Real People. Real Advice. It’s the Maine Thing.

Steve Vose’s tips

November 05, 2012

Editor’s Notes:

Aroostook County Maine is located in the northern most section of the state sharing its borders with Canada. A grand forestland of about 5 million acres and home to many rivers and waterways, it provides excursions and activities like fly-fishing, kayaking, rafting and canoeing. While there are visitors every season, fall is prized for such pursuits. In winter, the 2,200 miles of groomed trails are appreciated by snowmobilers and dogsledders. For a great resource on the trails of Maine see www.mainetrailfinder.com.

The A.E. Howell Wildlife Conservation Center and Spruce Acres Refuge is located in Amity, in Aroostook County. This well-known center specializes in rehabilitating black bears, moose, deer, wolves and bald eagles that have been wounded to return to the wild. The refuge's 64 acres include picnic areas, ponds, and camping sites.

Canoeing the Allagash Wilderness Waterway was named one of the 50 best American adventures by National Geographic. With its popularity, there are many guides and outfitters ready to take you out in the still-wild Maine outdoors to find serenity and adventure.

With 18 million acres of forestland, the Maine woods are highly regarded for the outdoor recreation they offer. Adventurists value the area since it has remained remote and undeveloped. Much of the land is privately owned, making Maine guides an integral part of this experience by allowing visitors to access these tucked away places.

Maine's Wilderness

The immensity of Maine's wilderness is hard for most to comprehend, with a total area of 33,215 square miles; the state is nearly as large as the other five New England states combined. If fact, Maine's largest county, Aroostook, is comprised of 6,453 square miles, covering an area greater than the combined size of Connecticut and Rhode Island. In addition, Maine contains 32,000 miles of rivers and streams, equal to more than the combined length of the Mississippi, Amazon, Yangtze and Nile rivers.

The population is a casual mix of urban and rural. The outdoors person can discover the city, while those who inhabit the city can easily find themselves in Maine's great outdoors. With tens of thousands of miles of explore-able wilderness and waters, Maine is anyone's paradise.

Maine is vast, but not inaccessible, and this is precisely what is enjoyed by a large number of its 1.2 million inhabitants. To the uninitiated, the woods may seem course and lonely, but Maine's wild lands are in fact not empty, but instead possess a wild unbridled energy difficult to explain.

Novice, intermediate or expert outdoorsman, no matter how adventurous you are, Maine's woods and waters are able to accommodate you. Whether winter, spring, summer or fall, you can enjoy a huge selection of outdoor sports including canoeing, kayaking, backpacking, hiking, fly fishing, hunting, skiing, snowshoeing, ATV riding, snowmobiling, ice fishing . . . just to name a few! No matter your outdoor passion or the season, there exists an exciting bucket list of experiences for every skill level.

Maine contains a subtle beauty whispered gently to you by the wind in the white pines and the waves lapping at a deserted beach. It will be understood only by those able to slow down and truly listen. One can draw power and healing from these whispers and explorers have come here for centuries to revitalize their souls.

All Maine Insiders have volunteered to participate in this program. Their views are their own opinions and do not necessarily reflect the opinions of the Maine Office of Tourism (MOT). They have not been financially compensated by MOT or any of its contractors or affiliates.