The Northern Forest Canoe Trail is a canoe route that many paddlers are not yet aware of because it was designated in the 1990’s and there hasn’t been much promotion until recent years. The long-distance paddling trail connects 740 miles of watersheds between the Adirondacks and Northern New England. This trail traverses across New York, Vermont, Quebec, New Hampshire, and Maine, and on this trail you’ll encounter experiences from remote wild places, mountains, small towns and villages, farmland, hills and forests. Whatever experience you are seeking you’ll probably find it on this canoe trail, but good planning is essential and the skills recommended for this canoe trail are novice to expert depending on what section you intend to paddle.
If you intend to paddle the entire canoe trail you need to be prepared with good outdoor skills and realistic expectations of 50-60 days to complete. The trail includes flat and whitewater paddling, poling and lining on 22 rivers, streams and ponds. Expect around 60 portages, and definitely consider arranging portage assistance because there is about 55 miles of it. Overnight arrangements include primitive campsites, to motels and bed and breakfast inns at the numerous communities your journey will traverse through.
This is one serious canoe trail located within one or two days driving distance for most Mid-Atlantic paddlers. And because there is so much access to the trail you don’t have to do the entire trip at once. You could do shorter sections of the trail that would last many of us a lifetime.
Learn more about the Northern Forest Canoe Trail.
