Special-Interest Vacations

New England is a superb destination for those who don't consider it a vacation unless they spend some time far away from their cars. Hiking, canoeing, and skiing are among the most popular outdoor activities, but you can also try rock climbing, sea kayaking, mountain biking, road biking, sailing, winter mountaineering, and snowmobiling. The best way to enjoy the outdoors is to head to public lands where the natural landscape is preserved. Wild areas in New England include the Cape Cod National Seashore, Green Mountain National Forest in Vermont, White Mountain National Forest in New Hampshire, and Baxter State Park and Acadia National Park in Maine. You can often find adventure-travel outfitters and suppliers in towns around the perimeter of these areas.

A bit of added advice: To find real adventure, plan to stay put. I advise prospective adventurers to pick just one area, then settle in for a few days or a week, spending the long summer days exploring locally by foot, canoe, or kayak. This will give you the time to enjoy an extra hour lounging at a remote backcountry lake, or to spend an extra day camped in the backcountry.

Finding Your Way -- Travelers have three options: Hire a guide, sign up for a guided trip, or dig up the essential information yourself.

Hiring a Guide

Guides of all kinds may be hired throughout the region, from grizzled fishing hands who know local rivers like their own homes to young canoe guides attracted to the field because of their interest in the environment. Alexandra and Garrett Conover of Maine's North Woods Ways, 2293 Elliotsville Rd., Willimantic, ME 04443 (tel. 207/997-3723), are among the most experienced in the region. The couple offers canoe trips on northern Maine rivers (and as far north as Labrador), and are well versed in North Woods lore.

Maine has a centuries-old tradition of guides leading "sports" into the backwoods for hunting and fishing, although many now have branched out to include recreational canoeing and more specialized interests, such as bird-watching. Professional guides are certified by the state; you can learn more about hiring Maine guides by contacting the Maine Professional Guides Association, P.O. Box 336, Augusta, ME 04332. www.maineguides.org.

In Vermont, contact the Vermont Outdoor Guide Association (tel. 800/425-8747; www.voga.org), whose members can help arrange adventure-travel tours, instruction, and lodging.

Elsewhere, contact chambers of commerce for suggestions on guides.

Guided Tours

Guided tours have boomed in recent years, both in number and variety. These range from 2-night guided inn-to-inn hiking trips to weeklong canoe and kayak expeditions, camping each night along the way. A few reputable outfitters to start with include the following:

Allagash Canoe Trips, P.O. Box 932, Greenville, ME 04441 (tel. 207/237-3077; www.allagashcanoetrips.com), leads 3- to 7-day canoe trips down Maine's noted and wild Allagash River and other local rivers. You provide a sleeping bag and clothing; everything else is taken care of.

BattenKill Canoe Ltd., 6328 Historic Rte. 7A, Arlington, VT 05250 (tel. 800/421-5268 or 802/362-2800; www.battenkill.com), runs guided canoeing and walking excursions of between 4 and 5 nights' duration in Vermont. Nights are spent at quiet inns.

Bike the Whites, P.O. Box 37, Intervale, NH 03845 (tel. 800/447-4345; www.bikethewhites.com), offers self-guided biking tours between three inns in the White Mountains, with each day requiring about 20 miles of biking. Luggage is shuttled from inn to inn.

Country Walkers, P.O. Box 180, Waterbury, VT 05676 (tel. 800/464-9255 or 802/244-1387; www.countrywalkers.com), has a glorious color catalog outlining supported walking trips around the world, including offerings in coastal Maine and north-central Vermont. Trips run 4 or 5 nights and include all meals and lodging at appealing inns.

Maine Island Kayak Co., 70 Luther St., Peaks Island, ME 04108 (tel. 800/796-2373 or 207/766-2373; www.sea-kayak.com), has a fleet of seaworthy kayaks for camping trips up and down the Maine coast. The firm has a number of 2- and 3-night expeditions each summer and has plenty of experience training novices.

