The Northern Forest Explorers Youth Program, which will launch across New York, Vermont, New Hampshire, and Maine in summer 2011, has received grant funding to offer rural youth five day paddling trips that support healthy lifestyles and connect them with pride to the natural world, to their communities, and to the North Country region as a whole.

The trips will give them a sense of appreciation for their own backyards, inspire them to support the park, and give them the leadership skills to be able to do so.

Participants spend five days paddling on the Northern Forest Canoe Trail learning basic outdoor skills, environmental and ecological relationships, and both self and group leadership basics.

Three sessions are scheduled in each NFCT State for summer 2011. The NFCT seeks to integrate the program into Trailside communities by partnering closely with local schools and community organizations. Targeted communities and their regions in the Adirondacks this year are as follows:

Old Forge/Eagle Bay Region: July 11-15

Long Lake Region: July 18-22

Tupper Lake/Saranac Lake: July 25-29 (sold out)

First day is a day trip only, and all are invited to participate in the activities and check out the program, your child does not have to be a participant to attend.

Cost: $100 per child and financial support is available to assure that this program is available to any interested child.

NFCT piloted the program with communities in Maine and New Hampshire.  

The early results were overwhelmingly positive, as community participants have seen the transformation that can occur when young people are given the opportunity to learn and grow in an experiential, outdoor setting in their own back yards.

First come, first served. Space is limited to nine participants per trip.

For more info and applications, contact: Roger Poor, Director; Northern Explorers Youth Program; (603) 801-9597 and on-line at roger@northernforestcanoetrail.org

The Northern Forest Canoe Trail is a 740 mile inland paddling trail tracing historic travel routes across New York, Vermont, Quebec, New Hampshire, and Maine. NFCT connects people to the Trail’s natural environment, human heritage, and contemporary communities by stewarding, promoting, and providing access to canoe and kayak experiences along this route.