Hidden Valley Nature Center (HVNC) was named Best Remote Winter Retreat in this year’s poll of Down East Magazine readers’ favorites. Thousands of Down East readers voted February through April for their statewide selections, and HVNC made the list. The full list of the “Best Of” honored businesses, places and more, appears in the July issue of Down East.

The “Best of Maine” awards occur annually and provide Down East readers the opportunity to nominate the Maine people, places and things that mean the most to them. Based solely on popular vote, the winners represent the best of Maine as identified by the people who know Maine the best: residents and repeat visitors.

“This year thousands of readers nominated their favorites across Maine,” said Down East Editor in Chief Kathleen Fleury. “To be included in this list selected by the readers of Down East or the editorial team here means that you truly are part of what makes Maine so great. Our readers and team take the task of selecting the ‘Best Of’ very seriously. It really is an honor.” 

HVNC is a nonprofit education and recreation center hosting many diverse opportunities to explore the outdoors; 1,000 acres of diverse habitat, including a secluded great pond, are knit together by more than 25 miles of trails. HVNC is open to the public 365 days a year, dawn to dusk. Visitors can rent one of three (soon to be four) rustic buildings including a yurt, or can rent one of two tent sites along serene Little Dyer Pond.

HVNC is best known for winter fun. The trails are selectively groomed for cross country skiing. Visitors on snowshoes are also common. Throughout the winter HVNC offers moonlight snowshoes, xc-skiing clinics, winter ecology classes, and an annual amateur biathlon. For more information about HVNC’s offerings, or to find out how you can support HVNC, visit www.hvnc.org, write to info@hvnc.org, or call 207-200-8840.

“It is a huge honor to have even been nominated, let alone to win, in a state full of great winter options,” said Andy McEvoy, HVNC’s director. “We try to cultivate an authentic backcountry experience here in the mid-Coast, and it’s great to see that others like what we’re doing.” 

The full list of “Best of Maine” winners appears in the July issue of Down East, on newsstands June 24.