New England Hiking Holidays, P.O. Box 1648, North Conway, NH 03860 (tel. 800/869-0949 or 603/356-9696; www.nehikingholidays.com), has an extensive inventory of trips, including weekend trips in the White Mountains, as well as more extended excursions to the Maine coast and Vermont. Trips typically involve moderate day hiking coupled with nights at comfortable lodges.

Vermont Bicycle Touring, P.O. 614 Monkton Rd., Bristol, VT 05443 (tel. 800/245-3868; www.vbt.com), is one of the more established and well-organized touring operations, with an extensive bike tour schedule. VBT offers five trips in Vermont, and three in Maine.

Getting More Information

Guidebooks to the region's backcountry are plentiful and diverse. L.L.Bean in Freeport, ME, and the Green Mountain Club headquarters in Waterbury, VT, have excellent selections of guidebooks for sale, as do many local bookshops throughout the region. An exhaustive collection of New England outdoor guidebooks for sale may be found on the Web at www.mountainwanderer.com, a company based in the White Mountains. The Appalachian Mountain Club, 5 Joy St., Boston, MA 02108 (tel. 617/523-0655; www.outdoors.org), publishes a number of definitive guides to hiking and boating in the region.

Map Adventures, P.O. Box 15214 Portland, ME 04112 (tel. 207/879-4777; www.mapadventures.com), is a small firm that publishes a growing line of recreational maps covering popular northern New England areas, including the Stowe and Mad River Valley areas and the White Mountains.

Local outdoor clubs are also a good source of information, and most offer trips to nonmembers. The largest of the bunch is the Appalachian Mountain Club, whose chapters run group trips almost every weekend throughout the region, with northern New Hampshire especially well represented. Another active group is the Green Mountain Club, 4711 Waterbury-Stowe Rd., Waterbury Center, VT 05677 (tel. 802/244-7037; www.greenmountainclub.org).

Special-Interest Vacations

A richly rewarding way to spend a vacation is to learn a new outdoor skill or add to your knowledge while on holiday. You can find plenty of options, ranging from formal weeklong classes to 1-day workshops.

Learn to fly-fish. Among the region's most respected schools are those offered by Orvis (tel. 888/235-9763) in Manchester, VT, and L.L.Bean (tel. 800/343-4552) in Freeport, ME. (L.L.Bean also offers a number of shorter workshops on various outdoor skills through its Outdoor Discovery Program; call tel. 888/552-3261.)

Learn about birds and coastal ecosystems. Budding and experienced naturalists can expand their understanding of marine wildlife while residing on 333-acre Hog Island in Maine's wild and scenic Muscongus Bay. The program has a stellar reputation. Contact the Maine Audubon Society, 20 Gilsland Farm Rd., Falmouth ME 04105 (tel. 207/781-2330; www.maineaudubon.org).

Sharpen your outdoor skills. The Appalachian Mountain Club, 5 Joy St., Boston, MA 02108 (tel. 617/523-0655), has a full roster of outdoor adventure classes, many of which are taught at the club's Pinkham Notch Camp at the base of Mount Washington in the heart of the White Mountains. You can learn outdoor photography, wild mushroom identification, or backcountry orienteering for starters. In winter, ice-climbing and telemark-skiing lessons are held on the slopes of the White Mountains. Classes often include accommodations, and most are reasonably priced.

For Those Who Love Historic Homes -- Historic New England is a nonprofit foundation that owns and operates 35 historical properties in New England ranging from places built in the 17th century to the present, including a number of places profiled in this book. Members are eligible for free admission to all of the organization's properties and a number of other benefits, including a subscription to Historic New England magazine, a guide to the group's properties, and invitations to members-only events and other perks. Memberships start at $25 per year for a national membership, $35 for individuals, and $45 for a household membership. For more information on Historic New England and its properties, visit the group's website at www.historicnewengland.org, or call the organization's Boston headquarters at tel. 617/227-3956.