Northern Forest Explorers

Overnight adventures for kids ages 9-15 on the Northern Forest Canoe Trail. Spend four-to-six days exploring the Northern Forest, paddling, camping, learning outdoor and leadership skills. Meet new friends, discover new talents and fall in love with the natural wonders of the Adirondack Park in New York, northern Vermont, New Hampshire’s North Country or Maine’s North Woods. A skilled and trusted set of outfitters have led Northern Forest Explorers trips for many years. Check out the list of trips below. Sign up contact the outfitter directly.

Matt Burnett Guiding

Matt Burnett Guiding will once again offer week-long team building trips this summer!

Adventure on the Allagash ($1,400), June 29 to July 8: Back by popular demand! A journey of 92 miles, this trip is intended for experienced and adventurous campers. Note that this is a longer trip than the regional NY paddles. Trout fishing, moose sighting, an abandoned logging train from over a century ago and a river with a few riffles to navigate. We’re also offering a $200 dollar discount off of registration to any carpool parents willing to drive paddlers to our staging area in Maine; we’ll be meeting in Portland or Augusta.

Rendezvous on the Raquette ($700), July 21-25: The classic route leaving from Long Lake village and ending at the Crusher in Tupper Lake, 33 miles downstream. Includes opportunities for adventures in the Cold River and Northville Placid trail, pike and bass fishing, and lots of fun. For paddlers and campers of all experience levels.

Sojourn on the Saranacs ($700) Aug. 4-8: Starting at Saranac Inn, we’ll be journeying across the Saranac from Upper to Middle to Lower, then out to Osteetah and Lake Flower. We’ll take a day to hike Ampersand Mountain and do some other side trips along the way. For paddlers and campers of all experience levels.

To register for any of these trips, email matt@mattburnettguiding.com or text/call 518 524 6441. Commitments and deposits due by April 1st.

There is a limited amount of scholarship money available; use the links below to apply.

Scholarship Form (Online)
Scholarship Form (PDF)

Vermont Trips

Stay tuned for updates.

Scholarship Form (Online)
Scholarship Form (PDF)

Maine – Teens to the NFCT!

NFCT and Teens to Trails are working together to send eight trips full of Maine Outing Club members across the entire trail in Maine over the next three years in anticipation of our 25th anniversary. If you are part of an outing club in Maine and would like to participate, contact Samantha Andrews at Teens to Trails, samantha@teenstotrails.org.  To learn more about our partners at Teens to Trails visit teenstotrails.org.

Allagash: Chamberlain Bridge to The Thoroughfare

Allagash: The Thoroughfare to Allagash Village

St John River: Allagash Village to Fort Kent

Get Outside

Being outside is fun, but it’s a whole lot more! Studies show that spending time in nature improves health by lowering stress, and increasing vitamin D absorption, which helps fight certain illnesses. It increases concentration and helps kids be more active addressing obesity and depression. Kids benefit developmentally from being outside too: time spent in nature has been shown to improve creativity, problem solving and social skills. Help your kids get ahead: get them outside!

Scholarships Available

Through generous support from individual donors and grant funders, Northern Forest Canoe Trail has a limited number of partial and full scholarships available on a first-come, first-serve basis. To apply for a scholarship, fill out this form. If you would like to support our scholarship fund, make a donation and indicate that it is for Northern Forest Explorers in the Special Notes field.

Northern Forest Explorer Stories

And Into the Forest We Go (2021)
Rendezvous on the Raquette (2019)
5 days on the Saranacs with the Northern Forest Explorers (2019)
Peek into the Life of a Northern Forest Explorer (2016)
Jack Skiff’s LOCALadk Story (2014)