sometimes is get to Farmington and stay at the Comfort Inn. You can usually get a reasonably priced room and it cuts about an hour off of the trip up. Then the next morning its a "quick" 1 hr drive to Sugarloaf and ski that day. Then stay at someplace nearby to Sugarloaf. I've done it that way and it's worked pretty good.

ss20 said:

Cops are savage on Route 100. I've never gotten bagged but have seen quite a few people get tickets for going just 8-10mph over.

Plymouth comes to mind just south of Killington. Cop is there 4/5 times I go by.

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At least it's predictable. There's only about 3 spots I obey speed limit on way to K... Chester center (and then again once you turn and go around the corner past the stone houses), Plymouth, and passing by Okemo.

Whitey said:

I used to do the route 27 route until some on this forum (I think it was Edd) pointed me to the Waterville route. That's the only way I go now.

One add'l suggestion - One of the things I've done sometimes is get to Farmington and stay at the Comfort Inn. You can usually get a reasonably priced room and it cuts about an hour off of the trip up. Then the next morning its a "quick" 1 hr drive to Sugarloaf and ski that day. Then stay at someplace nearby to Sugarloaf. I've done it that way and it's worked pretty good.

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yea I usually stay Friday night in Portland on the way up to river. haven't gone to the loaf in a few years, but I'd likely do the same thing there to break up the long haul

bdfreetuna said:

At least it's predictable. There's only about 3 spots I obey speed limit on way to K... Chester center (and then again once you turn and go around the corner past the stone houses), Plymouth, and passing by Okemo.

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I’ve never found it possible to speed by okemo, the traffic is always a crawl with a bunch of idiots who don’t know how to drive. I’ll be making the trip up to sugarbush on Saturday, I’m in now rush so I plan to take 91 to Brattleboro then 30 up to 100 and 100 the entire way


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KustyTheKlown said:

at least in vt you are most likely to get a ticket going thru a town. rt 100 goes from 50 mph limit to 30 mph limit often and suddenly, and cops love to post up just past the spots where the limit changes and bag out of state plates. its free money from non taxpayers.

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Yeah. I drive from L.I. to Killington almost every weekend and take 100 a lot of the time. That cop in Plymouth never sleeps. 1:00 on Friday night, he's there. 3:00 in the afternoon on Sunday, he's there. Almost always has someone pulled over.

Sucks!