Your adventure
CUSTOM-DESIGNED
As soon as your crew arrives at the MHA Matagamon Base we will begin to custom-design trek plans and itineraries for your crew to choose. Crew members will review Program Possibilities in the MHA Map Room, explain their priorities and preferences to the MHA Trip Planner, and then trek route options are individually designed for the crew. Just choose your preferred trek itinerary and hit the trail!
WHAT YOU CAN DO …
Backcountry Canoe Travel
Maine High Adventure offers multi-day treks throughout some of the nation’s most beautiful and historically rich forests and waterways. Travel beautiful lakes, picturesque rivers and streams, and remote locations within 4+ million acres of working forest that is the north Maine woods. Each crew's backcountry trek is individually designed to match the desires, abilities, interests and preferences of the group.
Wildlife Observation
Visit one of the nation's premier wildlife areas. "More moose than people" is a common saying in the north Maine woods! In addition to moose, you may also see eagle, osprey, otter, black bear, loon, beaver, and many other species. Your MHA Staff Guide can offer interpretation of the many plants and animals you will encounter.
Backcountry Cooking
You have to eat well when you are on the trail! Lunches and snacks are kept simple on the trail, but dinner and many breakfasts are cooked over an open fire. Our program teaches skills, safety and etiquette around the crew’s cooking fire. We provide meals that are nutritious and satisfying after a great day on the trail. Note: We have experience accommodating dietary needs. Please inform us of them well before your trip.
Whitewater Canoeing
Whitewater canoe travel allows your crew to challenge their paddling and teamwork skills! Maine has some of the nation's most inviting whitewater rivers and streams. The Maine High Adventure program offers our participants a choice of entry level up to Class III whitewater, based on the crew’s skills.
Canoeing Instruction
Your MHA Staff Guide can provide instruction of canoeing technique for flat and swift waters, including how to “read” rapids and line canoes.
Visit Historic Sites
Treks with Maine High Adventure offer interpretation of and visitation to historic logging sites and remnants along the East and West Branches of the Penobscot River, the St. Croix River as well as the Allagash Wilderness Waterway. Many trips follow routes traveled over 150 years ago by Henry David Thoreau. Every MHA Staff Guide is prepared to share knowledge about the unique and diverse history of the area.
Wildlife Observation
Spot moose, eagle, osprey, otter, black bear, loons, beavers and a host of other species in their natural environment. .
Backcountry Navigation
Use map and compass to travel through the north Maine woods.
Photography &
Videography
Opportunities abound to capture Maine’s scenic wonders and your crew in action.
Cooking and Baking on Open Fires
While becoming a lost art for many young people, MHA offers our groups the chance to build and use fire correctly. MHA uses wood fires primarily.
Fishing
For the patient and determined angler, species such as trout, salmon, perch, bass and chub lurk in the waters of northern Maine. (State of Maine fishing license may be required.)
Star Gazing
Maine’s dark night skies provide a wonderful classroom to study the heavens.
Swimming
Enjoy swimming in cool blue lakes and rivers.
Rump-Bumping
Float feet first down rushing whitewater while wearing protective gear.
Conservation Projects
Satisfy requirements for advancement or the Fifty Miler Award.
Ecology
Every MHA Staff Guide is prepared to share knowledge of the flora, fauna, and geology with the crew.
Floatplane Travel: For an additional charge, crews may be able to schedule a sightseeing trip in a float plane.
WHERE YOU CAN GO …
The 4+ million acres of northern Maine woods and waterways offer a variety of fascinating environments – enormous lakes carved by glaciers, whitewater churning in rocky rivers, craggy peaks reaching skyward, endless conifer and hardwood forests, moose, bald eagles, abundant wildlife and an array of colorful wildflowers. Maine has an intriguing history, including: the Native American tribes that navigated these waterways for centuries in birchbark canoes; the mid-19th century wilderness journey of Henry David Thoreau as described in his book The Maine Woods, and nearly four centuries of logging history that dates back to Colonial times when tall Maine pines were used as masts for British Navy ships. And Maine has a colorful past filled with the lore and tales of lumberjacks – like those who scrambled over felled trees as they careened down the river and blasted log-jams free by tossing dynamite into the jumble of logs.
Our highly trained MHA Staff Guides are well prepared to navigate your crew in the backcountry and to interpret the historical and natural wonders of the northern Maine woods.
