Stewardship of the Northern Forest Canoe Trail goes far beyond building campsites and maintaining portage trails. It also requires fostering a love of paddling and the outdoors with people from all walks of life — especially the next generation.
The NFCT’s board and staff have a longstanding commitment to investing in young paddlers. For over 15 years, the Northern Forest Explorers (NFE) program has facilitated backcountry canoe trips for kids in the four states the trail connects. By providing scholarship dollars and working with local guides, the NFCT has helped hundreds of kids discover the natural world.
This past season, NFE branched out even further by partnering with Teens to Trails of Maine to establish Teens to NFCT, a multi-year program that features nine trips taking young paddlers across the entire Maine section of the canoe trail. Initial trips took place in 2023 and 2024, with the final three slated for the NFCT’s 25th anniversary this year.
“Part of stewardship is recognizing that we won’t be here forever,” said NFCT Executive Director Karrie Thomas. “On one level, these trips aren’t about anything more than helping kids have a blast and gain confidence out in the wild. In the long term, however, they create a sense of ownership and responsibility among the next generation of paddlers.”
In addition to expanded NFE outings, the NFCT also teamed with Matt Burnett Guiding, Paul Smith’s College, St. Regis Canoe Outfitters, Adirondack Lakes & Trails Outfitters and NRS to host the first-ever Adirondack Youth Paddling Symposium, an idea born from conversations with local outfitters and guides as well as parents.
“Over the years, we’ve learned that not every kid feels comfortable diving in to a week in the backcountry,” said Matt Burnett, a guide who has run NFE programs for over a decade. “The Symposium introduced a way to teach basic skills in a more controlled environment.”
Twenty kids age 8-15 participated in year one, with parents offering glowing reviews. The NFCT will bring back the program in 2025. To learn more about NFE, Teens to NFCT and the Youth Symposium, contact Karrie Thomas at karrie@northernforestcanoetrail.org.
