Everything worth doing.Within 20 minutes.

Main Street restaurant next to Lakeside Park with a back deck that looks straight over the town beach to the lake — the closest thing Rangeley village has to a water-view dinner without driving out to Country Club Inn. Burgers, steak, pasta, and a soup list that changes with what's in the walk-in. Get there before six on a Friday in July; the deck fills first.

Fine dining on a 2,000-foot promontory above Rangeley Lake, with a dining room facing Saddleback Mountain across the water — white tablecloths, a fieldstone-fireplace lounge for a drink first, and the best sunset table in the market. This is the reservation to make for the one dinner that should feel like an occasion during a week at the lake. Closed in the deepest part of winter; call ahead off-season.

Sporting-camp dining room on Mooselookmeguntic Lake, not Rangeley Lake itself, but close enough that Oquossoc-side guests treat it as the local special-occasion room — a westerly view built for watching the sun drop behind the mountains. New England cookout nights, full-service dinners, and a kitchen that will work with dietary requirements if you call ahead. Reservations expected, especially for a table at sunset.

Rangeley's only brewery, built into a restored 1912 tavern on Main Street directly across from the lake. The porch is the draw in summer — order a flight and watch boat traffic come off the town launch a block away. Full food menu, not just a taproom, which matters in a village with limited dinner options once the fall crowd thins out. Open year-round, though hours contract after Columbus Day.

State park on the lake's south shore, 869 acres with a sandy swim beach facing Saddleback Mountain, a 50-site campground close to the water, a trailerable boat launch with finger docks, and short shoreline trails. Open May 1 through October 15, 9 a.m. to sunset, with a day-use fee. This is the swim beach to pick over the smaller town option if you want space and a real view.

1.75-mile climb to a fire tower with a 360-degree view over Rangeley, Cupsuptic, and Mooselookmeguntic Lakes, plus Saddleback, Elephant Mountain, and the Height of Land — on a clear fall day, Mount Washington shows up too. Trailhead is on Bald Mountain Road, across from Bald Mountain Camps, 0.8 miles south of Oquossoc. Easy for the first half, a scramble over exposed ledge near the top; go on a weekday if you want the tower to yourself.

Free town beach and park on Main Street in Rangeley village — sandy swim area, a dock with a slide, lifeguards on duty daily through summer, swings, covered picnic tables, and the in-town boat launch. This is the walk-to-it option for anyone staying in the village rather than driving to the state park's south-shore beach. Busy by mid-morning on a hot July Saturday.

Fly shop on Main Street operating since 1945, directly across from the town boat launch and park — Sage, Douglas, and Redington rods, a wall of locally tied flies, and guided trips through the shop's own River To Ridge Guide Service. The staff will tell you honestly whether the hatch is on before you buy anything. The closest thing Rangeley has to an institution.

Wade and fly-fishing trips led by Master Maine Guide Tom Welch, targeting wild brook trout and landlocked salmon on the rivers and lakes around Oquossoc rather than running a fixed boat tour. This is the call for a guest who wants a real Registered Maine Guide day on the water, not a rental with a map. Trips book out during the best fall fishing weeks; call well ahead of a September trip.

Scenic overlook on Route 17 south of Oquossoc, part of the Rangeley Lakes Scenic Byway, with a parking pull-off facing Mooselookmeguntic Lake and the mountains beyond it. The Appalachian Trail crosses the highway close by. This is the stop that earns its reputation rather than needing one — go in the last two weeks of September or first week of October and the hillsides below are on fire with color.

Ski area fifteen minutes from Rangeley village with lift-served terrain above 4,000 feet and a 2,000-foot vertical drop in winter; in summer it runs as a bike park with scenic lift rides and a Sunday brunch at 3,620 feet that's worth the ticket on its own. This is the reason the region stays busy after the leaves drop rather than going quiet until fishing season resumes.

Orgonon, the 200-acre estate where psychoanalyst Wilhelm Reich lived and worked until his death in 1957, is now a museum built around his Orgone Energy Observatory — an International Style building on the National Register of Historic Places. Three floors of his equipment, library, and paintings, plus an audio tour and Reich's own grave on the grounds. The single most unusual rainy-day stop in the region; open only in summer.