Active Pursuits

Northern 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. In general, the farther north you go in the region, the more remote and wild the terrain becomes. More detailed information on local services is included in each regional section.

General Advice

The best way to enjoy the outdoors is to head to public lands where the natural landscape is preserved. Wild areas in northern New England include 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've run across too many gung-ho travelers who try to bite off too much -- some biking in Vermont, some hiking in the White Mountains, and then maybe a little kayaking off Acadia in Maine. All in a week. That's only a good formula for developing a close, personal relationship with the paved road. I'd 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. You'll also learn a lot more about the area. Few travelers ever regret planning to do too little on their vacations. A lot of travelers regret attempting to do too much.

Finding Your Way

Travelers used to hire guides to ensure they could find their way out of the woods. With development encroaching on many once-pristine areas, it's now helpful to have guides to find your way into the woods and away from civilization and its long reach. Clear-cuts, second-home developments, and trails teeming with weekend hikers are all obstacles to be avoided. Local knowledge is the best way to find the most alluring, least congested spots.

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, R.R. 2, Box 159A, Guilford, 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 they 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 (tel. 207/751-3797). The association's website (www.maineguides.com) features links to many of its members.

In Vermont, contact the Vermont Outdoor Guide Association (tel. 800/425-8747 or 802/425-6211; www.voga.org), whose members can help arrange adventure-travel tours, instruction, and lodging. The website is a great place to get ideas for an outdoor vacation, with links to numerous outfitters and outdoor-oriented inns.

Elsewhere, contact the appropriate chambers of commerce for suggestions on local 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:

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 2 and 6 nights' duration in Vermont (as well as abroad). Nights are spent at quiet inns.

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 (more like a wish book) outlining supported walking trips around the world. Among the offerings: walking tours in coastal Maine and north-central Vermont. Trips run 4 or 5 nights and include all meals and lodging at appealing inns.

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, Vermont, and overseas. Trips typically involve moderate day hiking coupled with nights at comfortable lodges.

Vermont Bicycle Touring, P.O. Box 711, Bristol, VT 05442 (tel. 800/245-3868; www.vbt.com), is one of the more established and well-organized touring operations, with an extensive bike tour schedule in North America, Europe, and New Zealand. VBT offers five trips in Vermont, and three in Maine, including a 6-day Acadia trip with some overnights at the grand Claremont Hotel.

Getting More Information -- Guidebooks to the region's backcountry are plentiful and diverse. L.L.Bean in Freeport, Maine, and the Green Mountain Club headquarters in Waterbury, Vermont, have an excellent selection 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. The Appalachian Mountain Club, 5 Joy St., Boston, MA 02108 (tel. 617/523-0636; 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), 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. See what they offer on the Web at www.mapadventures.com.

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, VT 05677 (tel. 802/244-7037; www.greenmountainclub.org).

Exploring the Great Outdoors

Arizona has the Grand Canyon; Florida has the Everglades. And Vermont? Well, Vermont has the Green Mountains. But you know what? I'll take it over the others.

The Green Mountains aren't so much a destination as part and parcel of Vermont itself. These rolling old mountains, forming a north-south spine from Massachusetts to the Canadian border, not only define Vermont but also offer wonderful recreational opportunities, especially for those attracted to soft adventure. These hills are less dramatic and more forgiving than the harsh White Mountains of northern New Hampshire, and friendlier than the bristly spruce and fir forests of Maine. These are mountains where you can feel at home; in a good foliage year, I'd submit they're as beautifully colored as any in the world.

About 500,000 acres are included in the Green Mountain National Forest, which offers some of the best hiking and mountain biking in the Northeast, but outdoorspeople needn't restrict themselves to the national forest land. State forests and parks contain some exceptional hiking trails, and even many privately owned lands are open to low-impact recreation.

This mix of wilderness and civilization gives Vermont much of its character. One of the great pleasures of exploring Vermont, whether by foot, bike, or canoe, is cresting a hill or rounding a bend and spying a graceful white steeple or sturdy wooden silo, both as integral to the landscape as maple trees and rolling ridges.