Northern Maine is woods and potatoes. Most of the snow occurs here, but it is pretty flat. western Maine contains mountain towns and gets a reasonable amount of snow.

Maine, like California, has a number of very distinct regions. Western, Central, Coastal, Northern, Eastern, the Portland area, the Bangor area, and then the southern beach areas are all different

Potatoes. Lots of potatoes

Maine will be very very different than California. Northern Maine (most people consider this around Bangor or Katahdin north) is very sparse and mostly hills and potato’s. Not much to do. I think you would enjoy western Maine though. Most of Maines skiing is in this region, we get just about as much snow as the county and have mountains for days. It’s still pretty remote but we do have a few towns like Farmington and Rumford. I would highly suggest the former over the latter. Farmington has a university which I’m assuming you might be interested in. An expensive option would be a place like rangeley or carrabasset valley area or king field. they’re further north than the two I mentioned earlier, groceries can mean an hour drive, bad cell reception and sometimes more costly to no apartments but they will get you even closer to the mountains. Any other questions feel free to ask!

If someone wants to move to Northern Maine just because it's cold, that's not a very well thought out plan. How about visiting there first, spend a good amount of time there checking things out before deciding that is where you are going to live?

Woods, snow and lakes and rivers. If you love the outdoors and not being around people much it's the place to be. Internet is usually poor, cell reception can be pretty poor depending exactly where. Jobs are also pretty limited

We moved here from Las Vegas a few years ago. Maine is a very different lifestyle as well as climate. I also love the 4 seasons and cold. We are still learning how to live here. You need to figure out what you want to do for work unless you are willing to take anything. The north tends to be less populated and longer drives between what is populated. If you are looking to really get away it is perfect. If you want places to hang out and meet other young people, you may want to look around a bit before making a choice. I would recommend outside of Bangor or Southern Maine.

Southern maine (portland) is commonly referred to as north boston.

Augusta south is more populated. Unless you have a job lined up, going north of Bangor could be tough finding a good job, but they are out there.

If you love the outdoors and enjoy the quiet, you will love it north of bangor. Just an FYI if you want internet north of bangor there are few options in some area's, most people are moving to starlink since your lucky to get 5MB-10MB dsl in a lot of area's

I think the Bangor area has a lot to offer. All of the new people I work with are 19-23, have moved to the area, and love it. There are many universities around, including U Maine in Orono, so there's lots of restaurants and bars to choose from. We're not talking LA, NY, or Boston here, Maine "cities" are small, quaint, and within 10 mins you're back in the woods. Bangor is also somewhat "central" in the state, and the last major populated area traveling north. Easy access to the interstate, lakes, mountains, you name it. Maine has the highest percentage of forested area in the US. The mountains are "small" compared to the Rockies, mostly under 5,000 ft. Because of that the amount of trees and wildlife in those mountains is plentiful. Maine is definitely a state of hunting, fishing, hiking, camping, four wheeling, snowmobiling, boating, and other outdoor recreations. In Bangor, you're 1.5 hrs from the Atlantic coast and Acadia National Park (hikers paradise), and the same distance from true wilderness. But you also have plenty of stores and an international airport. Below 0⁰F temps and feet of snow are normal in the winter. The cost of living is much lower than the southern part of the state, but jobs pay slightly higher than areas far north. I've been coming to Maine for decades, and moved here a year and half ago. This area is definitely growing for sure. Poverty and politics are similar to most rural areas, but there's a decent balance in this part of the state. I hope this helps, and don't be afraid to turn on topography on Google maps and explore.

We have some beautiful mountains, and lots of trails.

My friend used to do trail work in northern maine, a lot in Baxter state park, but the part that comes after where the app trail ends. You should know that parts of upstate New York are actually a lot colder than Maine (coastal areas tend to be warmer/more temperate as you may know) That being said, you should just check out Portland or Mid Coast. It's going to be strikingly colder already and if you reeaally want it colder you can move somewhere else from there. I would also suggest Burlington VT or Montreal.

There’s no work live in Massachusetts get established then move up there

Don’t listen to anyone, there’s so much to do in northern maine. Just move and worry about the rest later.