50 Years Of Backcountry Adventures!
AN UNFORGETTABLE EXPERIENCE IN THE WOODS AND WATERS OF MAINE.
For a half-century, Maine High Adventure (MHA) has provided Scouts and their adult leaders with a unique backcountry experience. Many find our location an affordable option compared with cross-country destinations that require plane travel, rental vehicles and more. And yet, the remote, serene forests and waterways of northern Maine are unlike anywhere else in New England or the Adirondacks. Here, visitors see moose wading as the morning fog rises off the river. They hear the echoing call of loons on a lake surrounded by uninterrupted woodlands. We also offer invigorating whitewater and picturesque hiking to and around the northern terminus of the Appalachian Trail.
Maine High Adventure outfits your group with the supplies you’ll need — food, canoes, tents, cookware, etc. You will be accompanied by a trained MHA Staff Guide for the duration of the trip. In this setting, groups of Scouts form lasting bonds through the teamwork needed to cook, camp and paddle together as a unit and make memories to last a lifetime.
We operate mid-June through early-August. Please contact us for specific dates. Availability is first-come first-served.
Minimum participant age is 13 years old by September 1st of the attending year.
MHA is EXPERIENCED
Maine High Adventure has outfitted treks from Matagamon Base since 1971. That’s 50 years of High Adventure serving over 32,000 Scouts!
MHA uses time-tested Scouting skills: Leave No Trace---Patrol Method --- Open fire cooking---Youth Led Crews.
MHA is PERSONAL
When you contact us, you will work directly with the MHA Director.
We serve only 25 to 50 crews per season, which offers a more personal experience for you and your group. Rather than being one of dozens of troops arriving or departing you may be the only crew – or one of just two or three.
A knowledgeable MHA representative can meet with your group via Zoom or in-person to present and discuss MHA.
MHA is FLEXIBLE
Minimum stay is 6 days – There is no maximum. The longer your trek, the more you can do!
We don’t offer pre-planned trips. Every trek is custom-designed. Upon arrival at MHA Matagamon Base, each crew will plan its own trek with the expert advice of our Trip Planner.
You can choose arrival and departure days to suit your schedule.
MHA has
LOCAL KNOWLEDGE AND RELATIONSHIPS
MHA Staff Guides are trained and skilled. They know the Maine woods, how to operate safely, and how your crew can maximize its experience.
We have up-to-date information of important planning considerations such as: water levels, local weather, backcountry road accessibility, campsite availability, and many other details.
MHA has long-standing relationships with the Maine Warden Service, Baxter State Park, Allagash Wilderness Waterway, North Maine Woods, and many other landowners, allowing you to have the best trek possible.
MHA is NEARBY
MHA is only a day’s drive from all New England and some mid-Atlantic states.
Many crews fly into Bangor International Airport, a simple 2-hr drive from MHA’s Matagamon Base.
Getting to the Matagamon High Adventure Base
Although your trek will lead your crew into the vast backcountry of northern Maine, your initial destination is our operations base - Matagamon High Adventure Base which is located at the northeast corner of Baxter State Park on Grand Lake Matagamon.
See accompanying map for approximate driving times to Matagamon Base from the Mid-Atlantic and New England.
Every year, hundreds of Scouts head into the backcountry of northern Maine for hiking and whitewater adventures. These include climbing Mount Katahdin, the state’s highest peak, and paddling on the same waters Henry David Thoreau did more than 150 years ago.
“MHA's trip planning is personalized to each and every crew. As the Advisor for five trips, I was impressed that each of our treks was uniquely different...and all were FANTASTIC!!"
~ Jim Minner – Scoutmaster (ret.), Troop 787 Summerville SC.
“Maine High Adventure offers treks in the largest undeveloped tract east of the Mississippi, and only 560 miles from New York City. Solitude, clear night skies, clean lakes and rivers, rich forests, cooking on wood fires, moose, eagles and the calls of loons to fall asleep to. This beautiful natural setting is the backdrop for Scouts and Venturers to develop teamwork, self-reliance, camping skills and an appreciation for the environment. A Maine High Adventure trek can create memories to last a lifetime."
~ Paddlin' John