Beyond Skiing and Swimming: More Outdoor
Maine Activities
Maine is well-known
for great skiing, beautiful beaches and campgrounds, and scenic hiking
trails. This directory aims to introduce Maine visitors – and residents
– to some recreational activities that may be less well-known, but that
offer a wide variety of opportunities to outdoor enthusiasts of all interests
and abilities. The addresses below provide links to web sites hosted by
several organizations as well as to commercial companies and individuals
that provide various guiding services and adventure trips. Several of the
businesses and individuals provide guides for more than one type of activity;
even though they’re listed specifically under whitewater rafting or ice
climbing, for example, the web site will include information about the entire
range of services offered.
General Information
- Maine Tourism and Business
Guide
This commercial site is hosted
by Connect Maine.com, produced by Web Impressions,
in Caribou, Maine, and supported by subscribers who are listed in a general
business directory. Links are also provided to subscribers’ web sites from
related pages. In addition to general information about Maine, including
information about specific communities and non-profit organizations, Connect
Maine offers a detailed directory of links to sites that provide specific
recreational services.
- Maine Guides Online
An online directory of guides
and providers of outdoor sporting services, this directory is sponsored
by Maineguides.com, and hosted by Maine Hosting Solutions.
It is organized by activity and provides information and links to qualified
guides for hunting, fishing, water activities such as kayaking, sea kayaking,
and white water rafting; winter activities such as snowmobiling, snowshoeing,
ice climbing and dog sledding, as well as the more traditional pursuits
of camping, hiking and mountain biking. The site also includes links to
sporting camps and activities that are specifically designed for families
and young people, and information about weather, lodging, recreation sites,
and other Maine resources.
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Learn
more about land-based activities . . .
Birding
Birding in Maine: Maine’s Outdoor-Sporting
Guide, created by MaineOutdoors.Com, is one of several pages
offering information on activities that take advantage of Maine’s outdoor
environment. Sponsored by the Maine Resource Guide, and produced by
Interactive Marketing Group, a web development firm, MaineOutdoors.com
is an up-to-date source of information about lodging, activities, weather
conditions, and other areas of interest to Maine outdoor enthusiasts. The
birding site provides links to the Maine Audubon Society, a number of wildlife
sanctuaries, and several privately maintained sites devoted to bird watching,
bird counts, and attracting and feeding birds.
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Dog Sledding
Mahoosuc Guide Service is a
unique guide service that offers dog sledding trips using traditional equipment
and techniques. Based in Newry, Maine, and featured in such national publications
as Canoe and Kayak, Downeast, and Cross Country Skier,
the Mahoosuc Guide Service also appeared in a film for National
Geographic Explorers Journal. The web site, which is maintained by
Mahoosuc, emphasizes the service’s respect for wilderness
and the value of the a wilderness experience that allows time for relaxing
and exploring natural history. Mahoosuc Guide Service also
offers Native American Cultural Trips which provide, as an additional benefit,
“the opportunity to live and work with a Native subsistence hunter’s family
through their ancestral homeland.”
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Mountain Biking
Women Backcountry
Guided Adventures is the web presence of Dail Martin, a Registered
Maine Guide with over 20 years experience in the Maine outdoors. Her
background and areas of expertise are described, as are the goals of her
expeditions (to provide women with the opportunity “to relax, learn new
skills and challenge yourself while enjoying the national treasure that is
Maine”). In addition to mountain biking, Women Backcountry, which
is located in Yarmouth, Maine, offers rafting, backpacking, skiing, snoeshowing,
and other types of trips. The web site, which is part of the Maine Guides
Online network, provides details of the various trips offered,
including price, duration, location, and experience and/or fitness levels
required. There’s also a photo gallery of recent trips.
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Rock Climbing
Adventure Bound is a Caratunk,
Maine, company offering individual instruction and personal attention in
“the basics of knot typing, belay techniques, climbing moves and rappelling,”
along with indoor lessons and outdoor rock climbing adventures. Adventure
Bound's web site, which was designed and is maintained by FirstPage
Results of Wilton, Maine, provides information about rates and accommodations,
specialized adventures for youth groups, adults, and families, as well as
other activities such as whitewater rafting and ropes courses.
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Snowmobiling
SLEDMAINE - Tours and Guides
is part of the official site of SledMaine, an organization of snowmobile-related
merchants and service providers, which is also responsible for the web site's
content. The site is commercially sponsored and provides an extensive listing
of accommodations and restaurants, with links to snowmobile dealers, rentals,
clubs and events, trail maps and reports, and rules and regulations governing
snowmobiles. The "Tours and Guides" page has links to a number of tour
operators, outfitters, and accommodations with useful “company locator
maps” to help those unfamiliar with Maine geography find providers in the
area they wish to visit.
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Snowshoeing
Maine Trails Guide Service is the home
page of Richard Aspinall, Registered Maine Guide, of Durham, Maine. Mr.
Aspinall offers a variety of guided trips for “small-medium sized groups,
with campers, paddlers, hikers and backpackers of all levels of experience
welcome.” Information about showshoe trips can be found under the link to
Maine Winter
Trips on the first page of the site. The site has several impressive
photographs of Maine scenes, and the addition of a quote by Thoreau (“I went
to the woods because I wish to live deliberately . . .) suggests that Mr.
Aspinall respects the environment and seeks to share that respect with the
people he guides.
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Explore adventures on the water . . .
Sea Kayaking
Sea Kayaking in Maine with Maine
Island Kayak Company is the web site of a private company located at
Peaks Island, Maine, that offers sea kayaking trips and instruction to enthusiasts
of all experience levels. As the name implies, Maine Island Kayak
specializes in islands; their trips offer opportunities to explore some
of the 2,000 or more coastal islands that lie in Maine’s protected waters.
They also guide trips to more distant locations such as Alaska, Nova Scotia,
and Wales. The web site, which was produced by the company itself, provides
extensive information about their trips, their schedule, offerings for private
groups, a library and a “retail outpost,” as well as an online registration
form.
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Whitewater Kayaking
Maine Whitewater Kayaking School
is sponsored by Maine Kayak, a private company headquartered in
East Vassalboro, Maine. Their web site details the qualifications and experience
of Maine Kayak’s guides, and describes the services the company provides.
Maine Kayak, which calls itself New England’s premier whitewater
kayaking school, offers private instruction as well as group courses for
beginners and intermediates, and provides all the necessary gear, from kayaks
to wetsuits. Detailed information is provided about the skills taught as
well as about practical matters such as lodging, meals, and transportation.
A photo gallery allows prospective adventurers to see a sample of the course
activities.
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Whitewater Rafting
Moxie Outdoor Adventures
is located in The Forks, Maine, and provides a variety of outdoor adventures
in addition to whitewater rafting. Its web site, which is hosted by Maine
Hosting Solutions of Bath, Maine, offers details about rafting, accommodations,
vacation packages, and family trips, along with online reservations forms
and general information about things to do in Maine. Photographs of rafts
negotiating Class IV and V rapids provide a taste of what adventurers can
expect on the Kennebec, Penobscot, or Dead River trips.
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Site Created by
Janet Brackett - August 1, 2001
Email: janetbme01@yahoo.com
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