New England Forest Rally

by Greg J.
(Ocala, Florida)

My Wife and I visited Maine in 2006. We drove up from Virginia to watch the Maine Forest Rally, now known as the New England Forest Rally - NEFR.

A rally is a motorsport event which takes place on closed public roads, in which cars drive as fast as they can to record the fastest time through each leg. This is a very exciting form of motorsport, in which cars are often sliding sideways down dirt roads and jumping over crests in the road.

The rally in Maine is especially exciting due to its spectator points. The first takes place in a park, where you are standing a mere 30 feet from the course. The course happens to contain a jump, so you’re standing 30 feet from cars jumping up to 10 feet in the air, it is very exciting!

You are allowed near full access to the service points, and there is also a “Parce Expose” which allows competitors to scrutinize each other’s cars, and it also affords the spectators a chance to see each car up close.

We stayed in Bethel, Maine at the Sunday River Resort. The hotel was midway up a rather large mountain and also served as a Ski Resort in the winter. The rates were very reasonable during July. The view from the hotel room was amazing, looking up the mountain. The lobby and corridors of the hotel had a welcoming and warm atmosphere. I would definitely recommend this hotel to anyone traveling to the Bethel area.

Bethel also had many small shops and restaurants. A lot of the shops sold homemade knick knacks and antiques. Most of these shops were reasonably priced. The restaurants in the area were also very good and reasonably priced.

We were pretty much in town just for the rally and didn’t have too much time to do much else, but I would definitely recommend a trip to Maine to anyone interested in attending either the New England Forest Rally, or just looking for somewhere to relax.

Maine seems to have something for everyone, from motorsport, hiking, camping, and shopping.