Canoe Trips
From the very beginning, traditional canoe tripping has been at the heart of Voyageurs Youth Trips. We paddle the Aidrondacks, the Connecticut River, the Rangeley Lakes Region, and the Allagash Wilderness Waterway. We choose locations and routes that will offer the appropriate level of challenge for the skill level and abilities of our campers while allowing them the opportunity to appreciate and explore the natural environment through which we travel.
Canoe trips are offered for all ages of Voyageur campers. We start our trips with a progression of experiential instruction about canoeing basics: water safety, boat basics and paddling basics. For our experienced campers, this may take the form of an afternon paddle with some canoe games mixed in. For our beginning paddlers (a majority of our campers) we use a slower progression. We'll start learning about the boats on land and we'll introduce the basics of paddling without canoes (the canoes tend to be a distraction). Our staff are American Canoe Association certified paddlers who are highly skilled in teaching campers to control a boat and paddle in an effective and efficient manner. We want campers to have fun, and zig-zagging a canoe around the lake can be frustrating.
Our paddling opportunities start with day trips during our Vermont Adventure I trip. The next level of challenge is 3.5 days of paddling on the Connecticut River during the Ct. River Canoe and Rock Climbing tirp. Outdoor Discovery is the next step. This trip offers 3 days of paddling the Rangeley Lakes. The Rangeley Canoe trip is a week long paddling trip across four of the Rangeley Lakes with one portage mixed in.
Our first two week canoe trip is the Adirondack Adventure. This trip combines a week of paddling and portaging (carrying canoes and equipment from one lake to the next) along a section of the Northern Forest Canoe Trail with a week of hiking some of the most beautiful sections of the Adirondack Park. The Allagash Expedition is our last two week canoe trip along the Allagash Wilderness Waterway. This classic river trip is by special permission of the director.
Bill Cummings, our lead canoe instructor, was recently featured in an independent film. Check out Bill's paddling adventures here: Up a Creek.